Parvo - moved discussion from parvo info only post

Parvo, My puppy is being treated, and my house disinfecting

Hello:

My name is Dale, and I'm writing from South Korea. A few days ago I bought a 8 week old beagle puppy. The next day I brought her to my vet and she got a clean bill of health. The next day though she started getting sick (vomit, diarrhea, listless etc.) So I brought her back to the vet, and they started suspecting "Parvo," and instructed me to bring her back the next day (today) if her condittion didn't change. I returned today and they did the test, which showed positive. She is currently in the hospital undergoing the treatment. They said we caught it early, but can still only give us a 50/50 chance, mainly because of her age and small size.

I bought her from a shop in "Chungmuro" here in Seoul, which is a distric with alot of puppy shops. My vet told me that unfortuniatly "Parvo" is rampid in this area, and that shop owners knowingly sell Parvo puppies regurlarly. Unfortuniatly there is no laws here to prevent this.

Now my vet said that when my puppy comes home (if she makes it) she will still be susceptible to reinfection, and that I need to sterilize my house. The problem is that bleach will destroy our clothes (not to say my leather jacket) and I don't think I can get any Parvocidal Disinfectants here (my vet would have already given it to us). What else can we use, I may be able to get "Lysol" or "Clorox 2" Would this be ok?
Also, we have a 10 month old cocker, he had only one parvo shot, back in May.....What should we do for him?

I hope you can help,
Thanks
Dale

 

Parvo in South Korea

Hi:

I have one more Question. Will boiling kill the Parvo?

 

Ask your vet about the 10-month old cocker. He SHOULD be protected from his shot, but you could get him a booster if the vet feels it is safe. He has probably already been exposed through your pup, though, so he's probably fine. You could also have the vet draw some blood and do a titer to see if he is immune, rather than giving a booster (which I would be worried would be too much on top of already being exposed). I suspect the titer would show a huge amount of antibodies (which is good).

As for the bleach, you don't have to use it straight. Isn't Clorox 2 just bleach as well? Or you could order the Parvocidal disinfectant online.

 

Dale, sorry that your puppy came down with parvo. Since you already have the virus in your home, I suggest you take your Cocker in and start the series of parvo shots again since he's only 10 mo. old. Have your vet give him a titer test to see if his immune system has the antobodies to fight off the virus.

If your puppy survives and has the parvo vaccine, he will pretty much have his immunity to the virus established more so than your other dog has with only one vaccine.

Here's some parvo disinfectant you can buy over the internet. There's even a spray that can be used on carpets, furniture, and hard non-porus areas.

http://vetmeddirect.com/Disinfectants.php

Boiling probably would be effective but sounds impossible to do. If you use bleach, only chlorine bleach will work. Powder bleaches don't have chlorine. I would just throw away food dishes, toys, and bedding and get new things. Disinfect everything else.

If your puppy was caught early he will have a pretty good chance of recovery. I've heard of a lot of success stories. My own dog survived parvo and went on to live a full life.

Good Luck!!

 

A series of shots is totally unnecessary. The only reason they do a series for puppies is because they don't know exactly when the mother's antibodies are no longer present and vaccinating when the mother's antibodies are still there is useless. So rather than test for the antibodies, they just vaccinate over and over and over again.

One shot at the age of 4 months or later SHOULD protect him. If he is in your home, he has already been exposed. I personally would worry about giving MORE exposure through a shot, but that's me. If he is immune, he is immune. There is no such thing as MORE immunity. If you are worried, do a titer and see if he is immune. Or give ONE booster, but he doesn't need a whole series. That would definitely be overkill.

 

Thank you for all your help

Hello:

Sorry for the late reply, my computer caught a virus and completely crashed...had to reformat it & just got it up today.....on top of everything else!

I wish I could reply with good news, but sadly my puppy passed away last Monday (after being at the vet 3 days). They really tried thier best, but she was just too young and small (1.3kg) to fight it off. The good news is that our Cocker is showing no sighns of infection.

Now we cleaned the floors and what we could with bleach, but our clothes, blankets, and some other things could only be laundered. I found a breeder of Jindo dogs this past weekend (my boss' friend), and have arranged to pick up a puppy arround the 10th of January. The pet shop that I baught the beagle puppy that died at is also giving me a new puppy arround the same time. January 10 will be almost a month since the puppy that died was in the house....will that be enough time for any remaining parvo to dissapate?

Thank you again
Dale

 

No. Parvo lives for years. Disinfect as well as you possibly can and make sure those pups have been vaccinated. If it were me, I would contact a good homeopath and get the parvo nosode.

 

Re: Thank you for all your help

So sorry for the loss of your puppy....

Personally I would wait 6 months to a year before getting another puppy. I wouldn't want to risk it. Even if your new pups are fully vaccinated there is no guarantee they will not succumb to this deadly virus. Just not worth the heartbreak or the cost....

I would also demand my money back from the pet store that sold you the pup. Pet stores are not good places to get puppies from. As you now know many of these pets are sickly and bought from puppy mills and shady breeders. There's no way to know if the new puppy will be healthy, especially when your vet is cautioning you about parvo and a high risk area - the chances of it happening again sound high.... Please seek a reputable breeder!!!! Wish you the best of luck!

 

I know I'm a little late on replying. But I'd like you to know that I also had a pup (half Dane half Rot) that fell sick to Parvo. She didn't have her distemper like we were told she did. Luckily, she survived after a plasma transfusion.

As for disinfecting and getting a new pup:

I used chlorine bleach to disenfect, 1 part chlorine to 30 parts water. I cleaned my kitchen cupboards, counters, washboards, trashcans, mopped my floors with it and I even used it on my husband's leather couch with no problems (no discoloration). I had to break down and use it on spots on my carpet. It did lighten the carpet but at the time, I didn't know what else to do and I didn't want anyone coming into my house and leaving with the Parvo virus on their shoes, hands or clothes. I even bought rugs to go over the spots I cleaned on the carpet with bleach just to be safe. Washed ALL my clothes and rugs in bleach and water and most of them turned out just fine (no discoloration). You would be surprised how many of your clothes and shoes will be fine when introduced to dilluted bleach. I don't recomend it on carpet though. Anyway, even after all of this I will still not bring a pup into this environment. Even one with his/her full set of vaccinations. In my opinion, it's safer to wait at least 5 months. Then you can bring in a pup with his/her shots already given. just my opinion.

 

Any news on the new puppy?

 

Thank you all from Korea

First I would like to thank everyone for thier halp. I cleaned my place good with bleach. I also picked up a bottle of parvosole while I was in the states over the hollidays, so I did the place again.
I wish I could wate 5 or 6 monts to get a new puppy, but I have to get the new one from the store this week. I still have to pay half for her, but the store agreeded to pay to have her tested at my vet. The store also assured my vet that I'll be getting a 3 or 4 month old pup, with 2 sets of shots. My vet here has been handling everything, she speaks Korean, and has the full knowlege.
Anyways Thank you all again, I'll keep you updated
Dale