How to Help a Puppy With Parvo

River has been an online writer for over 10 years. Her articles often focus
on pet care.

Read on to learn how you can help your new friend manage the awful parvovirus.

Justin Veenema

What Is Parvo?

Parvo (aka Canine Parvovirus) is an extremely contagious virus. It attacks the
lining of a dog’s intestines, leaking poisons into their system and causing
sepsis. Parvo is such a tenacious virus that, if your dog is an inside dog,
everything that your dog has touched (and everything he/she might have
touched) must be thoroughly bleached, disinfected, etc. Even then, the
Parvovirus is so strong that you can’t really assume that even the strongest
cleaners have taken care of it. However, bleach is the best thing to use.

Even when your dog is just going to go potty, the Parvo that is in your dog’s
feces stays in the ground for a few months and even up to a year. Parvo is
very durable against the elements. It can stay alive in dog feces for over
three months from the time the dog had that particular bowel movement. It’s
even been suggested that it can survive up to nine months.

Is It Fatal?

Parvo has quite a high mortality rate, but it doesn’t always come from the
virus itself. Most deaths resulting from Parvo have been from dehydration.

What the Parvovirus Looks Like

Here’s a view of Parvovirus under a microscope.

Symptoms of Canine Parvovirus

Canine Parvovirus can infect any dog of any age, but puppies under the age of
six months can be particularly susceptible to the disease, especially if the
owner has not been able to get them their vaccinations. The following are some
common symptoms to watch out for:

Depression: Your dog will be lethargic, have very little energy or interest in anything, and will appear just flat-out mopey. They’ll even have a dull, lifeless quality to their eyes.
Lack of Appetite: This is **** especially noticeable when you know that your dog is practically a vacuum and garbage disposal when it comes to food. But even if your dog doesn’t have a voracious, lusty appetite normally, you can still observe this when you go to feed your dog at the normal time and they just don’t want to eat. My dog just kinda poked her nose at her food for the barest second, and I couldn’t get her to eat.
Vomiting: A lot of times when a dog has Parvo, they can’t even hold down water. This is very dangerous. I can’t stress that enough.
Diarrhea/Bloody Stool: The most telling symptom of Parvo is the bloody stool. My first dog that had Parvo had this kind of diarrhea. It was very liquidy and quite bloody, and it stank more than feces normally does.

Seeking Veterinary Treatment for Your Dog

When my puppy, Sophia, got Parvo, I was completely stunned and didn’t know
what to do. I saw in her the same symptoms that my last puppy, Echo, had had.
I hadn’t even had Echo for a week before she died. She’d caught the Parvo from
the animal shelter we’d gotten her from, and by the time it showed itself,
there wasn’t really anything that could be done. We’d tried taking her to a
vet, but unfortunately, since we didn’t have the almost $1,000 right there on
the spot for the treatments they had recommended (I still hate Banfield to
this day), they denied Echo the care that she deserved.

With Sophia, I called a nearby vet. He couldn’t really see Sophia, either, but
he was sympathetic, and he explained to me that there’s not really a whole lot
that vets can do, anyway. He explained to me, as I mentioned earlier, that the
big killer where it comes to Parvo is dehydration and malnutrition. The best
vets can do for a dog with parvo is manage their symptoms in various ways.

Please Remember

Be sure to consult your vet before trying any of the following tactics!

Advice From My Vet: What to Do When Your Dog Has Parvo

Here is where I pass along to you what my vet told me when Sophia had Parvo.

1. Keep Your Dog Hydrated!

This can’t really be done with water, however. If you notice that your pet
can’t even hold down water, then you don’t want to try to give them water OR
food, as that will get your pet into a drink/vomit cycle that will take more
and more out of her/him.

Go to your local grocery store and get some Swanson’s Chicken Broth and some
Children’s Pedialyte. These have electrolytes that your dog needs to stay
hydrated as well as the fact that the Swanson’s Chicken Broth has nutrients
that will keep your dog from getting malnourished.

Give your dog a small portion, between a teaspoon and a cup, of the Swanson’s
Chicken Broth every three hours. Sophia needed quite a bit of coaxing. I think
it was partly because of the nausea as well as the depression. We’ll get to
that in a minute.

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2. Get Pepto Bismol Tabs

The Pepto tabs can help your dog with the nausea and vomiting so that they can
keep the broth and Pedialyte down. Give your dog a half a Pepto tab 2 times a
day.

3. Give Your Dog Love and Attention

And, just as important as the above two: Give your dog lots of lovin’s and
attention. Depression in a dog, in my opinion, can be even more dangerous than
depression in a human, especially when the dog is sick. Dogs, by their very
natures, are happy creatures, so to see a depressed dog is to see a dog who
has forgotten why it is that they need to live, to try to get over their
sickness, etc. Not to mention that when a dog has Parvo, the misery they must
be suffering from the disease probably isn’t helping them.

So, as often as you are able, go be with your puppy. Hold her/him, pet them,
and talk to them. Believe it or not, but your dog can understand you. Talk to
her/him of the memories you have with them, when it was that you first saw
them and knew that they were the companion for you. Talk to them of all the
things that you look forward to doing.

Remind them of all the reasons why they can’t give up and let the sickness
take them over. Remind them of what it would do to you to lose them, what it
would do to your family. Tell them of places that you want to go with them,
sights that you want them to see. For instance, if you’ve got an upcoming
vacation to the beach, tell them about the ocean, what the sand feels like and
how you just KNOW that they would love to play in the surf. Stuff like that.

Tell them how much you love them most of all. Dogs thrive on love and
affection, so give them what they thrive on. Your dog deserves nothing less
from you.

My Experience With My Puppy, Sophia

When I went through this with my puppy, Sophia, I noticed improvement the next
day. I didn’t have to encourage her so much to drink the broth; she went right
to it on her own, and I noticed more pep and energy in her. So I took it upon
myself to try to see if she would be able to hold something a little more
solid in her stomach.

Now either she wasn’t ready for it or she just didn’t like it, but I tried
making an egg and meat shake for her. I put in slices of turkey deli meat and
2 eggs into my Magic Bullet (hopefully you have a blender or something like
that) and ground it up until it was almost a liquid. I ended up dipping my
finger in it and putting it on her tongue. It would really help if you have a
feeding syringe or a turkey baster.

Eggs are really good for dogs, they’ve got lots of protein and other nutrients
that dogs need. And I prefer to use turkey or some kind of poultry like
chicken. Poultry deli meat is already cooked and poultry is rich in iron,
which is good for dogs. It helps replenishes what they’ve lost with the blood
they’ve lost in their stool. Mind you, the point of these shakes is not to
fill them up; it’s to give them just enough so that they’re still getting
nutrients that they need. You don’t want to force them to eat too much,
otherwise they might start the vomit cycle all over again.

Keep up this routine (the Broth and/or Pedialyte, the Pepto tabs, and the
egg/meat shakes) until you notice your dog’s energy coming back. When they
look like they’re pretty much back to their normal selves, start introducing
solid food back to them in small portions, gradually increasing it back to
what you normally give to them over a couple of days.

Stay Hopeful and Keep Your Dog Hydrated

In conclusion, while Parvo is an extremely nasty disease that does often have
a high mortality rate, you still have hope even if you can’t afford to take
your dog to the vet. The biggest thing to remember is to keep your dog
hydrated. That can’t be stressed enough. By keeping your dog hydrated and
giving him/her lots of love and attention, you give your dog a fighting
chance. Just help him/her to remember not to give up.

Blessed be and good luck.

