Need help, 14 month old puppy with possible Parvo

He's a huge German Shepherd, the vet was nice enough to come to my house because my puppy refuses to get up. He gave him antibiotics and said he thought he had an intestinal virus (I thought he had all his shots, but now I'm unsure. I "inherited" him a few months ago under the impression they were done). He is usually all puppy, but is not not eating, throwing up water, diarrhea (no blood, but bloody tint in urine), and is very lethargic. He is thirsty and wants to drink, but the vet said to not give him anything but a few ice chips. I have read some posts on here saying pedialyte and/or chicken broth through a syringe, but should I do this after the vet said nothing at all? Please help, I'm so worried about him. The vet knows all this and said the antibiotics will help in a day or so, but he's so bad I think I'm going to find him dead when I go into the next room. He is not dehydrated to the point of his skin staying up on his neck if this helps. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

Hi, I am so sorry for what you and your dog are going through.
I have heard of with holding food for 24hours but not longer though i could be wrong.

I personally would try with some chicken broth and see how he goes on that, What is the name of the Antibiotics that the vet has him on?

If it is Parvo then he should have been hospitalised and put straight on a IV line.

Some causes for him having blood in his Urine could be,

Urinary Tract Infections
Bladder stones
Prostate Infections
Poisons

Following information is take from http://dogparvosymptoms.net/

If your dog, especially your new puppy, begins exhibiting any of these symptoms, see a veterinarian right away. When parvo is involved, every hour counts. The secret of survival is quick treatment, so don’t ignore these symptoms! One or all of these will usually being showing after 3 – 10 days of infection.

■Lethargic. If your dog normally likes to play and has high energy, this is the clearest sign that something is wrong. You could say they act depressed.
■Lack of Appetite. The more common strains attack the digestive system.
■Vomiting with no change in diet. It usually looks clear and foamy.
■Bloody Diarrhea.
■Stronger Feces Odor. It’s unmistakable and you will never forget it.
The vomiting and diarrhea are the most dangerous, as they can quickly lead to dehydration and malnutrition. This leads to other problems that eventually compound on top of each other to finally kill the dog. And fast.

Always be on the lookout these symptoms of parvo, especially if your puppy is over 10 weeks old.

You need to keep him hydrated and warm.

Sorry i could not be of more help.

Mike

 

RE: Puppy, all shots

I just called the vet he had before we moved to make sure he had all of his shots. He did, and there is no smell (like foudn in parvo cases) so maybe (hopefully by the sounds of it) it is not Parvo. Is there any other intestinal viruses that would make him this miserable for this long that I can look up to atleast read about? All I have found on the net is CCV which seems to be rather mild.

I do not know the antibiotic he was given, I should've asked but I was too worried about the dog while the vet was here to care much about that. We are going on day 4 now of this. He wagged his tail briefly when I came home from a short leave this morning (which he has not done since late friday night) but other than that is still feeling horrible and still just as lethargic. He's so thirsty, I have been giving him small amounts of pedialyte which he seems to be doing okay with, but will still throw up water (he got some today when I was setting some out for my other pup) if he gets too much. Still has absolutely no appetite.

 

I can not find much but i have added some links of things it could be that might help.
If he can not hold down food have you tried to give him a small amount of scrammbled egg as this is usually well tolerated in dogs with an unpest stomach that can no eat there own food.

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/intestin.html

http://www.ehow.com/about_5379902_canin ... blems.html

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/dig ... infections

Hope they help

Mike

 

RE: Thanks for the help

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. I'm way too new to this puppy thing to know much at all about any of this other than what I have googled. He is still terrible. The vet gave me IV fluids to give him (I am really not liking this, but I guess me having to to that is better than me trying to carry a 95 lb dog to the car and into the vet office) and a shot for the upset tummy. I gave him some of the IV fluids, but he gets jumpy the further down his back I go so I'm gonna let what I gave him sit a while then try in roughly the same spots to avoid him trying to get away. Although it is kinda nice to see him get up he's not very happy when he has to. Vet said if he's not getting better tomorrow we're gonna have to do something else.....

 

I know how distressing it is when they are ill and there is not alot you can do.
A couple months back my rottie was acting strange panting lots, pacing the floor, alot of drueling which all indicated bloat so i paniced called the vet who wanted to see her straight away, only to be told she only had a sore throat, i was relieved but annoyed i paniced over nothing hahah.

Please let me know how he gets on hopefully he will pick up soon and be back to being a bouncy pup.

