Canine Parvo Recovery-Personal Story
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Parvo is a devastating disease. It’s very expensive to treat and often does not have a good outcome. We share our hope and experience with canine parvo to offer support to you trying to care for your pup at home.
Canine Parvo recovery at home is a very tough process, asking a LOT of the dog owner. Many dog parents cannot do what is needed so they use animal hospitals and pay extremely expensive vet bills in the hope their pup will recover.
Whichever you choose as a dog parent, just know Parvo is a devastating disease and you must be willing to go through several weeks at least of intense medical intervention for your pup to have a chance. Even then recovery is not assured. We won the battle with our little guy, Carson the Chiweenie. We share our experience to help you understand what’s involved and asked of the family. And to give you hope.
Canine Parvo progresses FAST and you need to get your dog into the vet ASAP and get the diagnosis and treatment plan started. Do NOT wait for it to get worse. The earlier you treat this virus the better your pups chances of recovery.
Parvo Symptoms:
This infographic Lists the common symptoms for Canine Parvo in puppies and adult dogs. Your dog may show some or all of these and other symptoms that don’t make sense (secondary illnesses are common with Parvo).
If you see these signs of parvo in your dog do not wait! Get to a vet fast.
Carson’s Parvo Recovery Journey:
Please also read the comment section below this post for more personal experiences, tips and advice from others who have been through Canine Parvo.
We rescued a beautiful Chiweenie (Chihuahua and Dachshund mix) from a shelter in Texas in October 2015. He was 17 weeks old when we picked him up from a PetCo rendezvous point. The 3 hour drive to pick him up was filled with excitement and anticipation.
When we got to the store, they handed us an adorable brown puppy that was quiet in our arms and trembling. Poor scared baby. We bought him all his puppy stuff, food and toys and headed back up the freeway.
A day after he was brought home, he started appearing very lethargic and seemed to be having increased trouble with wheezy breathing and snuffling.
He wasn’t a bouncy and healthy looking puppy and seemed too warm. Even Sherman looked concerned for lil Carson and snuggled him. Time to visit the vet.
VET DIAGNOSIS: Our new puppy had advanced pneumonia and a severe case of worms. He also was in the beginning stages of Parvo
The vet quickly outlined Our options:
- Admit him to the animal hospital for a few thousand dollars where they will give him fluids and antibiotics to combat the Parvo and pneumonia. (The vet gave NO guarantee of survival. In fact he had very little hope even a hospital stay could save our dog.)or…
- We could treat him at home and try and save him. Keeping in mind that he will almost certainly die with this option.
We couldn’t afford the hospital, so we chose to treat him at home. He would have love and whatever help we could give him.
If you treat your puppy at home…BRACE YOURSELF. This is a non stop 24/7 experience. Get as much help from your vet as you can afford. Many vets are flexible and will care for the pup during the day so you can care for them after work. But I have no idea when you will sleep.
We went round the clock treatments since we had no IVs for hydration.
Canine parvo recovery support for your pup requires constant and relentless care by you until all symptoms are finished and even longer if the dog is still ill with secondary problems as our dog was.
NOTE: By the time it was all said and done we still spent several hundred dollars on our canine parvo recovery journey. Home care was cheaper than vet hospital. But not cheap.
At The Onset of Symptoms:
We had no idea what to do. Mom hugged the pup and syringed water down him while I consulted Google.
There were several reports of Tamiflu working on Parvo when administered orally via a liquid suspension within the first 48 hours of symptoms appearing. Here is a scientific article describing it’s effectiveness and recommended dosage. Your vet will have to prescribe it.
We got on the phone with the Vet and asked him for a Tamiflu prescription. He was skeptical at first, but he Found a study done on the positive effects of Tamiflu for dogs with Parvo.
He did end up writing us the prescription with proper dosage. He may have saved Carson with that prescription.
What happened next was one of the most physically and emotionally taxing weeks of our lives. We nursed that puppy 24 hours a day. I stayed overnight to help and We both syringed fluids and medicine down his throat every 15 minutes during the day, and every hour all night long.
Meanwhile, I spent countless hours doing research on the Internet and constantly watching him for dreaded new symptoms appearing. It was grueling and emotionally devastating but we kept it up. Neither of us would quit.
Learning about Canine parvo signs was a big help. We watched for the signs of progression and the timeline of the stages of the disease so we could move forward with him and know where he was in the process.
- The rule of thumb is 72 hours for the ACUTE symptoms to run their course. This timeline can lengthen so don’t get discouraged. Get more help!
- If the dog survives through the symptoms be encouraged the worst is over for the Parvo virus.
