Parvo exsposure NEED HELP Please
Cola
parvo according to our Vet.
My concern is how to rid it from our environment, as i have another
lhasa puppy, which has been vaccinated twice, but is not feeling well,
or acting like herself.
Does anyone know of any cures. I have been told by a friend that they
cured parvo on puppy with bacon grease on the food. but i am afraid to
try it. I have allready started giving her gatorade every hour as per
vet's instruction. Am very worried and scared.
Lynn Kosmakos
Cola wrote:
>
> Does anyone know of any cures. I have been told by a friend that they
> cured parvo on puppy with bacon grease on the food. but i am afraid to
> try it. I have allready started giving her gatorade every hour as per
> vet's instruction. Am very worried and scared.
Please don't mess with things like bacon grease. Get a fecal
sample from her as soon as she goes to the bathroom and take it
to your vet's office as soon as they open tomorrow morning. The
test for parvo will only take about 10 minutes. I'm frankly a
little suprised that your vet didn't have you bring a sample in
immediately when you called today. If the pup starts vomiting
and having serious diarrhea over the night, you might have to
take her into a 24-hour vet clinic so they can start an IV to keep
her hydrated. Good luck.
Lynn K.
Elaine Gallant
Look up all the info available online about parvo. We lost a pup this year
to parvo. Here are a few hints- it is said to take no less than 7 months for
parvo to clear from your property after having a parvo dog. Sunny areas
clear more quickly. Shady places take up to over? a year to be free of
parvo.
Parvo is ubiquitous. There is some parvo virus everywhere. It's just in a
stronger consentration where you are.
Some people say that killed vaccine is useless against parvo. They're
innoculating separately for parvo with what is called a "high titer" live
vaccine.
Cola wrote in message <3799b438...@news.mindspring.com>...
>We bought a new Lhasa apso 6 week old. It died within 1 week with
>parvo according to our Vet.
>My concern is how to rid it from our environment, as i have another
>lhasa puppy, which has been vaccinated twice, but is not feeling well,
>or acting like herself.
Drews
solution will kill the virus. There are also parvosides that you can use
on surfaces that you can not use bleach on. I would advise you disinfect
everything you can. Keep in close contact with your vet if your puppy
gets worse. Putting the puppy on IV fluids and supportive care at the
vets office may be what you need to do to pull this puppy through. Even
with supportive care at the vets they can still die. If this vet does
not seem interested in helping you GO TO AN OTHER VET. Beth RVT
Michael Krolewski
Hope this is helpful.
Generally speaking all information given here is just advice. I nor my
spouse are not vets.
I believe this information is useful in talking with your vet on a course
of action. Depending on the size of the clinic, vets may have little or no
experience with treating dogs with parvo. This is to help you discuss the
treatment and care of your animals with the vet.
Mike Krolewski.....
A Parvovirus Treatment Protocol
By Vandra L. Huber, Ph.D.
Copyright 1996
In the spring of 1996, I experienced an outbreak of Parvovirus at my home
that threatened one litter and killed two puppies out of a second. Because
Parvovirus is life threatening and can kill a puppy over night, it is
important to act swiftly in diagnosing and preventing this killer disease.
In attempting to save my puppies, I searched journals, contacted
veterinarians, sent out pleas for help via the internet and spoke with
numerous breeders and veterinarians around the country. What I found out
is there is little agreement on how to treat a parvo puppy. In fact, the
topic raises the hackles of most canine health professionals who prefer
their own protocol or the protocol they read about in textbooks. The
dearth of information available to me, prompted me to write this article
and summarize what I found out and what worked for me in a crisis
situation.
Before adopting this or any other treatment protocol, check with YOUR
veterinarian. Some veterinarians -- particularly those in research
institutions -- will argue that Indo serum and the Neopgen have not been
proven to be effective. Other veterinarians will argue that treatment
for coccidia at one week of age is senseless or even dangerous. All of
this may or may not be true. It was helpful for me. Since treating for
coccidia, I have not had another parvovirus outbreak.