Parvo Poll

Comments

kristine on July 20, 2020:

guys if you are in the Philippines its really dangerous here as there are many
stray dogs.Also the treatment in the Philippines is way less around 200-300
dollars.

seth on September 08, 2019:

why should a dog attack with parvo after vacation against if

Jaslene DeLeon on June 11, 2019:

My dogs dying slowly

Sara keen on August 08, 2018:

I have a parvo pup and he just started eating on his own again thank god ..
but shlukd i lwt him jisy eat what he wants or only a little bit of the
chicken stage2 baby foods

hilary on June 10, 2018:

I have 3 dogs in the house. an 8 yr old but completed vaccination and 2
puppies that are 6 months old both came from the same litter. My female puppy
Peanut was recently suffered from the virus and i made sure that she’s
isolated from everybody, she’s kept in the bathroom and closed door and i kept
the whole house disinfected by bleaching the whole floor and a wet rug with
bleach on every door so every time people come in and out will have to step in
the wet rug first. Anyway, Peanut survived it’s now 6 day since she was down
with the virus but still i keep her in the other room. I gave her pedialyte
and activated charcoal and pepto, while she was sick and feeding her with
pumpkin soup with chicken broth. I know that she will still be lethargic for a
while but how long do i have to keep giving her the activated charcoal and
pedialyte? Although her stool is still soft but doesn’t stink like a smell of
death anymore. Now, my other puppy Pepper is showing the same symptoms and i
isolated him right away and now in the bathroom and vomiting and having
diarrhea too. I’m afraid that my older dog will get it too, so i’m keeping her
in our bedroom now and if she needs to go outside i let her use our front yard
as my puppies had been using the backyard.

Ruben on March 12, 2018:

I have an 11 week old English Bulldog and before today he’s been active,
running around, being a puppy but today he’s to himself and not active. He’s
had his first two shots and dewormed. Does anyone know or have experienced
this? Thanks.

Kaitlyn Tan on December 02, 2017:

My 15 week old Kerry Blue Terrier puppy is about 10 pounds and has had
diarrhea for about 5-6 days. He has vomited once and has had blood in his
stool twice on different days. His poop also smells and he is really gassy. He
is constantly drinking water and needs to pee every time he drinks water he
also pees in the house constantly I have had him for about 4-5 weeks.

Ruben on December 01, 2017:

Took my puppy to get first treatment and Don’t have money for the next 2
treatments . But today my puppy is drinking water and his skin is not renkoly.
Today is the fourth day

Miranda on November 19, 2017:

My 14 week old pup got diagnosed with Parvo Friday afternoon. Once she threw
up 10 times in a row within a 20 minute span we knew something was wrong. She
did have diahrea but there wasn’t any blood. We immediately took her to the
emergency vet, where they did a parvo snap test which came back positive.
After recieving a quote of over $5000 we did everything to get the money to
get her the treatment. Thankfully we had signed up for a trial of pet
insurance a week earlier and they were so amazing and covered 80% of the
costs. Esko was immediately put on IV fluids and given an antibiotic, she was
placed in isolation. She still continued to have lots of energy and had an
appetite. She was in the hospital for 32 hours and they told us she was doing
so amazing and taking to the treatment and her white blood cell count was up
which meant it was fighting the virus, it is very typical for the count to be
down since their little bodies can start to shut down. So when we went for our
visit they decided to discharge her!!!! She’s here at home with us now resting
and acting like her normal self!! We are very strict about continuing her
medication routine.

It’s very important to clean and sterilize each day with bleach to help get
rid of the virus.

I’m so glad that we took her to the hospital for something that seems a small
silly as vomiting. If we didn’t do this and waited she might of not had that
much time left.

Please vaccinate your dogs, and remember nothing is to small to bring your
puppy to the vet. It won’t harm them if anything it could save there life.

candace on October 23, 2017:

My dog is vomiting no energy and won’t eat or drink. Should I force feed him
water even if he don’t want water I have a medical syringe ?

Jackie p on October 15, 2017:

So one of my puppy was was positive for parvo but we have another puppy that
has shown no signs of parvo and they have done everything together is there a
chance that she could bypass this horrible sickness?

Danielle Smith on October 12, 2017:

Our 4 month old Catahoula puppies both had it- one died within 48 hours but
his brother survived with lots of babying, chicken broth baby ibuprofen and
ampicillin

Lue xiong on June 12, 2017:

OK here’s my Experience with parvo, as you all may know parvovirus is a really
deadly contagious disease pass on by other puppies or dogs poop, 10 days ago I
took my 5 months old American bully puppy to a park, when we were at the park
he played with at least three other dogs, it was a Thursday night, I Came home
everything was normal until the next day I notice he wasn’t eating much Friday
night, but I figure it was nothing maybe he didn’t feel like eating until
Saturday morning when I woke up and saw that he had poop and puke inside his
cage, after washing him up I gave him food and he didn’t want to eat anymore
even his his favorite food raw ground beef, normally he would kill this ground
beef like there’s no other day, I even put it inside of his mouth by he spit
it back out like to was old or something, at that point I was thinking to
myself hey” that ground beef was nice I just got it Friday night wth is wrong,
so he pooped out blood along with poop later on that day, along with drinking
a lot water but puking back up every minute after drinking. Sunday came around
and he did the same thing. I finally said F this I’m taking him to see a vet
Monday morning, when we got to the vet the told me to carry him inside a room
were one of the nurse came in, therefore we did a test to swab his butt. The
nurse stepped out and 10 minutes later she came in the room. I’m say to say
this but your puppy his parvo! It was such a disappointment to me that He had
caught parvovirus from the park, the weekend before this week he was just fine
at the BRC show where he won Best exotic puppy in show. Now knowing that he
got parvo They gave him injections meds and antibiotic IV and IV fluid. Pay
$450 for the first total visit, Came home afterward my puppy still feel like
crap didn’t want to eat and didn’t want to drink since he had a lot of IV
inside his body. Tuesday morning I went in and did the same thing, shots,
meds, IV water. About $300 so I told them the bills are getting a bit high, I
need to do something else on my own I told the doctor that I had a lot of
breeders and families giving me input at home, told the doctor to trust me
that I can do the IV by myself at home. Just in case you guys didn’t know IV
is like $120 each time if they do it, if I were you guys? I would just let the
doctor do it the first time then on the second time just do it yourself,
you’ll save at least $300. Tell them to give you a IV kit along with the IV
water, should run you about $30 to $40. Just go in for the meds and shots, for
the IV water you can do it at home. Came home and did a lot research on
Tuesday’ went and got some Pedialyte, nutri cal, remember those pills that the
doctor gave you! Force it down no matter what and give him the Pedialyte and
nutri cal three times a day, by hand or a syringe. Keep those IV on his back
going for three to four days, 300 to 400mg each day. Until you can see that
he/she is doing better, never gave up on him or her. Bleach the place where
the dog sleep, eat, poop, pee at everyday until 12 days after eating, drinking
and pooping fine, by that time he should be Parvo free.

Ps. If you don’t have the money still go in for the shots and meds it will
help a lot! Anybody can do the IV water at home it’s pretty simple, save you a
good $300 to $400 think me later 😉

Sandra on June 12, 2017:

My puppy had his vaccines in April, could he still get parvo? How often should
I give broth n pedialyte, he’s 4 months old

Destiny on April 16, 2017:

My puppy’s on medication. Is it still okay to give him the pepto bismol?

Hef on February 25, 2017:

My 4/5 month old puppy was diagnosed with Parvo on Friday. I too do not have
the money needed for an emergency vet to give him the treatment needed. I
stayed up with him all nite feeding him water n chicken broth. Loving him m
letting him n both of us sleeping on the couch. Yesterday he had to be carried
out to potty. Today he seems a bit better. Drinking some broth n water on his
own n able to stand up n go out to potty without help. He has not vomitted or
had diarrhea at all. I did not know about the Pepto! He has ate a couple
pieces of his puppy food. Is he gonna b ok or is he going to get worse??? Any
advice is welcomed!