- Do NOT stop treatment unless cleared by a vet. Parvo is very debilitating and the dog needs a LOT of Long term support to get back to health.
- Secondary problems can be worse than Parvo.
CANINE PARVO RECOVERY:
There is NO specific cure for Parvo. The virus must run its course. The following guide will help you see the areas of support your pet needs to have the best chance of survival. Here is an infographic summary of the care a pup needs in recovery from parvo.
BACK TO OUR STORY:
Carson’s Positives:
- Carson had already had his first round of Parvo immunizations.
- We caught the disease before he was symptomatic with bloody diarrhea and vomiting.
- He was 17 weeks old and a little stronger than a brand new 7 or 8 week old puppy.
- He is a small mixed breed dog that is said to have one of the better chances of survival (large breeds often don’t fare as well as small breeds with this disease. (Dehydration is a HUGE issue-get Sub cu fluids in OFTEN for your large breed pup).
Carson’s BIG negative:
- He not only had Parvo, he also had a nasty case of pneumonia and BAD worms.
- Carson was weak, stressed and tired from traveling in a van all the way from Texas to WA.
- He was underweight and malnourished going into this disease.
- The vet held little hope for his survival and adopted a hands off attitude once we decided on a home cure.
Parvo Symptoms and progression:
- Severe Lethargy
- Fever
- Dehydration
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhea (We only saw blood in his stool twice, and it was a trace amount. We believe the quick administration of Tami Flu kept his intestines from getting too inflamed.)
- Vomiting. This became fairly severe. We held him upright and motionless in our arms in a chair all day long so he wouldn’t get up and vomit.(He wanted to but managed to keep some of the fluids he needed down). You will need the vet to prescribe an anti nausea medicine. The Vibactra also helped with nausea.
Secondary Issue:
Secondary Issues often complicate Parvo recovery.
Pneumonia to the degree Carson had it will kill all on its own. Carson did nearly die of once the Parvo was done with him.
- Thick Yellow fluid draining from his nostrils (it was an advanced case of pneumonia with lung scarring).
- Coughing/wheezing from pneumonia fluids filling his lungs and sinus.
Our Home Treatment Method for Canine Parvo:
Administering Tamiflu. We believe this was essential to minimizing the intestinal destruction of Parvo. The Tamiflu coats the lining of the intestines and stops the Parvo from shredding the intestinal lining. This ended up working really well and we only had 1 day where he had minimal blood present in his stool. (NOTE: If you can’t get hold of TamiFlu use Pepto Bismol. Your vet can tell you how much.)
Constant hydration: One of the biggest factors that leads to the demise of the dog is the quick and massive dehydration that results from the constant vomiting and diarrhea that a dog with Parvo will present.
We used a 25 ml syringe filled with water, and we pried his mouth open and shot it down the back of his throat every 15 minutes during the day and every hour all night long. Even so, we could not keep up with his fluid loss. Vets can do fluids through a sub cu bolus. That made all the difference for Carson.
Supporting the immune system and using anti nausea remedies:
we used holistic medicine that I found from this website. This medicine is called Paxxin (intestinal support) and Vibactra (Immune system support and anti-nausea). we HIGHLY recommend both of these homeopathic treatments for the support of your dog.
We ordered the medicines from Amazon. Parvo Virus Combo Pack – Parvaid and Vibactra Plus by Amber Technology.
If you don’t have 2 days to wait, start calling local pet stores and see if you can find it from someone local. Don’t wait to start administering this. Use them both until your dog is fully healed. The Vibactra is incredible at boosting the immune system fast.
Hydration boost from the vet:
We took our puppy back to the vet on day 3 to get a bolus of subcutaneous fluids pumped into him. Most vets should be willing to do this for your dog.
It’s not an admission to the hospital so less expensive. They had us bring Carson in the back door into isolation at lunch time when the vets were out and so were the other patients.
The bolus of sub cu fluids helped our puppy immensely. It will also give you a bit of relief from syringing fluids down your dog. Carson was only 4 pounds.
You need to make all this work for whatever dog you are supporting. Canine parvo recovery is all about the dog and whatever it needs.
The vet also prescribed a triangulation of antibiotics to attack Carson’s pneumonia as well as help with the Parvo. Carson brought a REALLY bad case of hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms from Texas. He was given Strongid to evacuate the worms before he was diagnosed with Parvo and had to be re-wormed several times over several weeks to completely get rid of them.
These secondary issues almost killed him. This is often the case with Parvo.
Canine Parvo weakens a pup and allows other secondary conditions to worsen and kill even after the Parvo is conquered.