Mike

 

well, took him to the university hospital

They have him overnight, was the closest (2 hours) that has all the things he may need. Just got the call about the bloodwork and ultrasound. High white cell count (kinda knew that), liver enzymes (I think, bad memory here) are not looking good, and there is digested blood in stool but ultrasound looks fine. She said a few things it could be by the results, obstruction that they have not found yet, a cyst (don't think they said that, but something like a cyst that can burst), or an intestinal infection still all of which are fixable. She named a few other possibilities that are fixable, so hopefully he'll be okay. She sounded very optimistic, but that could just be cause I gave em a down payment too. We'll see, she's gonna call back in an hour or so after he gets more fluid in his body with hopefully a more definitive answer. But he's being taken care of now. I was so scared when I took him in, I feel a little better now.

 

You must be going out of your mind, Hopefully now he in the vets office they will be able to get to the bottom of whats going on and have him all fixed up and back to his normal self in no time.

Please keep me updated on his progress

Mike

 

OMG I would be a wreck!! Hang in there he is good hands and hopefully a answer will be coming quickly....
Please keep us posted!!
Being at the vet is never fun

 

I got my puppy home today!

I'm so happy, he's doing so much better. He's almost back to normal and they are treating him for a bleeding ulcer (the cyst type thing I couldn't remember after they called). They said there are many different reasons for this but can't determine why he got it without a ton more tests. Since he is recovering from this one I will change his diet to home-cooked dog food (just cause of all the reading I have been doing on ulcers in dogs and this seems much healthier) and see how he does. Wound up costing just over $1100...ouch. But well worth it now that he's better. He gets tired rather quickly, but is back to acting like his usual self other than that. He's STARVING and wants to eat a ton, but I have to ration it...Okay, I'm trying to ration it, but he comes up and looks at me with big puppy eyes staring, then slowely closing them just a bit to make the sad eyes (what he usually does for a treat). So very little portions but prolly more often than I should be. So far so good though. The kids and my other pup missed him so much, and he is so happy to be home!

 

awww such good news congratulations on having your pup back home!!! yea!!!!

 

Thats great news, I bet your over joyed to have him home.
I know what you mean about the puppy eyes there is not alot of people that don't fall for that look hahah.

Glad he is doing better and on the road to recovery

 

Yes I know those eye's!!! just gets me every time as well!!! :roll:

 

ok so I have one more question

Now that he's back home with 5 different meds he REFUSES to take 2 of his pills. Metronidazole (some kind of antibiotic) and the famotidine (used to treat ulsers). I have tried wrapping it in cheese (he has no problem eating the cheese and spitting out the pill), dipping it in peanut butter (again, likes the peanut butter but as soon as I think he ate it he walks away and spits it out). I tried mixing it in with food, he makes sure he does not touch that lil tiny spot in his food bowl. How can I make him eat the dang thing?!

 

My boxer/lab gets meds every day...he is soo food oriented I just put it on a piece of his food with a tiny bit of soft food or peanut butter and he inhales it.... ???
Um in the past I've had to give him large pills for the trots and those I've had to open his mouth and stick as far back as I could then hold his muzzle shut til he swallowed.... stroke his neck to get him to swallow.

hope that helps...kinda gross getting all slobbery...

 

when you force him to swallow...

when you force him to swallow do you hold his nose shut too to do it or just shut his mouth? I'll keep tryin, ke's gotta take the crap one way or another so better at home then the vet's office once a day through a shot...

 

Open his mouth and pop the pill to the back of his mouth then hold his mouth closed gently and then gently stroke his throat downwards until you think he has swallowed it, do not block his nose.

I also find if the meds are crushable then its best to get something that he loves to each crush up the meds and mix it in and it should all go down

 

Yes just hold muzzle closed don't pinch nose stroke neck downwards to help get him to swallow. Remember they can be stubborn so know he may hold that pill longer than you think...

 

lol, well he's stubborn for sure

I can't get him to take it. Tried "forcing" it down his thoat, would hold his mouth shut for long enough for him to swallow twice....he still spit the pill out! Covered it in peanut butter, cheese, food. He won't do it. Won't touch his supper cause it's got the chopped up pill from breakfast in it. Covered his nose as a last resort cause I heard that helps MAKE them swallow....he swallowed, but made sure the pill was still ready to spit out! That's okay, the vet said he can take the other meds when he wants, the antibiotic (gave him a new script of amoxicilian that the kids usually get) is the only one he has to take....can make him take a dropper! Stubborn butthead! So funny how smart the lil buttheads can be. THATS why I spent the money I did on him!

 

how's the pill giving going? With my GSD I simply open her mouth and push the pill way back with my finger so she has to swallow it.
She takes the same stuff your vet prescribed for your pup.
My dog has IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) it flairs up now and then usually when she's stressed or anxious.
Just saw your post
Try pill pockets....they work well. They are a soft treat you can stuff a pill into. Although the metro pill is usually pretty big so that might be difficult to do.
You could smush them, mix with low fat cream cheese