Parvo in the multi-dog household

[ikesmom]

We had 4 dogs ; a 5 yr old Westie, a 1.5 yr old Chihuahua , and 2 Mini Aussie/Poodles 15 wks. We lost one pup "Riley" to Parvo last Thurs. She vomited on Tuesday evening so we spent the next 24 hrs trying to hydrate her and she passed in the early a.m hours of Thurs. I didn't know this was Parvo until Wednesday nite and that was too late. She had a vaccine reaction with her 12 wk shots and vomited and passed out. She was weak and sleepy the next day. We were waiting to do the next round of shots because of this.

We bleached all the floors and surfaces in house even though they are confined to one area by our sliding glass door. We sprayed the yard entirely 3 times with bleach. I started giving the healthy dogs pedialite and chicken and rice to make sure they were well nourished to fight off sickness better.

Friday night the second pup starts to vomit and I stayed up syringing and praying over her thru the night.

Sat a.m we take her to dh's friend a vet. He confirms Parvo and PX's 3 days of 3 different injections, Tamiflu liquid, and IV's. We started other dogs on Tamiflu as a preventive.

Yesterday was great she started eating a little egg and drinking. This a.m she ate a bowl of chicken and rice soup. She seems more like her sassy and hyper normal self.

She will be on oral amoxicillan and anti nausea for 2 days now. I've kept buckets of bleach water next to all the sinks and a mop bucket by the door that we toss our flip flops into. Older dogs have been outside and are healthy looking.

How long do I keep them separated?
Vet told us we should do a Parvo booster for the older dogs. I am hesitant, but scared.
How long did you continue to bleach?

Any suggestions are welcome. I am very nervous and emotional about keeping everyone well.

[lonegirl]

If I were to vaccinate for one thing....it would be Parvo.
I have seen way too many pups die from parvo...
Generally it takes it 7-10 days from time of exposurefor them to start showing signs/test positive.
The virus can survive up to 5 months in the ground contaminated with it.
They will need to be separated about 1 month. Remember having survived a case of parvo does not mean the dog cannot get it again.
Go here:http://www.workingdogs.com/parvofaq.htm lots of great info!!

[ikesmom]

Thank you for responding to my post.
I have been feeling like a bad dogmom because there were 2 occasions we took the dogs out on leashes when I probably shouldn't have. They were a while back though and I figured that I probably exposed them then. Then I still felt guilty for the vaccine reaction. I was trying to find a way for her to get single vaccines instead of 5 or 7 in ones. I felt that maybe I ruined her immune system. Our other 2 older dogs are fully vax'd. I never worried about the dog vaccines until then.


I talked to a neighbor who said lots of people in our town have lost dogs to Parvo in the past 3 years. We live in a rural area that is heavily populated with coyotes. The kids play in a field across the street and often ride their bikes down a hill nearby. We had a crazy rain storm 2 weeks ago and the kids spent most of the day tromping around in the fields the next day. They came in covered with mud. Then my neighbor asked me if I ever notice scat in our back yard. I didn't know know what coyote poop looked like. Now I do and I have seen it in our yard and around the area.


Our little Riley went out the doggie door one night about a week and half prior to her passing. She started yelping like something awful. I jumped out of bed and ran to the yard. I couldn't find her and she was hiding behind our tool shed. She kept yelping for a while and I brought her in and checked her over with a flashlight and my hands. I bathed her the next day and looked to see if a spider or something could have bit her..nada. Our other dogs ran out barking when I ran out too. Now that I know coyotes can climb over our wall I bet that she probably saw one.

Dh said he doesn't see the need to do the boosters , but I think we will now because I can't relax knowing that there is scat around and I really can't control their exposure.

[Ola_]

I don't think you have any need to feel guilty. It's quite a gamble between not taking out a puppy until they're vaccinated to your comfort level and making sure you get that early socialization in. Unfortunately the lack of socialization can cause lifelong issues that cause dogs to get surrendered to shelters so it's not as clear cut of a decision as some would like us to think.

The question I would have about the boosters for your adult dogs is - how much at risk of parvo are they. Wouldn't have they been exposed to it by now (i.e. from the sick puppy that didn't make it and was around them all)? And how long will the vaccine take to kick in before you can count on it to be effective? No easy choices there, you just have to do what you and your DH are comfortable with.

I'm sorry to hear about Riley.

[ikesmom]

Thank You for your kind words.

My 5 yr old Westie started having soft bowel movements yesterday a.m.. I checked throughout the day and didn't find anymore. This a.m I found a few diarrhea spots and I dug them up with the shovel and threw them in a garbage bag. I separated the pup inside the house and the other dogs are outside. I felt bad that they were outside so I put a crate and blanket on the patio. I also have continued to feed the chicken and rice to them in small amounts. She seems happy and even playful today aside from the diarrhea. We have no money as we just made our house payment, a emergency plane ticket for dh, and the vet for the pup and px's. I am praying she doesn't get sick. I also checked our records and their last 5 in 1 vax was in May of 2009.

They already had 5 days of Tamiflu. I still have some I.V fluid too. My pup lacy is doing great. She is eating and drinking and having more normal bowel movements. She is a little spoiled now from all the attention we pour over her.