Getting Food Started again:
When our puppy was finally ready to eat, we started him on a really bland diet of plain rice and chicken.
We even blended it up and syringed some down his throat. As soon as he was able to start keeping food down, his condition improved immensely.
We also got a hold of some local goat milk and kefir, this is great if you can get some to build the digestive tract back up again!
We continued to administer the Paxxin and Vibactra at home in addition to the MASSIVE number of pills the vet prescribed. These homeopathic supports were amazingly restorative. Within two weeks Carson’s lung ex ray showed miraculous healing.
His lungs were all clear with NO SCARRING. He came back to full health over the next several months. We attribute the exceptional recovery in part to these supports.
Medical Support NOTE: Carson’s Doc really had NO hope we could save our pup so he was hands off other than prescribing the Tamiflu. And yet. Carson would NOT have made it without the vet clinic support.
The vet techs stepped up and administered fluids and advise. We are very grateful for their help and highly recommend you get as much support from your vet clinic as you can. The vet was AMAZED Carson made a full recovery!
He is fully recovered with no lung scarring or long term ill effects from the Parvo or Pneumonia. Find hope here! Canine Parvo recovery at home may be your best bet if a stay in the vet hospital is just not possible.
We sincerely hope that some of the information above is a help in your canine parvo treatment at home. That being said, please remember that Parvo is a very serious viral infection that often does not end well.
Every pet will have a different circumstance, and ability to fight off this disease. We have only encountered Parvo once (and I hope we don’t ever see it again!) but we would use the same treatment method if we had another dog in our care that was ill from the Parvo virus.
Parvo is HIGHLY INFECTIOUS: YOU MUST DISINFECT after this disease finishes. PREVENT all puppies and unimmunized dogs from entering the home or yard for at least TWO YEARS. We were fortunate Carson’s housemates were fully immunized and adults with good natural strength and immunity.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered to be healthcare advice, veterinary or medical diagnosis, treatment or prescribing of any kind.
Additionally, none of this information should be considered a promise of benefits, a claim of cures, a legal warranty or a guarantee of results to be achieved. This information is not intended as a substitute for advice from your pet’s veterinarian or any other healthcare provider.
UPDATE: Carson is now 9 1/2 years old and still thriving. He enjoys his daily walks in the woods, digging holes in our fields and laying on his self made pillow thrones. He’s a slave to our homemade Dog Treats. His favorite is the turkey jerky But pumpkin doggy cookies are also quite good.
Other than the bout of Parvo he has never been sick. It was worth everything to help him overcome that horrible disease. Canine Parvo recovery at home is possible. But hard. We encourage you to try if it is your only recourse.
Further Reading:
From HealthyPets:
My pup is 5 months old black lab. It has been 70 hours that he has been fighting parvo. It strted at around 3 in the morning on Wednesday and now it’s saturday. The doc is giving him injections and IV drips daily or twice a day. We are told not to give him even a drop of water. He is a bit energetic for two days. He gets up hearing any sound and wags his tail speedily on seeing fam members. He sometimes has foul red stool or sometimes it’s not smelly. Also he moves his paws a lot while sleeping and licks or tries to eat them when up.Please tell if he can pull through it or not. I am very worried.
Hi Ishika, I have no idea if your pup can make it. Parvo is a terrible disease. However, it sounds like you are giving him good care. The vet and hydrating the pup with the IV is a REALLY great plan. He will be VERY tired after the symptoms go away in another day or so. Ask the vet to add nutrients into the IV as soon as possible to help him bounce back. If he does not get bad diarrhea and vomiting he has a chance. You his best motivation to recover. Give him lots of hands on gentle touch and talk. Best of luck. Hugs to all.
Hi. My name is Jean. I was reading your article about the parvo in your puppy and was thinking to myself that I wish I could tell you about the Paxxin and vibactra plus. As I read on, I realize this is what you used also. We had a beautiful litter of nine puppies that was exposed to Pavo three weeks ago. They were due to go to their new homes on Friday when the first puppy on Thursday night became sick. Fortunately my daughter knew of the Paxxin and we started it immediately. One puppy after another came down with it and within 24 to 48 hours each puppy was well. As you know, it was grueling, every hour on the hour giving all the puppies the medicine. Four puppies had gone to their new homes, two of which became very sick. One family took their puppy to the vet and he finally recovered. The other family gave us the puppy back to treat. By the time I got the first one back she was so sick. The treatment we gave her had her eating within 24 hours. I did have to sort of force Feed her chicken baby food. We found one very important thing was using Pedialyte. With every dose of the medicine we gave 2 teaspoons of Pedialyte with a syringe. If we couldn’t get it in their mouth we would give them an enema with it. If you are interested in an amazing website, look up Wolf Creek Ranch, Parvo treatment in California. They walked us through this and were fabulous. I told them I would tell everyone about them because they saved our puppies lives with these products and all of their advice. I felt like they were divine intervention for us. I hope you all have a great day and thank you for your website. It was very interesting.
