Parvo took our dear Duchess and half the puppies

Hi,

I just recently joined Auspet to get info on Parvo. Our beloved Pit named Duchess died a couple of days ago. She had a litter of puppies which are only 5 weeks old.

Half of the pups got sick at first with bloody stool, vomiting, and lethargy.
The Vet said he doubt very seriously if it was Parvo and said it was probably hookworms. He told us the pups should be immune from the mother. He gave us some worm medicine and said to give pedialyte and pepto. We did that and lost 2 puppies right in front of our eyes. It was the most terrible thing to see.

We immediately separated the pups that were showing signs from the ones that were not.

A week later the mother, Duchess got sick along with the other 5 pups. We did take her to the vet and the test said Parvo and whip worms! We immediately got the IV fluids, Pedialyte, broth and basically everything. He did NOT give us a antibiotic. Should he have?
It was a time giving this care to 6 dogs around the clock, but we wanted them to live.

There were 11 puppies and now we have 6. One puppy named Joshua is extremely weak and he cries constantly. He seemed to have it the worse and he was sick for 3 days. He was definitely near death. Now he is eating and drinking water on his own, but walks like he's in pain. His weight is coming back as well.

Today is Sunday and all the other Vets are closed. My husband just took Joshua to Petsmart, but the Vet quoted him 500.00 and said he would have to test Joshua for parvo and distemper before he gave him any pain medicine.

The other 5 have gained their weight back and running around like puppies should.
This has all taken a big toll on my family. We love our dogs and did everything we could. We have no idea how the Parvo got to them since they have never even left our home. We do believe Duchess got it from cleaning the pups like mommies do.

I was told the pups can catch it again? Is this true. I don't think my daughter could handle seeing these little fighters go through this again nor could I.

I've read and read for the last 3 days about Parvo. We've also bleached everything.


We're just going to take him back to the Vet tomorrow. I was very tee'd off since he misdiagnosed and said he was almost sure it was worms and not parvo.
but I know everyone makes mistakes, but this was a tough time for us.

 

Had the bitch been vaccinated against Parvo with boosters and kept updated on it? If so then it may have been possible that the vet assumed that the pups would have the antibodies to make sure they were not susceptable to it this early...etc...especially if they never left the home...

 

I am sorry about your loss.

Something has me confused though, was duchess upto dat on her shots and i mean her booster aswell its just seems strange that if she was that she would contract the virus.

Has any other dogs been to your house do the puppies go out anywhere other than your back yard.

Parvo can be brought into the home on your shoes all it takes if for you to walk across contaminated areas and its on you.

I think if your vet have tested for parvo straight away something may have been able to be done for duchess and the other pups.

I hope the remaining pups make a full recovery and from the sounds of things your doing everything you can to make sure they are safe.

Good luck and my thoughts are with your and your family keep us posted of how the others do..
Mike

 

I'm so sorry for you and your family. What a horrible, sad situation. I hope the remaining pups continue to thrive.

 

Very sorry for your losses. Parvo is such a nasty virus. How old was your Duchess? I am surprised though that a presumably healthy adult dog was affected - maybe the vet was also which was why he didn't think it would be parvo? Adult dogs can contract parvo, but it usually affects pups much more frequently. If she or the pups were given vaccines recently they could have had a weakened immunity making them more susceptible to the virus. Duchess would not have gotten it from the pups, she may have been the carrier and then her system was weakened (caring for all those babies and/or from the worms) and then contracted it. Continue to keep a close eye on the rest of the crew, as a pup testing negative for parvo can succumb to the virus at any time. See if you can find a homeopathic vet to give you some remedies to reduce symptoms and aid in stimulating/strengthening the other pups natural immune response. You don't want to give any vaccines until everyone is completely healthy, and even then this is controversial. If everyone else fights though parvo they should have immunity from the exposure to their littermates/mother.

Best of luck with the rest of the pups
Jas

 

You may not have been dealing with parvo at all, seeing as your adult dog was infected too. Campylobacter infection causes much the same symptoms as parvo, and will cause a dog to test positive for parvo unless a more sophisticated (and expensive) test is used.

Antibiotics won't have any effect on parvo, as it is caused by a virus. But antibiotics are often used to protect against secondary bacterial infection.

Campylobacter is a bacterial infection, and some vets will prescribe an antibiotic, at least until a more sensitive parvo test shows positive, especially when an adult dog is infected. Campylobacter can be contracted from contaminated meats, vegetables, soil and water. It's also the main reason I refuse to feed my dogs raw meat.

A friend of mine who feeds raw meat (or fed, she won't do it anymore) recently spent over $6,000 to treat her dogs for campylobacter.