# Parvovirus?



## MaryLiz (Jun 15, 2014)

We rescued a puppy last week. She had the first round of her parvovirus shot and was wormed Thursday of this week. The poor thing has been through so much, some of which I feel responsible for. She got vet checked and he said that she looked very healthy for a stray (honestly she may have been a drop-off case). Our dogs have always been outdoor dogs, our eldest is mostly cur (a type of hunting dog, never used for hunting just a pet), and this puppy appears to be part bird dog so she seemed a good fit for our family. When we started introductions things went sour, our older dog bit her on the face and he has NEVER behaved in such a manner. I've been treating it with peroxide, bactine, and she's been getting some baby's tylenol. If the swelling persisted I was going to take her back to the vet Monday, but she's been very perky, normal acting, and not really behaving like her muzzle hurt much.

Tonight things got unusually bad. At first I thought the wound had got infected and she might just have had a fever. She's lost her appetite, and then she vomited. Which at first I thought might be because of an upset stomach because of fever. Then she vomited 3 more times... then worst and most horrifying of all, she passed blood. Not blood in stool, but straight blood and mucus looking stuff, and it smelled awful, worse than any bodily function I've ever dealt with from an animal. I'm horrified now that she may have parvo. There is no place open to see her tonight, and tomorrow is Sunday but we are going to call a friend and see if their vet takes emergency calls. I really don't think if this persists that she would make it til Monday, and there is no 24/7 emergency veterinary clinic available to us here.

Does this sound like parvo to any of you, or something else? I'm also scared that if she has it our older dog could contract it. I read that it's transmitted through oral contact of stool though, and aside from their brief intro they haven't been in contact with each other. If anyone knows what this could be, or if anyone has any advice for me in the mean time I would greatly appreciate it, and also prayers for her, I know there are a lot of dog lovers on here too and I definitely believe in the power of good will and prayer, if I can just get her to a vet in time to treat whatever is going on.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

Parvo symptoms are vomiting , fever, lethargy, and diarrhea( can be bloody / mucousy diarrhea). Usually it will vimit and have diarrhea frequently. What dose of childrens tylenol have you been giving and how long? She could have a gi upset / stomach ulcer from the tylenol but it does sound like it could be parvo from the symptoms you described.. I would definitely keep your other dog completely away from the puppy until you can take to vet for parvo test. parvo is highly contagious and can be fatal if not treated early enough.. Any contact with the puppy, make sure you wash hands, change clothes and definitely sanitize( I would use bleach) where it urinates and defecates and dont let your other dog in that area until the puppy can be tested. Best wishes keep us updated....


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## MaryLiz (Jun 15, 2014)

Thank you. I don't think it would be an ulcer from the tylenol, when she first got bit I shaved the very end off of an adult tylenol and gave to her because we didn't have any children's tylenol in the house. She only got the baby tylenol today, I did about 2 ml., based it off half the children's dose based on weight because she was 11 pounds at the vet. Yesterday (between the bite and being sick today) I didn't give her any because the swelling had gone down and she seemed to be doing much better so I didn't want to give her any for that very reason, I was afraid too much would affect her stomach or liver. The first time she vomited was about an hour after I gave her the baby tylenol this evening so I thought it might have been what caused her upset stomach, but then she kept vomiting and when she used the bathroom it was also a lot of blood... more than I would imagine would come from an ulcer. Literally no stool in it and all mucus looking blood. She was doing great this morning, jumping and wanting to play at around 12 pm, and then I came home this evening and went straight to check on her and found her ill. Definitely lethargic, I'm not sure about a fever but her nose is dry. I'm really hoping and praying that the vet we took her to will do emergency calls.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

Best wishes, let me know how it turns out.


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## MaryLiz (Jun 15, 2014)

She passed away today. One vet in town does make emergency calls, the other doesn't. Our vet (the one who was willing to make an emergency call) was already on a call to somewhere else, but he gave me instructions that if she wasn't drinking water to make her take pedialyte or gatoraid every little bit out of a dropper or syringe. She didn't seem too much worse this morning, and I was trying to make her drink some of the pedialyte every 30 minutes or so in whatever amount I could get into her without making her vomit more but she went down hill so fast. By the time he called me back and said he could meet me she was already gone.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Sorry to hear... a necropsy would be a good idea, just so you can be certain about what happened (and take necessary cleaning/quarantine procedures if it was parvo).


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## MaryLiz (Jun 15, 2014)

Thank you. For some reason even though she's only been "mine" for less than a week it felt like I had lost a pet that had been with me for years; she's the first pet I've had that literally died in my arms, and I just feel like her short little life was so miserable. I wish there was more I could have done and my mind is still running through all the "what if's". Our vet had informed me what the IV and the medication to stop the vomiting and prevent any additional bacterial infection were probably going to cost depending on how many days she needed to be hospitalized, and I was more than willing to pay it if he just could have gotten to her sooner.

But because she was separate from our older dog aside from the short time we tried to introduce them (after intros failed and she started getting sick I was keeping her at a different house, at my grandfather's where she could stay inside and I could keep a closer eye on her, our other dog is the family dog and absolutely refuses to come in our house even though he's been around so long that I think my father would let him at this point), and also because I have sworn no more dogs until I graduate and have a place of my own where they can be my house baby, I probably will not be getting a necropsy, even though I feel like it would put me a little more at ease to know exactly what happened. Even if it was parvo as the vet suspects, there will be no other dogs touching the space she was in for a very, very long time. I can not bring myself to fathom adopting and then losing another pet at this point, we lost our family cat earlier this summer as well... Tomorrow I am making an appointment for our older dog to see the vet just in case, and I will be keeping a very close eye on him.


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## TobyRat (May 24, 2011)

Sorry to hear of your loss. It does sound like she had parvo virus. She may have been exposed to it before you got her as the incubation period can be up to 14 days.


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## MaryLiz (Jun 15, 2014)

TobyRat said:


> Sorry to hear of your loss. It does sound like she had parvo virus. She may have been exposed to it before you got her as the incubation period can be up to 14 days.


That may be it; I had her 7 days as of yesterday. We've never had a dog on either our property or my grandfather's that had the virus before. Since she was a stray I don't really have any way of knowing where she came from.


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## EmilyGPK (Jul 7, 2014)

So sorry to hear that. I'd be on the safe side and discard or bleach anything she was in contact with.


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## MaryLiz (Jun 15, 2014)

EmilyGPK said:


> So sorry to hear that. I'd be on the safe side and discard or bleach anything she was in contact with.


Thank you. We've already discarded the blankets that we used for her. Thankfully aside from her one accident in my room, the floor she was on for most of her stay was sort of a false tiling in the bathroom at my grandfather's house so I will be mixing a bleach solution to mop with. The problem now is the pen she was in outside for just a day or so... the vet said that the virus can live in the ground for up to 50 years, but what I read online said that it should be considered infected for 5 to 7 months :\ I know a dog can pick up parvo from pretty much anywhere, people can track it in on their shoes and such. I'm just wondering if that area inside the pen will remain unusable for years and years or if there will be a time period in which it could be considered safe again. As I said though I have no intentions of bringing home another dog, but if anyone reads this and has any idea what I should do for the affected area outside I would be really grateful.


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