Hi , I am suhas and i am from India , it’s been 2 days my lab (3months old) has been so lethargic and it’s almost 5 days it has not ate anything , I am so worried and in clinic , they will give drips has it has not anything and some treatment for parvo , yesterday it had severe blood diarrhea and today it has decreased ( not stopped but) it’s still 3 months old and I cannot even see my little pet , it’s so weakkk, I am worried mam, today it drank little water but after some 30 min , it vommited everything , itbwas so hard to see my dog struggle , give me some hope and tips so that I see my dog strong, happy again plzzzzzzz
Regards
Hi Suhas mv, This is so sad to hear. Your pup sounds like he’s got to be getting over the Parvo pretty soon. The active stage is only 3 to 5 days. I suggest you feed him Pedialyte to rebalance his electrolytes if you can find some. The vet can also give him this to help him hold food and water down. You have our deepest sympathy that you both are going through this awful disease. Best of luck!
In parvo virus nothing should be given orally to the puppy, if it has to survive, it will survive on the drips 3-4 days or maybe one week and after that it will start to show some some signs of recovery, but note that the puppy becomes too weak and needs proper care and love!
hi Kayti
my 6 months old Maltese puppy has parvo. my brother bought him for me and the person he bought him from assured him that he was vaccinated. 5 days ago, I noticed he had a mild case of diarrhoea and was vomiting. I thought maybe he ate something that didn’t agree with him because he was still very energetic. the following day he lost his appetite but he still had that energy. him loosing appetite got me worried and my fiance and I took him to the vet. he tested positive for parvo and we opted for hospitalization because my fiance and I are both very busy and could not manage the home care. we went back to the vet, 3 days later, and we found him in a worse state than when we left him. the vet stated that the fa t that he survived this long means he might fight this. I want to believe her but I have never seen my baby that sick. I don’t know what to feel or do. I am being hopeful that he will be okay.
Hi Annah, Well your vet has the best chance of pulling your baby through if you can’t give 24 hour care. Parvo is a tough one. Our Carson also came through the actual “live” stages of Parvo fairly well. But he was VERY weak. He almost died of the other problems he had since he was so tired. It takes a long time to get them back to health. If you work, the vet can offer the constant hydrating, medicines and care that you won’t be able too. Best of luck. Virtual hugs to your fur baby and you!
Hi there –
I too am new to this and I’ve never seen anything like it. I bought any 8 week old maltipoo from a breeder called Fairytale Maltipoos on Saturday. He was rambunctious and full of energy and eating and drinking on Sunday. By Monday morning he was lethargic with no appetite or desire to drink water and the vomiting and diarrhea started. I called the breeder who advised I keep him home and give him honey for blood sugar but also called emergency hospital and they said to bring him due to dehydration. By the time we got there he was not able to stand and struggling to stay awake. He was diagnosed with Parvo and hospitalized at that point and it has been a roller coaster of a week. He is now drinking but not really eating so blood sugar issues are trying to be resolved. I pick him up at 9p tomorrow night after he’s had a full day of treatment. I’ve washed all bedding, rugs, crate, play pen, used bleach solution on floors, etc but still nervous I’ve missed something. If I got him on Saturday and his symptoms hit on Monday and now he’s coming home tomorrow, could he be reinfected.? Just a nervous wreck and want to make sure I’m covering all bases.
Also thank you for posting as it helps to understand what others are doing for their babies.
To Annah….sending positive vibes your way that your little one pulls through!
Thanks again,
Katie
Hi Katie, I’m so sorry to hear your in the middle of parvo with your new pup.It’s wonderful you could get him into a vet. Our pup rallied with the vet medications and boluses of fluids. I’m so hopeful for your little guy. The biggest challenge for us was getting him through his secondary problems (like pneumonia) that sucked the life from him when he was so exhausted from combatting the Parvo. Hopefully yours will rally and quickly gain his strength back.
Ask the vet about reinfections. Our yard was off limits to ALL dogs not currently vaccinated for parvo for TWO years. We disinfected the house as you say but I wouldn’t let any dog in our house if they were not properly vaccinated.
Your pup should be immune after surviving Parvo I believe (check with the vet on that point). The main thing is to keep him going toward recovery. He will have down days and be tired off and on. Keep in touch with the vet over the phone if your worried. Bring him in if you must.
