9 week Pupper with Parvo

If possible, I'd have her hospitalized on IV fluids.  Dehydration is what usually gets these little guys.  I have seen dogs do well on outpatient treatments (antibiotic and fluid injections twice a day) but usually the ones who do well are not overly sickly.  I'd be careful with feeding..you don't want her to vomit and cause more dehydration.  Another reason why IV fluids can be helpful..they can stay stabilized while allowing their system to recover.

My Grimm was a parvo pup. His first owners brought him to the clinic I work at when he got sick and started outpatient treatments.  He ended up worsening, and they signed him over as they couldn't afford in patient treatments and didn't want to put him down.  He was a sick little guy on IVs for about a week, but once he started to improve, he did so quickly.  Now he's an 11 month old bouncy guy.

In the meantime, try to keep her hydrated. If you can't do in hospital treatments, go for the outpatient treatments twice a day.  Hope your little girl recovers soon.

 a friend of mine's pup got parvo when he was real young, he is now about a year old and full of fun and healthy.

They did the in-hospital treatment for about 2-3 days/nights.  that is about all I know

Parvo is a tough one - but with constant and correct treatment it's beatable. I'd honestly, like grab said, keep her at the hospital - unless you are able to do sq fluids at home.

It's not the virus that kills, but the loss of fluids throught the diarrhea and vomiting.

Good for you for catching it so quickly - many people just ignore the signs and that causes more problems.

There's been a few postings on here - if you do a forum search you can pull up more info on it.

If you *want* to do sub-cutaneous fluids at home ASK THE VET.  They can sell you the lactated Ringers and tell you how to do it.  Don't give up -- it is difficult to get them thru it but you CAN do it.  Most people who have had parvo pups will tell you that they bond very tightly because it's so intense to care for them when they are so sick.  It is not at all uncommon that they are SO sick -- but keeping the dog hydrated is critical. 

I have two recovered parvo puppies.  Both were hospitalized & hooked up to IV fluids.  One was hospitalized for 14 days before he was finally able to come home.  The other was there less than 24 hours. 

The two dogs who were parvo pups are definitely bonded to me, as I was the one who babied them along while they were recovering.  Even now, 6 years & 3 years later, they are still "my" dogs.

Fingers crossed that your pup goes on to a full recovery.

I suggest investigating the treatment described on this site:  https://www.msu.edu/~silvar/parvo.htm

"The new approach involves injections of lyophilized canine immunoglobulin (Ig) G which has been extracted from the serum of dogs that have recovered from parvovirus infection. In clinical trials, patients receiving this IgG in addition to regular treatment recovered more quickly than dogs not receiving the IgG. Furthermore, none of the IgG patients required IV nutrition, hetastarch, or plasma transfusion."

As others have said keeping the pup hydrated is extremely important.  Giving sub-Q fluids is not difficult!  For years my brother did it a couple of times a day for his two CRF cats.

For now be very careful of getting around other pups that have not completed their puppy shots and DO NOT allow such pups into your home.

Unfortunately your home is now contaminated with Parvo and may be for the next year.  Your hands, feet, and clothes will probably have carried the virus all over the house.  Things like Lysol will not kill it.  Simply washing your clothes will not kill the Parvo on them.

You need to bleach all surfaces that you can bleach.  I would also step (with shoes) in a shallow pan of a bleach solution when leaving the house to avoid spreading the virus.

The bleach solution needs to be at least a 1:32 concentration (1/2 cup of bleach to a gallon of water).

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2102&aid=467
"All parvoviruses are extremely stable and are resistant to adverse environmental influences such as low pH and high heat. Exposure to ultraviolet light and sodium hypochlorite (a 1:32 dilution of household bleach - ½ cup bleach to 1 gallon of water) can inactivate parvovirus. The bleach solution can be impaired by organic matter and needs to have adequate exposure time and proper concentrations to work effectively."

This is the first place I have seen ultraviolet light mentioned for killing Parvo.  I am not sure how effective that is or what exposure is required.

Trinity99

She was given fluid under the skin, antibiotics, and sent home with a a/d food- which we practically force fed her 1/2 teaspoonfuls every 60 - 90 minutes.

I would go to a pet store and get some Nutri-Cal (now in puppy, regular, and senior formulations).  It is an easy-to-digest, high calorie, nutrient paste which is much easier to force feed than solid food. 

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=587
"Excellent for sick, stressed, young, and old pets with poor appetites"

Thank you ALL so much for the tips and encouragement.  I am thrilled to say that Trinity is doing well.  We did not hospitalize her as her WBC count held in the 'normal' range... we continued with the fluids and antibiotic shots for a few days - but we kept up with the oral fluids round the clock.  She didn't want to eat or drink on her own, but she let us give her water (the kids old medicine syringe worked great). She also liked to lick icecubes out of our hands (talk about frozen fingers!).  I can't believe we went over a week without her eating or drinking on her own - but am SOOOO relived tht she is now eating and drinking on her own and even gaining some weight back.  Now we are just fighting the respiratory virus that we couldn't treat when she was so sick.  Arg!  I can't wait to see what her real personality is like when she is back to feeling healthy.