Shame on you on October 11, 2016:

Denying your dog veterinary care due to financial reasons is basically animal
abuse. If you can’t afford vet care don’t get a dog.Part of being a
responsible pet owner is allowing money for emergencies! If a dog gets
infected with parvo it’s because YOU as the owner did not follow proper
vaccination protocol recommended by a vet. Shame on you. Dogs count on us to
protect them. If you don’t have the cash apply for a Care Credit card. If you
have recently gotten a puppy keep them at home and away from unvaccinated dogs
until they have completed all of their vaccination series. The survival rate
for parvo is 70 percent with veterinary treatment. I wish I knew where some of
these people lived because I would like to turn a few in for animal cruelty
and neglect!!!! Disgusting!!!!! If you adopt a dog that already had it
unbeknownst to you get it treatment. I takes 7_14 days from infection for
symptoms to show so most shelters do not adopt out dogs that are sick. This
whole page should be deleted tons of horrible cruel cheap at home treatments
and terrible advice from stupid people.

wendy on April 08, 2016:

My puppy has Parvo, he is 7 weeks old and in Isolation intensive care unit at
my veterinary hospital. I’ve had very conflicting reports from various vets at
the practice and nursing staff. He developed symptoms after 24 hour of joining
our family.

I’ve seen him today through a window and although the vets say his responding
to treatment but i’m also constantly reminded of the amount that the bill is
at currently £767 in three day’s.

I will do anything to keep our Chalkie (a West Highland White terrier) alive.
I’d like to know the UK eqlivients to the treatments that you recommend he
looks so frail sad and weak. Please help

Johnf290 on August 12, 2014:

Hi Dear, are you in fact visiting this website daily, if so then you will
definitely take fastidious knowledge. aafbkddaeegg

angie on March 13, 2014:

Hopefully your puppy made it. I nursed my dog when he was younger with mostly
chicken broth and love. I didn’t even know what he had but didn’t have money
to take to vet so I would just add broth to food hoping he would be temptrd to
eat. He would drink broth mostly and I gave him water and just begged him to
get better. He dis get better and he is almost three years old now.

Carey on March 04, 2014:

Our female puppy got parvo and she was really sick but after we medicated her
and loved up on her for two days she was running around and eating again. (The
vet confirmed it was parvo) I tried to keep our other puppy safe but he has it
too and I’m trying to care for them both. My puppy seems worse than my
boyfriends puppy (who caught it first.) I’m really scared because his tummy
keeps making loud noises and after the first vet bill we’re negative in the
bank so we can’t buy pedialyte like was recommended. He just seems sicker than
my other puppy… What do I do?

Sofia on February 09, 2014:

My 9 week old long haired chihuahua showed symptoms of parvo last Thursday. I
took her to vet Friday morning where she was diagnosed and stayed for the rest
of the day. It was too costly to do overnight care so I took her home Friday
night and she stayed all day Saturday at the vet. Decided to love on her all
day today instead of taking her to the vet which is starting to get expensive.
She is unable to keep anything done poor baby keeps vomitting. Thankful for no
diarrhea, however. Taking her back to the vet first thing in the morning don’t
know how she is going to do. She’s my first puppy ever and I’m devastated.

my pup had parvo on February 02, 2014:

hello every1. I have black female Labrador. last week she had diarrhoea
vomiting. she started vomiting at night. we thought she might have eaten
something. next day she was having diarrhoea with no blood. we took her to vet
where she was given injections and syrup. same day she diarrhoea become
intense and it was of green colour. we thought that she will be fine as we
took her to vet that day. next day she stopped eating food. she used to take
water but after few minutes she threw it off. late night wen she went for poo
I saw that it was only blood. I knew about parvo virus before this. so I
called vet to verify that is it parvo symptoms or not. we got the answer
“yes”. next morning we took her to vet where it was concluded that she is
having parvo. vet stated iv fluide and 3 injections named rantac, perinorm,
amikacine and the main was amoxicillin (petromox or amoxirum forte). we
brought her home back. my mom is nurse and she decided to carry on the same
treatment at home. for continues 1 week morning and night 2 times a day we
gave the same treatment. she is fit and fine now. running all around barking.
no blood in stool. no vomiting. PARVO IS TREATABLE. just don’t worry give
him/her proper treatment according to vet. and be with him/her. they need our
love support too. I used to talk a lot with my pet. I didn’t let her down from
bad accept for urine and poo. we used to pray a lot for her. ur faith in god
is also important for them. I m thankfull to god and this website for giving
me proper guidance in treating this severe diseases.

Becky Hutson on January 31, 2014:

This is the most horrible thing I have ever seen and went thru my 6 month old
German Shepherd Sasha was diag. Tuesday vet gave her two antibiotic shots
nausea shot fluids by next day she was doing great we were also sent home with
antibiotics and nausea med she had in proved so much wensday eating some
playing and drinking water wensday night she took a turn for the worst and
died Thursday morning it is still unbelievable vet said intestine probably
ruptured which can happen at any time and poo gets in the blood stream I pray
all your dogs make it and get better the saddest thing a dog could ever get

jeni on January 26, 2014:

My 7 week cocker spaniel, that I bought only 6 days ago, started to be
lethargic today. My daughter and I rushed him to the emergency clinic just
hours ago where they diagnosed him with parvo. I’m so sad and can’t stop
crying. We have already bonded and can’t lose him. They are keeping him
overnight and our bill is $650!! We have to transfer him to another clinic in
the morning. I’ve read all your posts, and will try them all to keep our baby
alive. Please pray for our puppy named,” Hershey! ” I know he is going to have
a tough road ahead.

Yvonne on July 11, 2013:

Don’t forget about making sure their sugar levels are normal as well as their
temperature! Parvo makes a puppy’s temperature drop and if it goes below 96,
the puppy will no survive. You need to keep your puppy warm with some warm
towels as well as some king of water balloons under the towel that you can
constently microwave. Sugar level is also as important as the hydration! Two
of my puppies went into shock and died because their level went below 25. You
need to constantly give them Karol Dark Syrup. 1 cc every hour at least. I
wish I would have known before and I could have saved my pups 🙁

sarah on May 02, 2013:

ok question my dog was sick for 4 days never had any of the throwing up or
pooping yet he wouldn’t eat or drink so i got some pedialight and some wet dog
food but was shoving it in his mouth and then the same day took him to the vet
and they told me that he had pravo well that night i had done what they told
me to do and he was eating and drinking on his on the next day and jumping and
playing around but still gave him the pills till they were all gone…..so did
my dog have parvo or did he just have a stomic bug cuz i don’t think he had
parvo at all

Joey86 on February 22, 2013:

I am fighting this battle at the moment. It’s been five days

Mackenzie Sage Wright on January 11, 2013:

This is great info. I’ve always wondered what it was, though my dogs never had
it , it was always one of those scary words you were supposed to watch out
for. You give such excellent information here.

lauren on October 28, 2012:

We picked up a puppy who we named tucker yesterday, he was super lethargic and
everyone said he had a chill personalitu…but then his stool was mucus and
blood tinged, so we took.him to the vet…but what makes me nervous is we just
got him the same day all this happened so i dony want him to think we just
left him and wanted him to be tortured at the vet i want him to kmow we love
him and have so many plans for him in the.future. i just am mervous he wont
try to fight it for us please everyonr pay for tucker!!!!!!! or

Ashlee on July 26, 2012:

My puppy has had parvo since monday he is 8weeks old.. They only took him in
lastnight and did the test for him TODAY though?? he was very very weak and
could barely walk.. They’ve got him on a drip & giving him vitamins. We phoned
before and they said he has NOT been sick today, has poo’ed once and his temp
and heart rate are back to normal. I’ve got everyone i know praying for him.
He is so small and fragile i just hope he can fight it. They are keeping him
in for at least 3days.. its costing so much but i’d sell my house if it meant
getting him better. Im just so scared of how to handle all this IF he makes it
out?? It all sounds like this parvo can stay around & i’d be devastated to
bring him out all ok and him catch it again 🙁

sucetta baggett on July 19, 2012:

MY DOG LIVED !!!!:) keep him very continuously hydrated the more fluids the
better and remember gatorade has lots of carbohydrates in it or pedialyte and
if you can make him eat .. raw egg or chicken broth you may have to force it
down its throat with a seringe. my vet told me the raw egg is full of protien
and would help him liven keep your dog cold its hard for thr virus ( parvo )
to live in the cold so keep your dog under the air conditioner hope this helps
……

straight pure bleach is the only thing to kill the parvo virus so clean
everything the dog can touch or will touch and please be careful not to use it
inappropriately … only clean your items with it this is what i cleaned as an
example …. floors, doors, toilet, bottom cabinets, baseboards, porch,…..