Your love is the best medicine. We held Carson non stop to let him know we wouldn’t give him up. He held on but it was a near thing. Best of luck to you and your lil guy. It’s so nice to hear our story was a help to you. Blessings.
Hello , I hope you are well, I read your story abd unfurtunate ,I am here because my puppy has parvovirus, you already knew hiw we are ,because you had it and we have another puppy of almost three months abd one of an year abd another of 11 years i am given paxxin and vivactra, but it defecates softly and between green and black, i want to know if you renember if that is normal ? If you answer me, thank you and gid bless you.
Hi Bernardo, Oh I’m terribly sorry you and your puppies are going through this terrible disease. I do not know what the stool color means but I’m sure any vet will be able to tell you if you call them. Our pup did have diarrhea but I do not remember the exact colors. Best of luck with your pups. I know you’re all having a terrible time right now. God Bless you.
My 6 week old Belgian Malinois just rested positive for Parvo. He’s only 3.4 lbs so he’s very tiny. He was admitted to the Vet yesterday and they called and said he was so much better today that they feel he would benefit from in-home care. They gave us an anti-biotic that he has to take every 6 hours and we can’t give him water until tomorrow because they pumped him full of liquids before we picked him up. I’m so stressed out over this, and to be honest I’m kind of mad the vet sent him home without a full 24 hours of care. Would you suggest pedialyte for hydration?? Due to his size the vet recommends 1 tbs of water every 1-2 hours but I figured Pedialyte would be more beneficial.
Hi Krysta, I’m so sorry. But homecare is often the best if you can keep up with it. Your fur baby will respond well to your loving care. But sleep for you will be scarce.
The pedialyte has electrolytes that will benefit the pup. HOWEVER, Only use it with the vets permission. It’s possible the IV they administered was full of electrolytes. If so using Pedialyte may over balance the electrolytes already in his system. After a talk with the vet you’ll know if that the best idea.
Just stay with the hydrating and keep on the schedule for those antibiotics. Use an alarm clock if necessary and watch the hydration. He is about the same size our Carson was. Hydrating Carson was SO hard because we never slept. For about a week. You need to take the pup back for more IVs and checks if he starts to fail.
For us Carson was almost dead by day five. He was just so tired and in spite of the antibiotics he spiked a high fever further dehydrating him. The vet did another IV and added MORE antibiotics and he was tough enough to pull through.
NEVER let down. Every time we thought he was doing better and loosed the schedule to take a break he went backwards fast. But Carson did pull through and with good supplemental vet care your lil guy has a good chance. All the best!
Our 8 month old doberman, Riley, just got over parvo. We luckily found a vet that is willing to work with us. He had to be hospitalized. He is much better now. Parvo is truly a horrible virus. We thought we were going to lose him. Found out the antibiotic the vet had him on he is sensitive to or allergic to. We did the same thing, forced water and unflavored pedialight down him. He had been vaccinated but apparently they were deactivated.
It is very touch and go, but doesn’t end there. Riley is still being kept seperate from our other four dogs. That is another challenge. Thank you for sharing your ordeal. It’s nice knowing there are lots of fur baby moms and dads out there.
Hi Sara, This is a truly awful experience for the whole family to go through. We’ll be here for you in prayer and support if there is anything we can do to help you through the rest. Having a whole pack down with this is an unimaginable nightmare. I sincerely pray Riley gets better and the others avoid Parvo. Hugs!
I am in the battle right now of helping my 10month old chi-minpin mix recover from parvo. Can I ask how long did you have to syringe feed your fur-baby. I’m on day 2 and he has no interest in eating by himself.
We thought he had a blockage since he loves to eat his toys but the vet required a parvo test to get an ultrasound, so we did it just so we could move on with the ultrasound. But it came back positive. He was hospitalized for 3 days because I was not aware we could tackle it at home. And not he is home but won’t eat. Thoughts?
Hi Karen,
The short answer is you do not stop unless he is eating on his own or you see that what you are doing is setting him back. Then return immediately to your vet and get help right away.
We mixed in the blender a homemade batch of goat milk and cooked chicken breast and syringed that in. This will only work if your pup is no longer throwing up or having diarrhea. Do not try to feed solids if it further irritates his digestive track. The main thing is he MUST NOT dehydrate. Take him back to the vet for a liquid iv if he is failing. That will give him what he needs and not need his digestion track to work.
I hope this helps. Best of luck and all the best.