Prevention
1. Insure that the perspective mother is vaccinated before being bred but
not right before being bred. The veterinary community can not agree on
whether modified live or killed vaccine is preferred and whether
vaccinations before breeding are necessary. Personally, I am using killed
parvovirus bacteria.
2. Clean your entire kennel with a bleach solution diluted 1:30. At this
dilution, the bleach should be safe to use even on carpet. Still, try a
test spot first. I did have one veterinarian contact me saying the
dilution of bleach was immaterial but the consensus seems to be that a
30:1 dilution is preferred
There are some commercial cleaning solutions available. Some, but not
all, are designated to kill parvovirus. Read the labels carefully to
insure that the chemical compound is effective against Parvovirus. Broad
spectrum treatments such as those for HIV are not effective.
3. If possible, stay away from dog shows and pet stores which allow
animals to be inside the store. These locales are high risk for
parvovirus. If you must go to this establishments, wash all clothing,
spray hands and feet. Change clothes before entering the house. Still,
remember Parvovirus is everywhere so if it is going to happen, it will.
4. At one to two weeks of age, treat all puppies as if they have
coccidiosis. Give them Tribrissan or Albon for five days. Since many
bitches pass coccidiosis to the puppies, this treatment will not hurt but
may help to prevent a compromised immune system. Since my parvovirus
outbreak in the spring I have had one litter of puppies and they are doing
great.
5. Start vaccinations for parvo at five weeks. Alternating shots for just
parvovirus with puppy shots for other diseases. I continue to vaccinate
until my puppies are six months old. My puppies got sick after they had
two sets of shots and were due for a booster in two days. Some
veterinarians recommend switching the type of vaccination so resistance
can not be built up. I have not done this.
6. Keep your puppies indoors on clean, sanitized surfaces. Parvovirus can
reside in stools, and be carried in the air via stool particles.
7. Minimize the number of visitors to your house. If they do visit, don't
let them pick up the puppies. Bleach hands and dunk shoes in bleach
solution before entering your home.
8. I also would recommend over vaccinating at least one of your dogs. By
over vaccinating, I mean give them four sets of parvovirus shots in one
year. In this way, you have a donor on hand for emergencies. The blood
banks I talk about below, have a very limited supply of blood and
hyperimmune serum, so it is best to be prepared for the worst.
Treating Sick Puppies
If puppies are sick or are getting sick. Symptoms runny stools, may not
have typical parvovirus smell, vomiting and fever sometimes.
1. Insure that the temperature in the room is 85 degrees. If it is
coronarvirus, rather than Parvovirus disease, the increased temperature
can help to minimize the effects of coronavirus. Remember, however, it is
possible for a puppy to be infected by parvovirus AND the coronarvirus.
2. Take stool samples but do not wait for results to come back before
beginning treatment. Puppies may die within 12 hours. Stool specimens
also are not 100 percent accurate. If facilities are available, you may
also have more sophisticated disagnostic tests run but even these are not
fail-safe.. Remember, a negative test still does not mean that your
puppies do not have Parvovirus disease ( false negative error) and a
positive test does not always indicate that they do the disease (false
positive). For example, Camphylobacteriosis which is a bacterial, rather
than virus, can produce a low titer for parvovirus. If the puppies are
sick, treat them for the worst case vignette, namely parvovirus.
2. Give electrolyte water orally (pedialyte (nonflavored) or a generic
brand). This helps with dehydration. One breeder gives also gives
defizzed Coca-Cola for the sugar it contains.
3. Give fluids subcutaneously according to the weight of the puppy. Your
veterinarian will know the proper amount. However, a rough measure is two
big lumps of fluid under the skin. Dehydration is one of the major reasons
parvovirus puppies die so fluid treatment is extremely important.