Roman. on June 26, 2012:

i have a 2month old wennie dog and i think she has parvo. Will this help her
get better cuz i dot have any funds to take her to the vet?

randy on June 24, 2012:

myfour months french poodle died last night from parvo. She was at the vet the
whole time since she initiated the diareah. They gave him everything.she
fiught four 5 days and then gave up. Im in costa rica and here you can treat
your dog for 5 days for 100 dollars. But it didn’t make a difference. Now her
brother is also at the vet with parvo. He initiated symtoms 5 days later. that
wa a horrible death after 4 agonizing days. What she never goth was foood of
any kind. She just vomitted a few times a day and pooped once a day. We
visited her twice day Could have the lack of food be the cause of death.

KYStokley on June 21, 2012:

Jazmine…I tried getting Cherokee to take the pedalite and or gatorade but
failed. I went right to the vet at the first signs. I was given an IV bag and
needles. Did that 2 times a day. And a tummy medicine. After 4 days of doing
that, I am happy to report Cherokee is doing awesome. I am slowly working in
his reg puppy food (Blue buffalo) with the boiled chicken and rice. Boy he is
def better…Prays and best wishes to you and your Pitbull!!!!

Jazmine on June 20, 2012:

my 11 week old pitbull I believe has parvo this will be day 2 of all the above
named symptoms , throwing up , diarehha , etc .started the gatorade and brot
hvnt tried the pepto p%lls yet , but he had worms previous n is still on the
meds and is scheduled for a dose tmrw . I just need help and hope its not to
late . Please please help me .

KYStokley on June 20, 2012:

I have been dealing with parvo in my 3 month old Chihuahua, my very first
puppy. I had been feeding him Blue Buffalo foods and had taken him to the vet
for his first rounds of vacc. 3 days later he ended up not eating, laying
around not playing and would not eat. My husbands ex had brought home a puppy
to her house without taking to the vet first. Well the puppy died 3 days
later. So I can only assume my “Cherokee” got parvo from it being carried over
on my husbands 2 little boys. I went right to the vet and was given something
to help settle his tummy and an IV bag. We gave the tummy medicine 1 time per
day and the IV bag 2 times per day. The vet recommended boiling chicken breast
and making plain old white rice and feed him small amts 5 or 6 times per day.
Well here we are going on 2 weeks since becoming infected, house has been
bleached, clothing, bedding everything scrubbed down and Cherokee is back to
his usual puppy self. I have stopped the IV treatments due to him drinking
like normal. I have reduced his meals to 3 times per day but still giving him
the tummy meds. His poop is finally looking “normal” (maybe just a tad softer
than normal) and he has not thrown up for 3 days. I explained to my vet my
financial situation, he said they have a lot of different donated meds and
lucky for me I did not pay for the meds, just the testing. The best of luck to
all of you and your “babies”

Kenny on June 15, 2012:

Lesley – I think the worms coming out of your dogs butt are from the Parvo
killing them.

antonia on June 11, 2012:

my dog has got parvo in and i wanted to know does it matter on the size in
breed of the dog does the amount change of the chicken broth in the amount of
pedialyte ?

Jessica on June 10, 2012:

My puppy is 4 months old. He is a mini schanauzer and the love of my life. He
started throwing up so I took him to the vet immediately. He has PARVO. They
gave me IV fluids to give to him, nausea injections and antibiotic injections.
He will not eat nor drink. He is not dehydrated All he wants to do is sleep.
He is beginning to foam out the mouth a lot, is it normal? Also he has had
diarreah only 2 times since Thursday and no blood at all. I just forced some
pedialyte and baby food down his throat. Is all this normal? Please help. He
is my baby, follows me everywhere and idk what I’d do without him, he’s
family.

Lucky on June 09, 2012:

You are awesome!!! I have a litter of pups and lost 2 before I read your post.
I was resilient with the pedialyte and broth and pepto with the last 3 until I
was exhausted. It started working by the next day. I just wanted to thank you
for caring enough to share what you did. I surely did not have money for a vet
visit for 3 puppies. They are Great White Pyrenees and I almost lost them all
until I found you. THANK YOU SOSOSOSO MUCH!!

Lesley on June 07, 2012:

My 5 month old Huskie was just diagnosed with Parvo, they started an IV and
gave her 2 shots. Today she seemed somewhat better but now she has worms
coming out of her behind. What do I do about that?

Carmen on June 05, 2012:

In my case the vet prescribed Oral Electrolyte Solution 7cc of a syringe every
hour to avoid dehydration

Knuckles on June 04, 2012:

About how much fluids should I give my dog daily

Carmen on June 04, 2012:

Hello everybody This is the first thing to do if you see any changes in your
puppy behavior TAKE HIM TO THE VET RIGHT AWAY DO NOT WAIT this can help save
your puppy’s life. Last Wednesday 5/31/2012 in the morning I noticed that Maui
my 5 month old chihuahua mix was not acting like herself jumping up and down,
or playing with her toys, she was quited and just laying down she didn’t eat
much but didn’t had diarrhea or vomiting. I took her to the vet next day
(Thursday) after a test she.was diagnosed with parvo. Vet told me I had to
leave her there for treatment but I didn’t have $800.00 to do so. My other
option was treat her in the house he give me Oral Electrolyte Solution to help
with dihadreation I had to give it to her every hour in the hour medicen for
virus or bacteria really don’t know and pills for vomiting. I did this all
Thursday eveing, at night she had blody diarrhea whit a nasty strong odor I
kept giving her the medicine all day Friday and Saturday she didn’t get better
but at least she didn’t get worse which I tought it was good. I’d talked to
her telling her how much a love her, I ‘d hoged her all the time and she slept
with me every night she was sick. Sunday morning I noticed she started getting
up, moving her tail walking a little bit not eating still so I continued
giving her medication by Sunday evening she ate a little bit soft dog food
today Monday morning I took her out and she run and played a little bit I
don’t want her to over do, she is not eating well just yet but she is much
better and we are on the way to de vet for a follow up.

Michelle on June 02, 2012:

My dog levi was about a year old when he got parvo we took him to the vet
twice and they wanted us to take him to the trauma center for the weekend, but
there was no way we could afford it , he was about 6 days into it and I
believe he was probably on his last day we could not even force fluids in
him,so I researched and found that u can give them pedilyte enemas to help
rehydrate them at that time we could not even afford that expense so we gave
him gatorade enemas about every two hours the first night and every 4-6 hrs
the second night by the third day he was sniffen. around for food. It had been
about three years now and he still here.

Norma on May 31, 2012:

is it normal for puppy’s that have parvo to sleep a lot is that good for
them…

Be responsible on May 30, 2012:

Two biggest/most common issues posted on this thread:

1. Cannot afford treatment

2. Dog has no shots

Home treatment has a much lower success rate than veterinary care (vets have a
lot more equipment to keep dogs nourished, hydrated, and to prevent secondary
infection. In my opinion, a responsible pet owner, like a responsible parent,
should abstain from pet ownership until they have the resources necessary to
care for their pets.

Also, take responsibility for the well-being of your pet, and the pets of
others, by getting your dogs and cats vaccinated. Not only does this build
your own pets immunities, but it also prevents them from being able to
transmit viruses to other animals. Granted, even though my puppy who got parvo
had her first round of shots, this was not enough to fully protect her, but it
may help save other dogs in your family if they are all current!

Just remember that when you are getting a pet you are taking a life in your
own hands. Every little life deserves a household who has the resources and
responsibility to care for it! This may sound preachy but its all for love and
preventing more tragic parvo deaths!

