# parvo story



## ivyagogo (Sep 11, 2007)

This is from my Duran Duran message board. Poor thing.

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This week has been a week of mixed blessings, but I am positively heartbroken today.

Most of you recall that I adopted a second dog, Roscoe.

According the the rescue we adopted him from, he had had his shots.....

.....Roscoe had parvo. He lived 24 hours after we got him.

Then, Bailey got sick. I nursed him, took him to the vet everyday. Shots, fluids, I learned to do it at home.

Last night when I got home from school, Bailey was in a stupor. I cried till I thought I would get sick, and Bill put his arms around me and told me he thought it was time to put an end to Bailey's suffering. It was obvious he wasn't going to live.

I couldn't do it.....Bill drove him to the emergency animal hospital, and sat with him until he went to sleep. He brought me back an impression of Bailey's paw.

We have to wait a year before we can get another dog. This time, I am going to a county animal shelter, or the ASPCA. 

Today, I had to go take an SAT to get into the nursing program. The girls had to be left with their grandmother; they were far too upset to go to school. 

Christopher has been sick. I am still sick with an inner ear infection, and the pressure of nursing and watching my poor puppy when he was so sick has broken me.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Yikes, I knew a couple who lived in our condo community who got a puppy from petland with parvo. So sad


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

That's really sad. Do you know how old the dogs were? Parvo is brutal to puppies and can be fatal, but _most adult dogs survive it_, especially if they have had the vaccine. I believe that treatment in the first four days of symptoms are the most crucial for survival.

I think I posted here about my neighbor who picked up a puppy from a pet store that came down with Parvo the day she brought him home and he died the following day. She had two older dogs that were fine, but she opted to not get another dog after that.


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## micki2much (Feb 8, 2007)

Our first dog, Chooch, I got from the pound for my DH when we were first married. She had parvo, she got sick just after getting her home, we took her to our vet (who we still use 25 years later), after 4 sleepless nights, and ALOT of money that we did not have (being first married and not the best of jobs) she got better. We visited her every night, I remember the heart break so clearly!!!! She did recover and we had MANY happy years with her!!! This is such a sad story...my heart goes out to those people


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## ivyagogo (Sep 11, 2007)

I don't know how old either dog was. It's such a sad story.


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## The Fussy Puppy Gang (May 21, 2007)

Oh that poor family! Especially the little ones. So sad.

Years ago we brought home an 8-year old golden from the shelter. He began vomiting and bleeding out within 24-hours of arriving and less than 8-hours later he was dead from parvo. Because we were an active rescue at the time we had to treat our entire yard - wherever he might have peed/pooed/etc. with a bleach/water mix to kill the virus. We destroyed everything that we used for him and his crate to avoid exposure to future foster dogs.

Parvo can live in the soil for more than a year! Just be aware.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

We had a puppy that had all her parvo shots and never left our backyard. She came down with parvo and we found out that the people next door had gotten a puppy from the pound that unknowingly had parvo. Our dog it from over a 5 foot block wall. 
I too sat in the kennel with the dog at the vets for days. 

Then we brought her home and fed her teaspoons of baby food. After a long while she got better. Then when she was about 3 years old her tummy would swell up like a balloon and she had to have it pumped. This happened over and over. The vet said it was because her intestines were ruined from the parvo.

She eventually had to be put down. It was terrible. DH and I do not think we would ever go to the extremes we did again to make a dog live when it had a severe case of parvo.

And here we had done all that was possible to protect this dog. Who would have ever thought the people next door would bring a parvo puppy home and our dog would get it from the air!

Carole


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## Lunastar (Feb 9, 2009)

Wow that is scary to think a neighbor dog can spread it. I had a Golden many years ago that survived parvo, long before there was a vacine for it. I thought the vaccine was to prevent parvo, you mine can still get parvo even though they are vaccinated


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

I understand it is very very contagious . That is why I get so nervous when I have to go to the vet . You just never know if they have had a sick infected puppy ..
They laugh at me but I l aways take them in the stroller .
I am so sorry to hear of your loss .. Sometimes life is just not fair ..


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

This is so heartbreaking. I am sorry for the family's loss. 

Carole, it was scary to read how your puppy was infected by Parvo.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Very sad. Now it makes me wonder if we should take Scooter to the park with us. We take him to the kid's games and there are lots of other people there with dogs. I bring him to practices too, we usually take a long walk. I'm scared to take him now, too many people are irresponsible.


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

This is so sad.....

Doc goes in for his rabies shot tomorrow and his boosters. This might be a good place to ask again what it is that Havanese are advised not to get in the way of shots. I know many do tiders, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I am going to spread out his shots, but need a reminder on what to avoid.


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## ivyagogo (Sep 11, 2007)

It's my understanding that parvo infects puppies much more than full grown dogs who have already had shots and developed anti-bodies.


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## marb42 (Oct 19, 2008)

What a heartbraking story! I hope they find a healthy dog. 
Gina


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## Eva (Jun 20, 2008)

How sad 
My SIL lost a puppy to parvo several years ago.
Their Vet told them that there was nothing that they could do for him and so they put him to sleep...afterwards they found out that it could have been treated and they were devestated that they weren't given a chance to at least TRY to save him. 
He was such a sweet puppy.....

If a dog is vaccinated how likely is it that they will catch Parvo if they are exposed???
Anyone know??


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Eva, according to Jean Dodds, DVM, it is not uncommon to catch Parvovirus after the vaccine, but adults will most likely still survive (if treated). The vaccines generally cover two strains: 2a and 2b. There is a newer strain of Parvovirus, 2c, and there is no vaccine for that yet; however, if your dog has had the vaccine (2a and 2b), they will usually survive 2c.

_The full identities of the strains are CPV-2a, CPV-2b and CPV-2c. I believe CPV stands for Canine Parvovirus._


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Eva, there are more than one strains of parvo. Dogs are only vaccinated against the two (I think it's two) most common/most lethal ones. This is the same thing with a lot of human vaccines too. The flu shot, for example, will vaccinate you against the most common types of the flu virus, but you can still get the flu from other strains. So even though your dog is vaccinated he can still get the other kinds of parvo that exist.

That is a really sad story but I'm confused as to why the older dog (I'm assuming Bailey was older) died? It's very unlikely that a grown dog will die of parvo as they should be able to fight the infection (along with vet care). Like Kimberly said above, puppies will die from parvo but dogs are much much less likely to. Unless Bailey was already sick or had a lowered immune system from another infection? Regardless, I feel really horrible for this family. I don't know what I would do if I lost one dog, let alone two!


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Kimberly, we cross-posted!


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Ha ha - same info with different ways of presenting it! 

By the way, I've heard a lot of people in the veterinary community refer to Parvo as "a puppy killer" because it is so much harder on puppies.


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

Yes this is the one I have been warned about .. 
They had a large outbreak down in Southern California and the desert last year and I was cautioned to be very very careful with my dogs while I was here in the desert .. .. 
It is my understanding that this is the reason you are told not to put the puppies down on the floor in the vets offices and other pet facilities such as pet shops .. At one time people were so concerned about Distemper but Parvo has surpassed it . I think that the strain C is the one that was here as they said there was no cure and it was highly contagious . 
I did not take my dogs many places that other dogs frequent after that . I am happy that I have two dogs so they keep themselves entertained and have one another to play with .. 
I would have never imagined a dog from a rescue would have Parvo . You can never be too sure ..
Maybe the Obamas should rethink their plan and reconsider getting a rescue .. This scenario would be devastating to those little girls .
In the long run it might be better to err on the side of caution and buy a dog from a reputable breeeder ..


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