4. To help fight infection, we used Cefadroxil. We used this for two
reasons. First because it was a medication we had not used before. Second,
a bacteria infection (Camphylobacteriosis) is responsive to this
medication. Camphylobacteriosis mimics many of the symptoms of
parvovirus. In fact, Camphylobacteriosis sometimes titers as alow titer
parvovirus. But it is "bacterial" and should be treated immediately with
"Keflex". Treating as parvovirus ends up with dead puppies. If it is
indeed Camphy, the puppies will have an almost immediate recovery, and if
not the keflex won't hurt.
5. To boost the general immune system, we gave all the puppies Indo Serum.
It is also called Septi serum. In the Northwest, sources for this are MWI
Veteranary Supply ( 1 800 824-3703). A second source is Pro Vet at 1 800
562-7758.
6. To help with intestinal upset, we also gave banamine (1 and no more
than 2 doses).
7. One problem with Parvovirus is that the white cell count drops
dramatically. Therefore we also gave the very sick puppies plasma
(preferred over whole blood as there is less of problem of reaction). In
the Northwest, we got the plasma from the Emerald City Blood Bank. Check
with your veteranarian for the Canine blood bank in your area. A source
of blood is the dam of the puppies. You will not have time to do a blood
match, but the dam is most likely to have compatible blood.
8. There is also a new experimental drug called Neopogen that is being
used that is already in use for humans. This drug boosts the white cell
count. (A rule of thumb would be to use this if the white cell count drops
below 1,000). It can be secure from a human pharmacy. The usefulness of
this drug on canines is untested.
9. To help boost the immune system directly against Parvovirus,
veterararians such as Dr. Jean Dodds recommends that you shoujld
administer plasma from a Hyper Immune dog. A hyper immune dog is one
which has been over vaccinated against parvovirus (usually 4 times in one
year). Again, some vets thinks this is a lot of "bunk." However, it makes
sense to me in that these dogs have increased antibodies against
parvovirus.
Sources for Hyperimmune dogs are:
a. If the mother's titer is high, you can use plasma from her. This is the
most convenient source of plasma..
b. An over-vaccinted dog. Such a dog has been vaccinated at least four
times in one year against Parvovirus. Some veterinarians keep such dogs
in their kennels. I will have my own dog at home. Getting plasma versus
blood takes planning. If time is of the essence, you may also use whole
blood. But remember you risk the possibility that the blood will not match
and you will get a reaction. However, it is my understanding that dogs
such as greyhounds are universal donors.
c. Secure Hyper Immune serum from a blood bank (be sure that it is Hyper
Immune serum). We lost a day of treatment waiting for what we thought was
Hyper Immune serum when it was really Indo Serum. One blood bank that I
know has Hyperimmune serum is a nonprofit blood bank operated by Dr. Jean
Dodds in California. She uses rescue greyhounds as they have great veins.
They have some plasma each day but quantities are limited. It costs about
$90 per unit plus shipping. The name of her establishment is HEMOPET 714
252-8455.
We treated all puppies with this protocol and had no further incidents.
After Care of Parvo Puppies
Since having this outbreak of parvovirus, I have noticed that puppies who
were exposed appear to have somewhat compromised imune systems. One puppy
who had been very sick got mange (which I have never had before). Another
puppy had problems digesting protein and needed short term medical care
for that ailment. A third puppy(the one that was extremely sick) has not
grown to the same size as all her litter mates. Whether these are
incidental ailments or a byproduct of a compromised immune system, I do
not know.
--------
Vandra L. Huber, PhD is a breeder of Scottish Terriers and a provisional
AKC judge of scottish terriers. She has bred more than 25 American
champions and has had a scottish terrier ranked in the top 10 for the past
10 years. Her scottish Terrier Ch. Gaelforce Postscript "Peggy Sue" was
the 1995 Best in Show winner of the Westminster Kennel Club show. Peggy
Sue's babies were one of the two litters to get sick from parvovirus. Dr.
Huber is proud to say that all five Peggy Sue puppies are doing well.
When she is not shwoing her scotties, Dr. Huber is a professor of human
resources at the University of Washington's School of Business
Administration.