Victoria on May 29, 2012:

I have two American Bulldog puppies. Litter mates, 8.5 weeks old. The female
has been with me since she was 4 weeks and we went back and got the male when
they were 6 weeks. He already had diarrhea and the guy we got them from let us
know of it. We thought it could be the cheap dog food Alpo that he was feeding
him. I already dewormed the female, Zoey, so I made sure to keep them apart
until he was wormed. Four days after getting him i took him to the vet and the
vet said he looked good, gave me meds for the worms, and vaccinated him for
the parvo. Eight days later he vomited and right away was lethargic and still
had his diarrhea. Next morning took him straight to the vet and he tested
positive for parvo. I immediately took him to the 24 hour emergency vet and
they started treating him right away. I’m surprised that so many of you did
home treatments which I think is brave. I say this because my Zorro 3rd day in
and he had to have a blood transfusion because he lost a lot of blood with his
stools being bloody. I guess I made the right decision in his case. Money was
not an option for me and my husband. We used the children’s christmas savings
that we had for our pup. I’m a bleach fanatic so every time they did have an
accident right away I bleached that area and then some. I’ve been taking Zoey
everyday (yeah I’m paranoid) for her parvo testing and all came back negative.
Me and the vet are shocked. My question is, will Zoey get it or does she have
some type of immunity because she’s been vaccinated before hand. I heard it
takes 2 weeks for the vaccine to kick in for immunity towards parvo. What
should I do about the yard? Ever since I found out Zorro has parvo I’ve been
taking Zoey in the front yard for her potty.

Jillian on May 29, 2012:

My Dog has parvo right now. the vet said that in a few days she should be
good. the best thing to do if your dog wont keep food and water down is give
he/her iv fluids to fill his/ her stomach and so he/she has enough nutrience.
Good luck all of you parvo victims. 🙁

Kate on May 28, 2012:

My puppy died of parvo.She was months and she had got it from our last dog.I
never noticed she had it until one day i went to give her water and she had a
big chunck or ice on her head.I noticed her shivering and pain.I ran inside
and got her a blanket.I went in her cage and she backed away from me.She
whimpered and i wrapped her in the blanket and let her out.I gave her water
and food but she looked at me.I started to cry(I know that sounds weird for a
grown woman to cry)and told her not to leave me as she ran into the woods.I
looked for hours but no use.I sat posters out and noticed she had the same
problems that day like my dog Zeke did.I looked it up and found parvo.Many
people told me that she didn’t want me to see her die.I have a new dog and
made sure to bleach everything the dog had touched.

kenyanauo on May 26, 2012:

My 3 month old pug has got parvo…I took him to the vet and they gave him
Metoclopramide Hydrochloride(four times already) injection for his vomiting
and the vomiting has reduced considerably unless we make him drink too much
electrolytes at one go. the vet gave metronidazole IV for the last two days.
The doctors gave an anti biotic(ceftriaxone) and he had two shots already
yesterday and the day before that (125 mg/ shot). B-complex liver extract with
vitamin B 12 has also being injected by the vet for the last two days. Inspite
of all this he still got watery and chocolate-brownish stool. Is there
anything I can do apart from giving him his ceftriaxone injection? I also want
to know how much electrolytes and dextrose should i give to meet his
requirement? (he is dehydrated and malnourished because he hasn’t eaten for
three days and we are trying to force feed him with bland baby food) . what
else should i do?

robert hall on May 24, 2012:

My 5 month dog Diesel & I are fighting parvo right now, it’s the 3rd day since
it all started & it isn’t looking good.

I have been giving him pedialyte, baby cereal, & liver. He wouldn’t hold
anything down, so now I’m doing just pedialyte & pepto. It’s been about an hr
since he threw up. I will start the chicken broth next, I hope all this works.

nikki on May 24, 2012:

I just got a 14week old pit puppy. I also have a lab mix who is just under a
year she got parvo when I first got her along with her brother. He didn’t make
it but she did after she fully recovered we got her shots and my new pit puppy
has had his shots as well. What I was wondering is after there shots can they
still catch parvo?

Elizabeth on May 21, 2012:

Recently I had 2 foster puppies get Parvo. The first one with symptoms died (I
did not know he had it), I adopted out the other only to hear a phone call
that the puppy was not eating. They rushed the puppy to the vet and was tested
for Parvo and it was confirmed, only thing I could do is refund the money to
help them pay for the almost $2000 emergency vet!!! Then my OWN puppy got
parvo who I’m keeping and I was so depressed and heart broken as he was
pooping out so much blood but I stayed by his side and always encouraged him,
my mobile vet gave him all his shots and hydration for under $300! Now he’s
finally drinking water mixed with chicken broth on his own and it’s been about
4 days and I believe my baby is going to make it!

BEING POSITIVE REALLY HELPS YOUR PUPPY!

Sue on May 19, 2012:

Our ten week old puppy Lucy was here only two days When she vomited and quit
eating. The next day we had her to the vet where she tested positive for
Parvo.

Our vet kept her four days with ivs and until her stool looked better.

Lucy came home still not eating. Your information helped us so much!

I used a syringe with slippery elm gruel and pedialite. Her teeth were
clenched tight and she hid her face at any food smell. She liked this so she
got 1 or up to 3 mm. every hour the first six hours.

Then I tried baby food chicken and rice. She seemed to like it so I alternated
the two the next 3 hours.

My husband took over. He was feeding our other dog and Lucy lunged for his
food. So he fed her some and she is eating dog food now.

Lucy is seven days in, Still eating carefully. We are hoping her appetite will
continue to improve.

We hope this will help save your puppy too. Thank you all.

marie on May 15, 2012:

I believe my 4 month old german rott Oso has parvo. We took him to the vet
lastnight. 75 dollars for the exam just to talk no weigh, temp or anything.
was very upset he really didn’t care due to the fact we told him we couldn’t
afford a lot of money to treat him So We are starting to treat hom ourselves
at home. went and got chicken broth,pepto, n pedialyte. So I will keep
everyone postef and thanx so much for the well needed advice. I have my faith
n ur advice that Oso will make it.!

VET Help on May 14, 2012:

I was blessed with a Vet who taught me how to give IV Fluids to my foster
puppy…under the shoulder blade skin…and that made BIG difference. Yeah,
the needle cause her a little pain, but it didn’t bleed or leak and she got
better really fast. I’m so grateful to every Vet out there that loves dogs
enough to see and treat a puppy with Parvo…so many will just let them die.

ZoZo on May 14, 2012:

my pups got sick may 1rst they received only 2 treatments i myself don’t have
loads of money it cost me a little over 500$ which is good compared to some
vets.. but after 14days there bouncy,well,solid poop,eating like little greedy
monsters,i didn’t know what sleep was . ALL I DID WAS (Herbal Tea
Treatments)and after they started to make a small comeback i gave them
(PARVAID) omfg it helped A lot ..just have to be determined and patient i had
to isolate my little ones it was horrible they have an older brother who
didn’t gwt it at all but hes being watched..VACCS.SOON AND FAST LOL …i slept
in the room with them and never gave up…i spoiled my pups so much.. they had
a reason to fight..now there better they were allmost DEAD very lifeless ..it
was scary as hell..i would get up and check them to see if they were still
breathing it was that bad..just don’t give up try everthing for them i
did..and now i have my babys again.:))

keisha on May 12, 2012:

I just lost my 10-week old puppy from parvo/dehydration.

Shelly on May 11, 2012:

I followed the advice of the article above…we are now on day five….my
puppy is doing so much better…thanks for the information

angela on May 10, 2012:

Could I use beef broth instead pf chicken broth

hairgon on May 09, 2012:

I have parvo it is though some I feel like givin up.My owner tell to stay
stroung and keep pullin on i do i am getting better sowly

nella on May 07, 2012:

my husbands dog has just been diagnosed with parvo we are on his 4th day and
he still isn’t doing good he has bloody stool andstill vomiting\

ziggy13 on May 07, 2012:

I just wanted to let you all know that i was told that i was given a 50/50
chance of my puppy surviving with the medicine at home snd we couldn’t afford
rhe medicine. My puppy is doing amazing! Pedialite and chicken broth. My vet
told me to use any antibiotic that I had. But a lesser dosage. Luckily I am
awful at taking medication. Make sure to force that pedialite down his/her
throat it maybe hard but it will. save their life!