I have a great dane puppy who recently got sick with all of the parvo symptoms. Yet I didn’t think it was parvo since he is utd on vaccines. But I was able to save him by giving him some antibiotics, motrin, probiotic, and pedialyte. I had to also keep him hydrated as he was enormous before getting sick. Once he got sick he was bones in less than 24hrs. I was so lucky he pulled thru. My kids had named him cooper. But after his battle and how close we were.to losing him and he pulled thru. We now call him Cooper Trooper. He was a.trooper and survived this nasty and ugly disease.
I’m so happy you pulled him through. Lucky Copper Trooper 🙂
@Diana, Motrin is toxic to dogs. Glad your dog survived, but never give anything other than baby aspirin.
I just lost my dog to parva he was 11 months and I sure do miss him
Hi Beth, We are so sorry for your loos. Parvo is an awful disease. Hugs.
Hi there,
I would love to share my boys story of parvo survival! Please see his video attached!
We beat parvo!
xoxo
@chicoquiroz IG
https://youtu.be/xmNi7hNzKuc
Hi Brittany, We are so delighted you got him through! Hugs and loves from all of us. Such a cutie!
My Golden retriever pup – Rocky, who was hyper active suddenly became pale and inactive. I underestimated the emergency and delayed to take him to the vet. When I did, he was diagnosed with Parvo in an extent of danger that even the vet was not sure he would survive. I didn’t had any idea how to save him. That’s when I got into Google and found your blog ( I’m soo glad that I found your blog at that time). I followed every detail on your blog and the following day it started to work! He had reached a situation where I thought he won’t survive more than a few hours ( I completely lost hope when he started crying for the first time). Then with the complete support of my vet and guidelines on your blog, I was able to save him. Now he’s not recovered completely yet – but he started wagging his tail, stealing bananas like before which filled me with a sense of hope. Thank you Trillions for this blog and keep up the wonderful work 🙂
Hi Abi, Thank you SO much for letting us know. It means everything to Kayti and I that our story helped save your pup. He will still need a lot of support but it sounds like he’s on the mend. Happy Days! Many hugs to your pup.
I have a 4 month old chiweenie pup named artie who just became sick with what I believe is parvo. Day 2. I’ve saved 3 dogs from parvo before but every case is different. Before I gave them a b12 shot and a shot of penicillin with non Stop broth/water/pedialyte. Alternating in a syringe. Your right it is sleepy nights but it worked before I’m just praying it will work again but your article gave me hope thank you
Hi Nicole,
I’m glad our Parvo story inspired you to go forward. I can’t imagine taking this disease on three times! So happy you won. I really appreciate you adding your experience to the conversation and your ideas for ways to support puppies through Parvo. We only know how it worked for us with Carson. All the comments on this article are precious for people searching for answers. thanks so much for adding yours. Best of luck with your pup!
Much appreciated, you’re SOOOOOO right ..we, or I , myself am looking for situations similar to mine, regarding age, size, symptoms, tried treatments , etc. , etc.. thank you for adding!?
Reading Carson’s story gave me hope. We picked up a stray pup who was already having a rough go of it healing a broken leg, he finally got to where he was up and walking and playing and almost completely recovered and then started showing signs of parvo. My vet would not even begin treatment without $500 to start. I’m doing what I can for little man at home, water, Pepto, antibiotics and Pedialyte mixed with bone broth. He’s started to keep the fluids down longer and his skin still has the right elasticity, and he’s alert and looking around but you can tell he hurts and he’s tired. Wish us luck, parvo is nothing but a battle and a bad one at that. We’re on day three of full on symptoms.
Hi Elizabeth,
Well that poor little pup. I’m so sorry you have Parvo to overcome on top of his leg! That’s just awful. The best encouragement I can see here is he’s hydrated, keeping some food down and on day three. It should get better as to the symptoms in the following days.
Your biggest challenge is recovery. He is going to be tired and need a LOT of support. I love what your feeding him! Bone broth is so good for him.
I do wish you the best of luck and I hope you will come back and share how you get him through recovery. It’s just a beast of a disease. Don’t let up until he’s fully recovered. It’s exhausting to get them through it all but your case sounds really hopeful to me.
Hi, my story is similar to yours. Adopted a parvo puppy and treated her at home. She is almost 2 now and still has gastro-intestinal problems. Sometimes a normal (but soft stool) followed by a very loose stool. I understand that parvo dogs may continue to have intestinal problems for the rest of their lives. She loves to eat but rarely drinks water. We were feeding her a grain-free commercial food but she seems to be getting worse with loose stools, eating grass and sometimes vomiting. Is there a commercial food that you could recommend or should I try to make her food myself? Thanks for any advice.
