Harley's got parvo :( UPDATE!

by **Insomnia** » March 17th, 2006, 1:54 am

The test came back positive for parvo. His situation has worsened so much since I left for work yesterday. His diahrea is almost all red now and thick watery, he is vomiting too. The vet gave him IV fluid or something like that, plus vitamine, he prescribed antibiotic and one other pill. Basically, he say survivors for 3 month olds are rare, but we should still see how he does 'til next wednesday.

Well...he's not eating anything, just drinking lots of water. I force fed him some chicken & broth baby food, gonna get up in about an hour and feed some more, the vet wants him to eat a lot.

Any suggestions ppl?? Any parvo survivors?? He is such a cutie, he still hold his tail high, sunbathing right now.

It's quite warm today, about 30 celsius, so I keep him in his doggy house on the balcony 'cuz he's vomiting and having diahrea a lot, if it gets cool at all, I'll bring him inside.

by **cheekymunkee** » March 17th, 2006, 2:14 am

Oh no. Parvo is a very bad disease, PLEASE do not let this puppy near your other dogs. Even vacinated they can still catch it. Anything he touches must be bleached in order to kill the germs. Even your hands before petting the other dogs, his food & water bowl, the porch ( once he is not living on it anymore), your shoes can even carry the germs into your home. Leave a pair on the balcony to wear out there & do not wear them inside without bleaching ths soles. It is a nasty horrible thing and sometimes the treatment is almost as bad as the illness itsself. I don;t have much experience with it but be very careful with your other dogs. I'm sorry & I do hope he recovers.

by **cheekymunkee** » March 17th, 2006, 2:29 am

http://www.workingdogs.com/parvofaq.htm

by **Insomnia** » March 17th, 2006, 3:14 am

The vet prescribed...

Biofermin
Bismuth
Subcarbonate
K.B.T.
Trienzyme Cap
amoxicillin
cimetidine
metronidazole
sucrafate
wellpin

What do they do??

by **Maryellen** » March 17th, 2006, 8:01 am

oh crap insomnia, i am so sorry for you... keep him hydrated with lots of fluids.. give him his meds.. it will be touch and go , parvo is so bad.

by **Purple** » March 17th, 2006, 9:29 am

Damn, I am sorry.

by **a-bull** » March 17th, 2006, 10:02 am

I'll say a prayer for the little guy.

Good luck and hang in there . . .

by **Jenn** » March 17th, 2006, 10:29 am

Why wasn't he quarantined and left with the vet for proper fluids and care? I have a Parvo survivor, but she was at the vet's for a week and I went to visit her whenever I could to help keep her spirit up. Best of luck to you!

by **msvette2u** » March 17th, 2006, 10:44 am

That was my first thought - he should be at the hospital.
You're not going to be able to keep up with the fluid loss there at your home. He needs continuous IV fluids, or ask the vet how to sub cu them (it's like giving them a vaccine). He'll get behind (dehyrated) otherwise.

by **Insomnia** » March 17th, 2006, 11:10 am

Okay....he is now off all meds and food and water. I consulted two vets, one at a big hospital the other the local vet downstairs, both agreed that he should now stop taking the meds, instead, rely on the IV fluid. However, they both feel that he doesn't not need to be hospitalized, I asked them to keep him. So now, Harley have to go in daily to the vet downstairs for 500 cc of fluid, along with other stuff, and should stay off of all food and water, howeve, I think I should try to give him some pedialyte at home instead of water.

He took 800 cc of IV today and was rather upbeat after the second injection, I could see he was trying to wag his tail, but was too drained still....poor boy. He's now sleeping, I'm at work again after no sleep, I'm gonna break the coffee drinking record, I'm praying he'll at least stop diahrea blood tomorrow morning. Thank god the vet give me a huge discount for providing care for a stray. Well, Harley's no longer a stray that's for sure, I can't imagine the pain he has to go through if no one picked him up.

Thank you ppl so much for all the advice and concerns, it really helped me a lot. If he makes it through, I don't think I would put him up for adoption.

by **pLaurent** » March 17th, 2006, 11:10 am

OMG, I'm so sorry! I had a cat with the feline version of this and it wasn't pretty.

You won't be able to bring any new dogs into your home for quite some time. The parvo virus is very stable and can live outside even in the soil in freezing temperatures for months.

Supportive care is the most important. Lots of fluids as others have said.

I hope Harleymakes it.

by **Insomnia** » March 17th, 2006, 11:16 am

I'd like to add....I would really love to keep him at the vet at this point, but both vet don't feel that he's showing dehydration, because if he doesn't eat or drink, he does not vomit nor diahrea much at all.