Noah on May 06, 2012:

Milk replacer

Yessika from Knoxville, Tennessee on April 18, 2012:

We lost Lulu a day after I posted 13 days ago. She seemed to rally and then
went completely downhill. Even after forcing the pedialyte, medicines we
received from the vet, baby food and moist heat. We stayed home from work,
stayed up in shifts over night she just couldn’t make it. Late that second day
she went into what could only be called a coma since she was completely
unresponsive. I held her as she had a seizure and passed away. This has to be
one of the most traumatic events of my life. We did everything we could
possibly do, followed every instruction, and still watched this lively,
beautiful creature just wasting away until our baby was gone. The next time I
get a puppy I will make sure I have enough in my savings for this type of
emergency. We were completely taken off guard.

Kaitlyne on April 17, 2012:

my puppie is 14 weeks old i just noticed today that she was acting funny not
eating drinking wont play just lays around. she has vomited off and on
throught out the day. when she vomits its usually three times in a row. im soo
scared of losing her. i have only had her for a week and she already has it. i
can not afford to pay $1,000 for treatment so i am going to try the home
solutions i really hope she pulls thru i cant bare to lose her. im just
wondering how much pedialyte i should give her. you mentioned in your article
that we should give her a tsp to a cup of the chicken broth but what about the
pedialyte?? she has NOT had diarrhea/bloody stool at all she has pooped once
and that was this morning and it was normal stool. she has all the symptoms of
parvo but not diarrhea/bloody stool.

natalie on April 16, 2012:

we rescued a pup, two days later we noticed the parvo signs, hes hanging in
there, at the vet.. thankfully we found one to work with us, he would not
survive if we had not. JoJo was already malnourished when we rescued him… My
other dog is very healthy but has only had the first in a series of three on
the parvo shots, I am so scared she will get this. Thank you for this info, I
am bookmarking so if she gets sick i can see her though this.

Britney on April 16, 2012:

My dog, mia, has it right now. Shes exacly 4 months old…..Im trying to get
her to eat and drink. She is not acting her self at all. Usually shes jumping
on yyou when u come outside but now she just stays laying down and watch you
walk to her. She has been vomiting ever time she stood up.

Demz on April 15, 2012:

Hey my siberian husky has parvo. I am guessing he does. he does not have his
shots. Today he was playing with his sister and seemed happy. a few hours ago
i noticed him tired and was not hungry. I am going to take him to a vet first
thing in the morning. I felt so bad and hopeless after reading this entire
site i feel better. i will do everything i read here. please email me if you
have suggestions [email protected] thank you

Kwanna on April 15, 2012:

I have a Chihuahua that had Parvo and I had never heard of Parvo until I took
my dog to the vet. They wanted to charge me over $2000 to treat him and I
didn’t have it! They wouldn’t give me any medicine for him and they told me
the only thing they could tell me to do was to take him home and try to make
him comfortable until he died. I was broken inside after they told me that. So
I searched the internet and found a lot of things that helped me out with
treating him and now he’s healthier than he was before Parvo.

i gave him some flour and water mixed together to help keep him from vomiting
so much and some water mixed with sugar and salt to help with his
electrolytes. That seemed to work but he was still weak. When I heard that
BLEACH was the only thing that really killed the Parvo virus, i researched
giving bleach to my dog. I KNOW BLEACH WILL MAKE A DOG SICK AND EVEN KILL HIM
BUT I WAS DESPERATE TO KEEP HIM ALIVE) He wasn’t showing any improvement with
just the things that I was giving him so I got some Gerber baby rice cereal
and Gatorade and gave to him everyday and also introduced the BLEACH in with
it. I only put 1 TEASPOON of bleach into a 20 oz. gatorade bottle and I gave
him 5ml of that every 2 hours! I made sure I kept him inside in his cage and
lined it with newspaper that I could burn when I took out. As soon as I
started introducing the BLEACH into his daily routine he was already eating on
his own the next day. (NOT SOLID FOOD BUT THE WATER WITH SUGAR AND SALT IN IT
AND THE BABY CEREAL), the vomitting had stopped but he was still having the
diarrhea really bad. I then started back giving him the flour water to help
with that I gave it to him every hour on the hour. By the next day he was
pooping hard poop, eating solid foods, and drinking water by himself. I bought
$40 worth of bleach and bleached my whole yard, because I had 4 more
Chihuahuas and didn’t want them to get sick. I kept him away from the other
dogs for 3 weeks just to make sure he was fully over it and he is just fine
now.

Today when I woke up one of my new Chihuahua puppies was dead and she was the
only girl. I had no idea why she had died because she had showed no signs that
she was sick. Well this afternoon her brother, who came from the same litter
as she, started showing signs of Parvo. (BOTH HAVE HAD THEIR PARVO SHOTS) I
didn’t waste any time with him and started treating him right away. I
segregated him from the other dogs and he’s getting the same treatment as my
other Chihuahua (without the bleach). I wasn’t sure if it was Parvo because
other diseases have the same signs as Parvo sometimes, but as soon as I saw
and smelled the bloody stool, I KNEW IT WAS PARVO. (I QUICKLY ADDED THE BLEACH
TO HIS ROUTINE) and now he is actually eating on his own. I also added the
Liquid Pepto Bismol with him. I know he is strong and he is willing to fight
because I can see it in his eyes. It’s like he’s asking me to help him. He is
the life of the party here at my house and I don’t know what I would do
without Dino. I love him like he’s my child. I will fight with him as long as
I know he doesn’t want to give up!!! I could never see myself giving up on one
of my animals because of some virus that I know we can fight together!!!

apples on April 14, 2012:

Found out my puppy Pit has symptoms of parvo-test were negative. He is 15
Weeks old. On Thursday is when I had him hospitalized nd brought him home
today. Can no longer afford him being there another day. Today I bought
pedilyte, nutri-stat,, chkn/rice canned puppy food to go along with his meds
the vet sent home. I also ordered parvaid nd vibitra plus it should be here by
Tuesday. I tried force feeding nd syringe pedilyte. He vomited once from the
food. Liquid he keeps down very well. So far lots of urinating, no
bowel/diarrhea yet. I play with him a lot until he’s just tired. I talk to him
a lot as well. When I first had him hospitalized he was lethargic nd could
barely hold his head up, but Boy he tried! Now he comes when I call him,
licking nd lots of kisses. I also have a heating pad under him on low. And a
few moments ago he took one bite of his food on his own. I believe because he
had IV fluids first he’s no longer dehydrated or as dehydrated. I use a bleach
nd boiling hot water for carpet cleaning. I also found out that he has round
worms which they also treated him for. A for now o let him get plenty of rest,
play nd lots of love! He seems to be doing better but I will keep posting.
Feel free to ask questions. This is my very first experience with this nd pray
we all make it through. I’m sorry if you lost a puppy or pet due to this
illness very scary.

Marisol on April 14, 2012:

I found out my Germen Sheperd have Parvo on Wednesday night when I took him to
a Vet Emergency clinic at night. They wanted 800.00-1000 but I did not have
that kind of money, so I asked that vet what other options do I have, she
advise me to take him home, I bought IV to give him 250ml in the Am and
Afternoon and at night, and pedialyte. I have been doing this since Wednesday,
last night I found this website so I have bought Pepto bismol and more
Pedialyte, also the Chicken broth and he is still throw up everything I give
him, he is 13 weeks today, I got him for my son, he is also shotting out blood
stool very liquidly, redish, I’m very worry that he is not going to make it.
How do I know if he is getting better. Some please advice. thank you. :(((

Daisy on April 12, 2012:

I have gone through this process 3 times now. Day after day with my 3 pups
(now 4).