Thank you everyone for the tips and encouragement.....(I've since purchased the NutriCal, and checked out some of the sites referenced).

You guys have been great!

Trinity99

I am thrilled to say that Trinity is doing well. 

Fantastic!  Trinity is very lucky that you found her.  Most shelters will put down any pup (or litter) that is found to have Parvo.  The virus is just too hard for them to contain.

Have you told the shelter that they gave you a pup with Parvo?  They may want to do some extra cleaning.

Parvo is the biggest reason that a young pup's feet should not touch soil that you don't know the history of.  Shaded soil can harbor the virus for up to 2 years.  Even a yard with no known history of Parvo is not entirely safe since the virus can even travel on the feet of rodents and insects.

Vet offices can be dangerous since they are contaminated regularly.  They clean as well as they can, but Parvo is a very hardy virus that can hide in crevices and on surfaces that can't be bleached.  Anything a sick pup or its owner has touched could be contaminated - walls, chairs, counters, pens, etc. 

Some breeders take great precautions at the vet's - disposable shoe covers, coming in a side door to avoid the waiting room, touching as few surfaces as possible, allowing the pups to touch only a towel brought from home and bleached after the visit. 

I cringe when I see young pups on the floor at a pet store!!!  A sick dog can shed the Parvo virus before they show symptoms and for a while during recovery.  There is no way that a pet store can clean all of its displays well enough to completely decontaminate.

Arg! I wish pet stores and shelters would take better care NOT to let the animals be exposed to such horrible germs.

I wrote yesterday that Trinity was doing better - and we were fighting the respiratory infection.  Well, our vet is located on a mainstreet that tomorrow will be closed for a city wide event/ celebration... so this since I decided that I still wasn't comfortable with her progress on the Clavamox  I took her back in for a progress check.  Whoa.... she was diagnosed with pneumonia!  What ???? The Vet said it is due to the Parvo weakening her immune system - her White blood count shot up to over 40K.....She was admitted so that she could be treated via IV fluid and antibiotics.

I can't believe my poor puppy is so sick. I hate that she is not at home... but REALLY want her to get better. I know the hospitalization is what is best for her... but it is killing me. She's only been there a couple of hours and I am already about to call to check up on her.

The vet hasn't indicated how long she'll be there.......

Trinity99

I took her back in for a progress check.  Whoa.... she was diagnosed with pneumonia! 

Sorry that Trinity has to fight a second problem.  Beating the Parvo virus requires a strong immune system, so with the right antibiotics I bet she can beat the pneumonia bacteria, too.

Trinity99

Arg! I wish pet stores and shelters would take better care NOT to let the animals be exposed to such horrible germs.

Most pet stores and shelters do the best they can, but it is hard to fight something that can be shed by healthy-looking dogs and which can only be killed in the environment by a strong bleach solution. 

Shelters put down dogs/pups found to have Parvo and bleach their environment.  They may even quarantine dogs in the same cage or adjoining cages.  What else would you propose?  The only thing more that pet stores could do is ban young pups, but that is just not practical for their business. 

Depending on how long Trinity was in the shelter she may have even been exposed to Parvo before she was left there.  Shelters get entire litters of sick pups.  If a shelter worker touches one of those pups before they are diagnosed, the virus on her hands can expose another pup minutes later.  The latter pup may leave the shelter before showing symptoms.

Getting professionals in a vet office to always follow contagious disease procedures is hard enough.  Shelters try, but they are usually dealing with a lot of volunteers.

The bottom line is that Parvo is everywhere.  Despite everyone's best efforts some pups will encounter the virus and many of those pups will get sick. 

Vaccines are a challenge to the immune system and should only be given to healthy dogs.  Please be sure that Trinity is not given any vaccines until she is at least healthy enough that the vaccine has no chance of causing a Parvo or pneumonia relapse.

Yes, some vets will give vaccines to sick dogs.  They are more afraid of people not coming back for the vaccines than they are of relapses.

I am sure that Trinity doesn't have to worry about having an owner who won't be sure that she is appropriately vaccinated!

Parvo is hitting a few places really badly this year and so is distemper.  The Orlando Humane Society had to put down their entire dog population a few weeks ago because of distemper and Halifax Humane Society is battling Kennel Cough and something else Meg said. 

Shelters try VERY hard -- but people so often just DUMP sick animals, or animals that have already been exposed.  It takes 9-11 days for parvo and distemper to incubate and people SO often think they've just got to drag that brand new puppy EVERYWHERE with  them -- and they just aren't ready.

It takes almost 3 weeks for full immunity to form AFTER a vax is properly administered when the dog's immune system can respond to it.  They are so at risk when little.

If you want to email me I can send you some information on a few things you can do at home when you CAN bring your little one home.