The vet is calling me through out the day to check up on his status. It's a quick trip down stair to the vet for IV if he needs it.

by **Insomnia** » March 17th, 2006, 11:19 am

You won't be able to bring any new dogs into your home for quite some time. The parvo virus is very stable and can live outside even in the soil in freezing temperatures for months.

I'm really concerned about Princess & Pipi, but the vet say they're pretty safe at this point. They do not come into my apartment at all, they're staying at parent's apartment right next door...the thing that concerns me is that I walk around both apartments a lot maybe carrying the virus with me to my parents...I try to keep as sanitized as possible though.....

After this ordeal, and bleaching my apartment, would it be safe for Princess and Pipi to come back?

by **Maryellen** » March 17th, 2006, 11:21 am

he must stay hydrated.. if he doesnt he could die. parvo is a vicious killer, and dogs usually have a 50-50 chance of surviving if they get it..

please read the link debby provided, and keep us updated.. our thoughts are with you and harley.

by **cheekymunkee** » March 17th, 2006, 11:22 am

Insomnia wrote:Okay....he is now off all meds and food and water. I consulted two vets, one at a big hospital the other the local vet downstairs, both agreed that he should now stop taking the meds, instead, rely on the IV fluid. However, they both feel that he doesn't not need to be hospitalized, I asked them to keep him. So now, Harley have to go in daily to the vet downstairs for 500 cc of fluid, along with other stuff, and should stay off of all food and water, howeve, I think I should try to give him some pedialyte at home instead of water.

He took 800 cc of IV today and was rather upbeat after the second injection, I could see he was trying to wag his tail, but was too drained still....poor boy. He's now sleeping, I'm at work again after no sleep, I'm gonna break the coffee drinking record, I'm praying he'll at least stop diahrea blood tomorrow morning. Thank god the vet give me a huge discount for providing care for a stray. Well, Harley's no longer a stray that's for sure, I can't imagine the pain he has to go through if no one picked him up.

Thank you ppl so much for all the advice and concerns, it really helped me a lot. If he makes it through, I don't think I would put him up for adoption.

I was thinking you were living up to your name because you were on as late last night as I was. Good luck to you & little Harley. :hug3:

by **concreterose** » March 17th, 2006, 11:50 am

Parvo is pretty nasty but there's a pretty good chance he can pull through if you keep him hydrated. Vicki tested very strongly for it when she was 12 weeks old. The vet was not very encouraging about her surviving. I left her in the hospital for one night, and then told the vet I wanted to take care of her at home and asked her what I could do (I was off work for the summer). I keep her hydrated w/Pedialyte w/added electrolyes and fed the the prescription diet they sent me home with. The vet told me they would show me how to hook her up to IV if she didn't improve, but she made a rapid recovery. I bleached the yard, floors and rugs in the house. Neither one of my other dogs got it, and Vicki was up and back at 'em in a week. So there is hope. I used a supplement that was a lifesaver called Parvaid. If you decide to order it, you can call the company and they will give you the recipe for the tea over the phone so you can administer it while waiting for it to get there in the mail.

by **msvette2u** » March 17th, 2006, 12:01 pm

Kudos to you for taking responsibility for this little guy. I hope he makes it. I'm glad the vet isn't too far.
I'm not sure about bringing your dogs back. If you can successfully bleach everything it might be safe. Put a pan of bleach solution by your door so you can step in it before going back in the house from the balcony. Think STERILE STERILE STERILE.
I hope your dogs are vaccinated. But even so with any vaccine, all it does is boost their immune system to recognize and hopefully attack the virus, they can still contract it.

by **Insomnia** » March 17th, 2006, 12:15 pm

msvette2u wrote:Kudos to you for taking responsibility for this little guy. I hope he makes it. I'm glad the vet isn't too far.
I'm not sure about bringing your dogs back. If you can successfully bleach everything it might be safe. Put a pan of bleach solution by your door so you can step in it before going back in the house from the balcony. Think STERILE STERILE STERILE.
I hope your dogs are vaccinated. But even so with any vaccine, all it does is boost their immune system to recognize and hopefully attack the virus, they can still contract it.

Good idea with the pan of bleach! Princess is up to date with all vaccination, Pipi has never been vaccinated for anything, 'cuz my dad don't believe in vaccination... :rolleyes2:

I'm sneaking off with Pipi tomorrow for vaccination.

by **msvette2u** » March 17th, 2006, 12:18 pm

Yikes! Yes, Pipi will need two shots, 2-3 weeks apart. The vet will explain it to you.

by **Maryellen** » March 17th, 2006, 12:20 pm

like concreterose said , make sure you get him to eat something..

Harley's got parvo :( UPDATE!

Who is online