All 3 have died within the past 2 weeks, one after the other. I’ve gone
through this whole process of keeping them hydrated and giving them stomach
medicine, but yet they continue to die. I put my full effort into trying to
help them get better and I feel as if I get my hopes up too much. The very
last puppy left is currently in a pet taxi and I woke up at 2 am to her
throwing up mucus? so she’s just now in the beginning stages. What should I
do? I don’t want to get my hopes up of her surviving then dying right in my
arms. The puppy is bigger than the others (the past 3 were yorkie/terrier
mixes), she is part chocolate lab I believe? Does this matter? Should I try to
save this last one? or should I just put her down? I don’t want her to suffer
just like the others did… If she has less than a 50% chance of living should
I put her to sleep? I don’t know what to do. :((

Stacy on April 12, 2012:

Continued from previous post: it cost me a total of $162 but I saved all 3 of
them. If you can’t go to the vet at all I would check at a pet store for anti
nausea medicine and get the pedialyte from wal mart. My puppy was skin and
bones during this but I kept after it. I gave her anti nausea medicine about
every 3-4 hours along with pedialyte then added a tiny bit of moist puppy food
after the first day. She did not take any of this voluntarily. I used a
syringe(minus the needle of course) and forced(gently) it down her throat.
Also their body temperature will drop so keep them warm. I used water bottles
that I kept refilling with hot water. I put them under a towel and then put
her on top of it between the bottles.

Stacy on April 12, 2012:

I just nursed 3 puppies through parvo. I could not afford overnight care at a
vet either. I took the sickest one to the vet and had them do the test to
verify it was parvo. I had already started the pedialyte. They gave her fluid
under the skin and gave me antibiotics. The antibiotics weren’t to fight the
parvo, they ward off a secondary infection. They also gave me a bottle of anti
nausea/diarrhea medicine. I had given her pepto bismol the night before but
the vet informed me that it has aspirin in it and would cause more bleeding in
her stomach which is dangerous. So I took her home(she was almost gone, they
didn’t think she would survive and she is only 1 1/2 pounds), and I had to
force the pedialyte down her throat along with the anti nausea medicine. I
also had some gel that was full of vitamins for puppies and I put a dab of it
in her mouth. I shared her medicine with the other 2 puppies and they have all
made full recoveries!

angel on April 10, 2012:

my 6 month old went to the vet yesterday an got diagnosed with parvo they gave
him fluid theraphy and they prescribed home treatment like amoxicillin twice a
day and tramadol tablets cut in quarter sizes for 3 times a day an he drunk
some water but it came back up less than 5 minutes he get up an walks around
some an looks up at us when we talk to him but when we give him his meds he
fights us not to take it he’s feisty . other than that he want to lay around i
can’t afford 1400.00 for treatment at an overnight clinic what are his chances
with the prescribed medication he’s on help someone

Rolland on April 05, 2012:

My lab Oliver Was diagnosed with parvo yesterday. 2 nights ago he had us up
all night vomiting, we thought he maybe ate something bothersome. In the
morning, we dropped my daughter off at daycare and I stayed home with Oliver.
He was very tired all day, and threw up once or twice. His appetite was gone
completely, but he would take a little water on his own. In the afternoon, we
left oliver at home for about a half hour to pick up my daughter. When we got
home, the first thing I noticed was a VERY rancid smell. I found 2 fairly
large puddles of red liquid on the floor, but couldn’t tell immediately if it
was diarrhea or vomit. This is when we took him to the vet.

The vet wanted $63 just to look at him, she seemed convinced that Oliver had
Parvo, he wasn’t vaccinated, and showed all the symtoms. Before even
suggesting anything else she had us pay an additional $170 to diagnose him via
an fecal parvo test. She told us it would cost $1500 to hospitalize him for no
less than 3 days, and if we did not do this he WOULD die. We told her this was
not an option for us, we simply did not have $1500. She printed off a list of
medications, about $500 worth – and told us we could administer them
ourselves. The whole thing felt like a sales pitch. Knowing that my mother in
laws neighbor dealt with parvo a few months ago, I decided to ask for a shot
to stop the vomiting, then ay a visit to the neighbor for her advice.

$270 later, oliver was diagnosed, and received an anti-vomiting medication
that we are told will last for 24 hours. After talking to the neighbor, we
have oliver taking 2ml of liquid pepto, 3 times a day for his diarrhea. We
bought 1L of pedialite, and have literally forced him to drink half the bottle
(opened his mouth and poured it down his throat). My plan is to spread out
approx. 1L of this over 24 hours. He is only eating a mixture of baby food
(chicken noodle casserole or something), or a special canned food for
digestion that was given to us by the vet.

We are now about 35 hours since he started to show symptoms. It’s been almost
24 hours since he last puked, and the last bloody diarrhea was the first and
only time that happened. He has been taking in liquid, forced or on his own,
and this morning began to eat the canned food like a champ. I mixed it with
some water, to be sure he was taking liquid in. From my research, it’s
important to introduce the food back slowly, so he doesn’t throw it right back
up.

Oliver has been hanging out with me all day, sleeping, eating a little, and
taking his “medicine”. The anti-vomit shot is due to wear off in about 3-4
hours. If he starts vomiting again, I may go pay for another shot. It was
about $40, and saved him from losing A LOT of fluid.

Otherwise, I feel oliver may be on the road to recovery. I am keeping my
fingers crossed that when he finally goes to the bathroom, his stool isn’t
bloody – and may even have some viscocity to it. His farts stink, and he has
very brief bouts of playfulness before he goes right back to sleep.

I want to know what happened with other peoples pet’s in terms of the
diahhrea. I find it strange that oliver only had 1 “emergency”. After finding
it, I expected it to continue. Is it a good sign that the sh*ts took a break?

Yessika from Knoxville, Tennessee on April 04, 2012:

My 4 month old pit Lulu was just diagnosed with Parvo last night. We took her
to the vet after coming home and finding her standing in a kennel that looked
like a murder had occurred. Total treatment cost over $1000 if she stayed for
the whole course of treatment. We cant afford that. We had a hard enough time
coming up with the $300 on the fly for her to get one night of treatment. We
go back to get her today. The vet says she will send home antibiotics. My
husband is taking off work tomorrow to nurse her. I am praying for a miracle.
We were completely unprepared for this. She had her original puppy shots. I
wouldn’t wish Parvo on my worst enemy. Its a nightmare. If you are a regular
working person who lives off their paychecks and doesn’t have stellar credit
you might as well give up on getting a vet to help you. Thank you for this
info because without it our only other option would have been to have Lulu put
down.

dawn on April 01, 2012:

i took my pup to vet friday he has parvo and i have been giving his meds and
forcing him to drink witch by the way not easy hes a fighter…i just was
wondering how long before i see him getting better

Raven on March 31, 2012:

Go ahead and get his shots. My puppy has it and they told had I taken him in a
week or so earlier to get his shots he may not have gotten it. My puppy is so
sick he is about to be 4 months, and he looks sooo sad. I have tried almost
everything on these comments I hope they work. Say a prayer for us. I am
praying for everyone on here as well.

mariah g on March 24, 2012:

i have a puppy who is 3 months, almost 4, his sibling died from parvo and my
roommate dog has it too, she is in different room,my puppy still is normal.
what should i do? i don’t have money for a vet but i plan to take Panda to vet
to get all his shots. which is $70 dollars at the animal hospital near me next
week and a half. should i hold off and prepare for if he does get it or go
ahead and get his shots?

dean on March 17, 2012:

My 10 week old puppy has just come back from the vet after catching parvo a
week or so ago. he stopped vommiting a few days ago but still has diarrhea. he
is on the mend and can take a while for him to fully recover. is a terrible
virus luckly i had him fully insured so was able to give him the best care.
hope he continues to fully recover.