Hi Carol, I’m so happy to hear you saved your pup.Some dogs just have sensitive digestion no matter what you do.I’d talk to the vet. Grain free is not always the best option unless you are dealing with an allergy. My parvo pup had absolutely no digestive issues once recovered. I’m sorry I can’t speak to this issue. I recommend a good vet. Best of luck!
How many days went by before your dog started eating food? We are dealing with Parvo right now with my 12 week old puppy. We seem to be on the upswing but he will not eat anything still and I’m worried because of how skinny he is. He will drink water voluntarily and hasn’t vomited in over 24 hrs. He never did have diarrhea. The vet believes we caught it early. We are giving him tamiflu now and making sure he drinks regularly. I am offering food but he won’t eat.
Hi Stacey, When the stomach turns off it can have a hard time restarting. Call the vet (or stop by pet smart or wal mart) and get some nutrical. I linked it so you can see what I mean but you should be able to get it locally or at your vet.
BUT Be SURE your pup is fully hydrated. A dehydrated dog will not eat. Learn how to check for dehydration here. You may need to stop by the vet and have a bolus of sub cu fluids (and nutrients?) administered to get him restarted.
Dehydration can happen even when he is drinking water. Don’t assume he hydrated. Parvo takes a LOT of fluids through the process. Our carson also had little to no diarrhea and vomiting but still almost died to due dehydration. Without boluses of fluids we would have lost hi. The recovery is every bit as tough as the disease.
Once you are assured your pup is hydrated try the nutrical or whatever your vet suggests. I had Carson eating cheese with his many many pills (force fed at first because he had to have those pills). You could try plain tiny pieces of turkey (not deli meat.Fresh cooked unseasoned) and rice. It might take awhile to get hime to eat a full meal.
Best of luck and please let us know how he does. Your vet is your best resource. So happy you caught it early!
If your dog wont hold anything down, you can give fluids through enema too. Its less draining on you and you dont have to fight the dog as much. My dog Lilo got sick, took her to vet and said she had parvo. They wanted to keep her but would cost @ $1,000. Didnt have it and they refused to do water treatments, send her home and us come back. So i brought her home researched everything. Found if you can get iv fluid in them, the next best thing is an enema. When dehydrated, they will absorb fluid almost instantly. Dont worry about it coming out. Please research how to hydrate dog with enema. You can use pedialyte or research dog pedialyte for homemade recipe. I took her temp to make sure no fever or she wasnt getting cold. I use collidial silver for antibiotic. It took a few days but she is up and running around and is getting her appetite back. Giving her baby food until she can handle more. Dont give up on your babies! It is alot of work but it can be done. Just keep them hydrated!!
Hi Kim,
THANK YOU! It’s so nice to hear more ideas about how people are saving their dogs from Parvo without an expensive vet stay. I’m sorry your vet would not do the IV’s for you. I’m SO happy to hear an enema will help keep a pup hydrated. That is the biggest challenge with home care.
Hugs to you and doggy and HUGE kudos to you for going the distance on this labor of love. It’s an incredible amount of stress and work.
Hello,
I just recently rescued a puppy 2 days ago and took her for a check up. She is about 10 weeks old and was diagnosed with parvo. They immediately gave her a couple of shots and gave her IV fluids along with other meds. I brought her home and she is eating on her own. She seems to have a healthy appetite when she is fed. I am careful not to over feed her even though she seems as if she can eat more. After she was given the medication it seems that the vomiting has stopped. I am giving her pedialite and hoping that we caught this in it’s early stages. Any advice based off the information I have provided would be greatly appreciated.
Since
Hi Valerie,
This is exactly how it started in our case. Carson had some complications that also played in. The best advice I can give you is to follow your vets instructions to the letter.
Carson had a high fever with infections and was dehydrating so fast we could not keep ahead of it. The vet techs saved him with the boluses of fluids.
Do NOT go all night without giving your pup water and watching conditions.
This is a tough disease to fight on your own. I hope you have support at home. Carson slept literally on my neck and licked my ear when he needed me but I had a alarm set to check every hour through the night and give him liquids. He still lost ground and had to have vet help.
You have a TINY baby. Carson was four months and had already had one round of parvo immunizations.
NOTE: Your baby can look great and in fifteen minutes start losing to this horrible disease. Do NOT let up if you are doing home care. You’ll all be exhausted but never give up. And don’t take your eye off the pup.
Your off to a great start. Bring puppy to the vet as often as you can for supportive care. Don’t leave him for any length of time and be ready for the fight. This is a rough disease.
