My puppy (Mia) has been suffering with parvo for the last 5 days, but in the last 2 she has not shown signs of much improvement, but she has not gotten any worse either. The vets are doing all they can. She is on an IV drip and is going to have a tube put in to help her eat. I was just wondering what her chances of surviving this are and will she suffer all her life if she does recover.
Vicky from England
Parvo on puppies is very hard. My Lab had it about 3yrs ago when he was only 2mo old. He was a sick puppy for about 2 weeks, but was one of the lucky ones that pulled through. He was larger than most pups and the doc said he was definitely a fighter. He's never suffered any adverse effects to being sick and is an extremely healthy 85lb dog now! Good luck.(11/27/2007)
By Nelda
Gatorade. My mother had a pup years ago that had parvo and she had fed him Gatorade until he got better. The dog lived past 15. (11/27/2007)
Parvo can be deadly and a lot depends on the condition of the dog before getting parvo. A healthy dog has a better chance, obviously. Sounds like your dog is getting treatment and that's the best you can do. Just remember when she comes home not to rush food. Stick with cream of wheat, rice, or oatmeal, stuff that won't irritate an already irritated stomach.
As far as her health after getting over this is concerned, once over it completely she should be as good as new. My husband is a veterinarian and I've worked with him for 22 years and have seen many, many cases of parvo. Just remember to vaccinate according to your vet's recommendations and DO NOT go with home vacs. You can do everything right yourself, but you have no way of knowing how the vaccine was handled before you bought it. We have had to send vaccine back to the company because it arrived warm, but who knows if a feed store will do this. Our doctor had to approve of all drug shipments, not an employee who didn't know the possibilities. (11/27/2007)
By Judi
We got our Chihuahua puppy through parvo after a week in intensive care on IV's and tube feedings. Now the dog is fine and doing well, and has gained weight and eating a lot. It wasn't cheap, but he is worth it.
Also, the dog needs antibiotics to help fight the infection. Clavamox is what my vet gave us, or you can get something from Amber Technologies. Don't give up! (08/25/2008)
By Chula Vista
We bought a long haired 2 month old Chihuahua for our kids. After a week she had the signs of parvo, so I took her to the vet. Sure enough, our puppy came out positive. It is now 3 days later, and our puppy seems to be improving (Thank God!).
I am feeding her baby food (Beechnut or Gerber chicken), mixed with chicken broth, and feeding her using a syringe. Plus, I am constantly feeding her with Gatorade (mixed with a little water) every 2 hours (using the syringe). Even though the puppy may fight it, you must force it. If not they will dehydrate. Again, feed your puppy water or Gatorade EVERY 2 HOURS. Hopefully our puppy, Pixie, will make it, and I hope yours do too! (10/04/2008)
By Charlie
I was just getting off work an I usually put my Brown in the back yard till I get back. Once I got home and opened the door he wouldn't run up to me like he usually does everyday; he just looked at me. So I thought maybe he didn't want to come in so after I carried him in he just would lay down, he would get up so slow.
I ignored it until I offered him some meat and he wouldn't eat it. No water, no nothing. So at that time I started to worry cause he kept laying down and Brown is always everywhere. But he start throwing up and bleeding from the behind, and it smelled horrible. He got worse so I couldn't take it. I took him to the vet and she said he wouldn't make it without the IVs, but I had no money for that so she gave me Flagyl an Reaglan. I gave those to him while forcing him to drink Gatorade every hour.
By the grace of God after about two days I saw improvement and by the third day he was eating a little and drinking on his own. By the fourth day he was awesome because he went right back to being Brown. So keep faith cause your dog can survive parvo without the IVs. (02/20/2009)
By My dog brown
There is hope!
I am just writing to let you all know that I have been in your shoes and want you to know that there is hope if you puppy/dog gets parvo disease. I came home from work on a Thursday and Smokie was just not as excited as she normally gets, which I knew was strange. I noticed that she hadn't eaten anything that day and that she hadn't been drinking a lot within the last few days. We just figured she had some sort of cold/flu. She was very sluggish the next couple of days. By Saturday, I had something to do so I asked my mom if she wouldn't mind watching Smokie for us. When I went to pick her up, my mom informed me right away that she thought that Smokie had parvo disease. She was showing all the signs except diarrhea. So we found a 24 hour vet and I immediately took her in.
We took Smokie into a room, they asked a few questions, everyone kept assuming that she hadn't got her shots and I had to keep informing them that she had. They weighed her, got out what looked like a extremely long Q-tip and placed it up her rear-end. She said that her poop looked like a strange color. It only took about 10 minutes before the vet came in and said she was positive for parvo. I was so sad, I had no idea what to expect and couldn't imagine how my dog was feeling. They gave me two estimates, one for keeping her there (for 12-24 hours) which was about $1,000 give or take and the other was for $365.00 and they would give her the fluids and vitamins that she was lacking through shots and would give me the necessary antibiotics for about 10 days or so and a list of things to do. We received amoxicillin and Kaopectate and two syringes, one huge and one little. They also recommended water or Pedialyte to give to her every two hours around the clock.
After long debates, we decided that what was best for us financially would be to take the chance and do it at home. At least there I knew she would get the TLC that she needed around the clock. And if something happened to her, I know it's selfish, but I wanted her with me! We had no idea what we were in for. This was still Saturday night, we took her home. The diarrhea began along with the continual vomiting. We were giving her everything she needed. Her butt was constantly wet and soaked from the bloody diarrhea (we did everything we could to try and keep it dry and clean, but it's hard!). She hated taking the Pedialyte by syringe, she fought us tooth and nail, but we had to keep her hydrated. We had to feed her baby food until she started holding it down. By Monday, she was the same, she would show good signs and then show bad signs.
We have been told constantly that this is so up and down and it really is. My fiance luckily had a night shift and got back in time for me to go to work on Monday morning. We realized that this wasn't going to happen overnight and decided that one of us was going to have to stay home for the next few days. On Monday at work I got online and started reading everything I could about parvo. I came across a website, Wolf Creek Ranch, and read about how they saved puppies from parvo with something called Parvaid. I called the local store, they had it, I was on my way at lunch to get it. I also purchased Vibactra Plus, both about $50 a bottle. I took them home and had my fiance start the medicine. By Wednesday we had started to get really positive and think she was doing well, when on Friday night, she started shaking and we weren't sure that was a good sign, we called the vet. They said it sounded like she was nearing the end of the parvo and that it sounded like we were doing everything right and to keep with it. So we did. By Friday and over the weekend, she was eating on her own and drinking. No joke, she is back to her old self, playing, barking! lol I never knew how much I could miss that bark!
We are all dog lovers and you are obviously looking for help, stay positive and keep your head up! Don't say negative things in front of them or even out loud, it does no good to anyone. Believe me! I hope this helps because getting online and reading everyone stories helped us to have hope and to have an idea of what's next.
(11/16/2010)
By Dee
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