Misty on March 16, 2012:

Best thing to do is get puppy pads or news paper and have them go on that is
better to confine them in one part of the yard your house or a crate to keep
the cleaning up minimal your dog can’t get any sicker from feces while having
parvo but when they get better they can get parvo again from just about
anything parvo is a 24/7 type of job so if u can’t be around your puppy at all
times find someone who can watch them while your gone the reason why your dog
will die from parvo is dehydration if they won’t drink on their own you will
have to do it by hand get a dropper or a baby syringe and give your puppy
water atleast once every 15 mins all day and night this will be very tiring
and you will not get a lot of sleep but you have to do it most cases I have
seen with deaths with parvo is the puppy dehydrating while the owner was
asleep if needed give the puppy larger amounts of water about every hour a
puppy with parvo can dehydrate withing two-four hours pedelyte is the best to
give your pup besides water my pup went threw a bottle of pedelyte a day or
more there is no such thing as over hydrating a pup with parvo if your dog is
vomiting give them pepto parvaide parvaide parvaide parvaide get your hands on
some this work miricales for owners with a budget if you cannot pay for
treatments for a vet this is what you will need…parvaide pedelyte and lots
of it soft puppy food a baby syringe chicken broth peptobismal amoxicillin for
dogs and slippery elm gruel all this stuff will cost way less then parvo
treatments from a vet if you can get ahold of Iv fluids give them half a bag
in between the shoulders wait for the bubble to go down and be dissolved into
the body then give them another half a bag get your dogs their shots!!!!!!!
Please please please!!!!!!! And watch your puppy at all times or as much as
you can when their out side puppy eat everything and anything and everything
can have parvo on it my dog got parvo from my back yard because my Gpa barried
his grate Dane that died from parvo in the back yard over 20 years ago if your
dog dies from parvo do not burry your dog put them in trash cans have your
local pound come and get them they will dispose of your pup properly and
reduce the risk of spreading the disease bleach everything if you cannot
bleach it there are special cleaning products for parvo and if you have the
slightest feeling your dog is not normal fear the worst it is better then to
be safe then sorry remember you are the owner humans demesticated these
animals and therefore we hold all responcibility over them do not get a puppy
unless you can provide for them no matter what and if you adopt make sure they
have their shots if they don’t get their shots!!!!! Please please please if
you notice the slightest change in your dogs behavior get them to a vet early
detection is key to possibly being able to save your dog and if you can’t get
your dog to a vet you shouldn’t be a dog owner

Misty on March 16, 2012:

[email protected] I am a vet tec and very willing to help any one who’s
dog is suffering from parvo my pit puppy had parvo about three weeks ago and I
got him threw it he is healthy and fattening back up if anyone has any
questions I check my email about 6 times daily so don’t hesitate to email
me!!! [email protected]

tiffany on March 16, 2012:

My puppy has parvo and the vet said my other to have been contaminated and i
needed to bleach everything including the yard. But what I am wondering is if
they still go out side and potty then come in how will they keep from
contaminating the house and yard again or am I going to have to bleach
everything every day? Please some one tell me how to help keep this from
happening agin.

Yosi on March 16, 2012:

So my puppy didn’t survive , we put IV on him gave him medicine but I guess it
was too late 🙁

brittany on March 15, 2012:

i just found out today my 8week old puppy has Parvo.. .

she hasn’t been eating/drinking for the past 2days. shes so skinnny awe my
puppy. I just read this today, and did everything it said to do. and shes
starting to drink SOMe water… umm, i hope she’ll live 🙁

Yosi on March 15, 2012:

I just found out my dog has parvo, he is only 10 weeks hes had 2 parvo shots
already but today he started puking and didn’t want to eat at all he looks
very sad and has diarrhea as well with spots of blood and mucus 🙁 I went to
the store and bought the pedialyte , chiken broth and the pepto bismol
hopefully we can see some improvement ,

tanya on March 14, 2012:

My my dog has parvo any tips on how to do home treatments? Should I give her a
parvo shot?

Jenny on March 10, 2012:

Your dogs are sick and probably need to go to the Vet. It could be parvo or it
can’t but you should make sure. You should try to give him some Peptobismo for
the upset stomach and try to feed them. I recommend to go to the vet because
of the antibiotics they may prescribe. Usually you get two options the
expensive one(best) and the cheaper one. It all depends what you are more
comfortable with. The first one they will keep the dogs overnight and treat
them and call you a day later and let you know how your dogs are responding
the other one is simply you take everything home IV and all and your
administer everything like they would. Have faith. My puppy was great ill two
days ago and today she is running around supper active and happy as she has
ever been. wish you luck and hope that clear a bit of that.

jenny on March 09, 2012:

i had two dashhounds and they been vomiting and lost of appetite please help
me i don’t know what to do

My puppy just got diagnosed on March 07, 2012:

It’s really upsetting and yes it’s very expensive but I can’t let her die, she
is very smart and a joy to be around. I think people at shelters or otherwise
should be advice to take the pet to the vet as soon as they adopt and test for
Parvo. Hope she pulls through and wish you all the best!

riah on March 05, 2012:

Honestly Parvo Is The Worse THING A Dog Can Get. MY Puppy Is 4 Months Old An
Is Suffering Parvo. She Drinks A lot Of Water But Vommits Some Of It Up. ive
Started hand Feeding Her . She Would Vommit an spit it out. Me an my boyfriend
.are with her most of the time, talking to her. She now sits down an lets me
feed her but goes down an Is not as enagetic. Shes a boxer cross bullmastive
wìth ridge back. She wont poo but she pees sometimes.

misty on March 03, 2012:

the most important thing about parvo is getting to it in time even if you have
the slightest feeling there is something wrong with your dog take him to the
vet i just found out yesterday my pit puppy had parvo i would have never
expected it. yes i took my dog to banfield in petsmart because they were the
only one open yes it cost me 275 dollars for his diagnosis and first treatment
its very expensive but just because its expensive dosent mean you cant work
something out with them there is such a thing called payment plans and ifyou
love you dogenoughyou will just put it on your credit card and deal with that
later. also parvo is worse in little dogs. if you have a puppy thats is over
25-40 pounds and have caught it early enough they will most likey pull threw
if you do everything right. i would never give my dog human medication pepto
pennecillin or anything else without consulting a vet. also all vets can
answer questions you have over the phone. so don’t give up thereis hope aslo i
am a licenced vet tec myself and if youhave any questions any one can ask via
email. [email protected] i check my email daily and im very comitted to
people and pets. like i said don’t lose hope there is pple out there that care
and are willing to help as much as possible don’t get discouraged by a cold
hearted money hungry veternerian. not everyone is heartless if you try hard
enough you willfind someone to help you!

misty on March 03, 2012:

parvaid!!!! or something simuliar its 100% orgainic and its only 40 dollars it
helps with the vomiting and diarrea also it help supports their immune system
and also help them gain an appetite so they don’t lose weight also give them
lotsand lotsof pedialyte the original unflavored kind the kinds with flavor in
them upsets their stomache more. there is no such thing as over hydrating your
dog!!!! if they wont drink on their own give it to them threw a needless
syringe your dog should be drinking atleast 3 cups a day or either water or
pedialyte.water is harder on the stomache. the vet gave me cerenia oral
tablets 16 mg and my dog is currently taking one tablet a day for vomiting and
clavamox 250mg and he takes that twice a day. they also have these medication
in suppository form if they cant keep the oral tablets down.

DJ on February 22, 2012:

You can find Pedialyte in the baby needs section at WalMart or any grocery
store.

amanda on February 16, 2012:

sadly to say both of my puppies have parvo…im so glad i found this website,
i have been giving them both lots of love pedialyte and chicken soup….i can
not afford to go to a vet but i was feeling really helpless till i started
reading some of this comments so again thanks a lot for giving me some
hope…:)

melissa on February 11, 2012:

my puppy just got out of the hostpital so i recommend if ur puppy has parvo
take them to the vet and let them keep them he was in there for 4 days and he
got to come home i have had one dog that didn’t make it cause i tryed doing
the iv thing on my own and now my other puppy he made it cause i took him to
the vet and let them do whatever they wanted…