Hugs and prayers from us here. Please let us know how this goes. Any tips you want to share through your experiences may help someone else.
Best of luck!
My 8month old pup is currently in the vet with Parvo. Tomorrow will be three days, I want to bring him home and nurse him back to health. I feel so bad because I can not afford him to stay in the hospital.
When do you think I should ask them to take him home, Like how long do they make you wait?
Hi Vivian,
It all depends on your pup and his progress.
If he is a large breed he is likely to need more time at the vets. Large breeds tend to have a more difficult time gaining their health back.
Often parvo does not kill the dog outright. The recovery does. More often than not a secondary infection is involved that teams up with the Parvo and the dog just does not have the strength to fight them both.
For this reason PLEASE follow your vet’s advice. If you do need to bring your pup home for financial reasons you MUST be home with him and treat him faithfully and to the letter of your vet’s instructions until he is well recovered.
The vet will want to keep the pup until he is assured the recovery is complete. The time is often a week or two. We couldn’t afford that. We had an out patient relationship with our vet. If you need to bring puppy home and can do the total home care the vet instructs, go for it.
But it’s risky. If puppy has a lot of meds to take you need to figure out how to KEEP HIM HYDRATED and medicated round the clock. I highly recommend a vet check every day or so during home care. Ask them to teach you to check for dehydration in your dog. A dehydrated dog will die for sure.
You are off to a good start. If the vet thinks you can bring him home and your up for it, I wish you the very best of luck.
This is a VERY difficult and expensive disease to fight. Please let us know how it goes. I hope you have many years with your dear pup as we have. It’s all worth it if you can get hime recovered. Prayers and hugs for you both!
I just recently nursed my puppy back to health from parvo. I really wish I would have read your story when it all started. I had no clue what to do I just went in for it and had a mission to save my little Sadie’s life. I have a new found respect for people with animals and the things they go through. I’m glad your Carson made it through and I’m glad to have heard about your story!!!
Hi Brenda,
I am SO happy to know you saved your puppy! Thanks so much for stopping by and reading Carson’s story. I hope none of us every have to deal with this awful disease again.
Big hugs to Sadie and kudos to you for pulling her through. It’s not easy for the dog or the human. Have a great day!
Hi I had six puppies that caught parvo three survived and three died I use pedylite and amoxicillin and pepeptol bismo and pray Ed and God answer my prayers they are eating now I am so happy thank God I call these my miracle puppies God is so good
Hi Dana, That is wonderful news you could save three. Watch out for secondary infections. That’s what almost killed Carson after he got over the parvo. He was so depleted we almost lost him to the infections and dehydration. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us and others who are looking for hope and help. God bless you and your pups.
My 4 and 1/2 month old puppy Greta just died from parvo about an hour ago. I took her to the vet Monday and fot the test but because I didnt have $139 up front he redused to treat her. I have been doing everuthing you have said here even giving amoxicillin. She fought long and hard but her body was just too weak. I will miss her greatly.
Dear Robin,
We are so deeply sorry you lost your puppy. Parvo is a horrible disease.
I wish something we suggested could have helped your Greta.
We had vet support at home and it was still a very near thing with Carson. Without a vets support and rehydrating Carson more than once with IVs he never would have made it.
Our story is about a vet willing to step up and give us support even though he suggested a program we could not afford and had no hope himself that Carson would survive.
We used new techniques the vet did not respect but he still prescribed the tamiflu for us and we think that made all the difference. The homeopathic supports also made a measurable difference.
Sometimes everything you can do is still not enough. I sincerely hope you never have to deal with Parvo in another dog.
Hugs and love from all of us here.
My puppy died Monday from parvo too I tried everything I could do at home to say him
He started On Friday with the feing ill.I Google to symptoms and most likely it was parvo and I couldn’t afford to take him to the vet I bought all kinds of meds but he still died I miss him
I’m so sorry KeeKee, This is the most horrible disease. And SO expensive to get vet care for it. You have our deepest sympathies and hugs and prayers. Hopefully you will never have to deal with Parvo again. It’s just heart wrenching to watch them slip away.
So proud of Carson❤️My puppy Pluto was just diagnosed with Parvo and we are treating him at home.Your story has gave me so much hope and strength. With a strong home treatment plan.We Will Beat Parvo. Thank you for sharing your experience and information.
Hi Ashley, Hugs and prayers for Pluto. Get the Tamiflu today if you can get your vet to prescribe it. And the holistic med helps too. This is a very tough disease. Jump on it fast and keep him hydrated at all costs. You won’t be getting a lot of sleep but it’s worth it to pull him through. Good luck!
Please let us know how he’s doing.