2 September 2011
Parvo Treatment Do’s And Don’ts
Posted by Rae and Mark under: Health .
Parvo treatment at home is definitely cheaper, safer and more effective than taking your dog to the vet’s, but it is grueling, both mentally and physically.
To start with, you’ll already be stressed out because your doggie has one of the most dangerous and aggressive viruses there is.
You’ll be confronted with frequent bouts of diarrhea (almost always foul-smelling and often bloody) and vomiting, so you’ll be on clean-up duty for several days.
You’ll be worried about losing him, and even more so if you have young children, as the death of a family pet can be especially traumatic for them.
And the home Parvo treatment schedule is physically demanding – you need to administer something to your sick dog around the clock and, sadly, that does mean both day and night.
Even if you have somebody to help you out, it’s still incredibly tiring – but, of course, ultimately rewarding too when you save your sick pet all by yourself.
So, here are a few do’s and don’ts when treating Parvo puppies at home.
Stay Calm
The one thing you must do throughout your Parvo crisis is to keep a cool head – you cannot afford to panic, as your dog is depending on you to do what he cannot do for himself.
Stay Positive
Even though it is very difficult to stay positive when you see your doggie fading away before your very eyes, it’s critical that you maintain a positive attitude throughout.
Dogs (as well as most animals) are adept at picking up on how we humans feels, so if they detect you being despondent, negative and pessimistic, they will mirror that, and that’s not what you want.
So, talk encouragingly to your sick pet, picture them as they were before they got sick, and imagine them being that way again already, and if you have a photo of them when they were healthy, put it somewhere prominent, like on the fridge door, so that you’ll see it constantly.
And whatever you do, don’t ever give up on your dog! We’ve seen dogs that were almost at death’s door, but they had a sudden turn-around, against all the odds. If those people had given up on their dogs, they probably wouldn’t have survived.
Hygiene
Of course, it’s always important to maintain good hygiene, but when your dog has Parvo, it’s even more crucial.
Parvo is really easy to transmit – on your shoes, clothes, hands (as well as on your car tyres, and by birds, insects and other wildlife), and by contact with infected dogs or their bodily fluids (i.e. diarrhea, urine, vomit, saliva, and mucus such as from nose-to-nose contact).
Many of our customers had puppies that got Parvo, even though those puppies had never been outside.
How does this happen?
In most cases, because the owners walk the virus into the house.
So, change your shoes whenever you go indoors, and wash your hands (with warm, soapy water) both before and after handling any dogs.
Later on, once the Parvo has been dealt with, you will need to use bleach (in a 1:30 dilution) on as many surfaces in the infected area as you can. That includes floors, cupboard doors and walls, but soft furnishings (e.g. sofas, carpets) will prove difficult, given that most people don’t want to put bleach on these.
Bleach Alternatives: these look quite good and seem to be highly effective in Parvo clean-up.
Cross-Contamination
Closely related to the previous point, if you have more than one dog (as the vast majority of people do), then it’s very easy for the virus to spread from the sick dog to any as-yet healthy ones – even if they have been vaccinated.
Therefore, when administering fluids, either for treatment or prevention (our Parvo Treatment Kit can be used for both purposes), it is crucial that you get a feeding syringe and/or eye-dropper (for small dogs only as the capacity of most eye droppers is not large enough for dogs over 10lbs typically) for each different dog.
Also, if the products you are using come with eye-droppers, then you must NEVER put those anywhere near a dog’s mouth (whether the dog is healthy or not), as that could contaminate the contents of the bottle, hence the need for separate feeding syringes for each dog. Just to be clear, a feeding syringe DOES NOT contain a needle.
Vaccinations
Following on from this, if one of your dogs has Parvo, then under no circumstances should you vaccinate any of your other dogs.
They may not be showing symptoms yet (the incubation period is 3 – 15 days), but there is a very high chance that they have been infected.
Vaccinating dogs that have the virus, or have been exposed to it, can be very dangerous – it can even kill them in a matter of hours!
Furthermore, Parvo is deemed to be ubiquitous, meaning it is anywhere and everywhere, this is why loads of people have found out the hard way, they vaccinated healthy dogs and within hours or days these previously healthy dogs came down with full-blown Parvo – yes, the vaccine gave the dogs Parvo.
This could happen at any time. Vaccinations carry many risks and do not prevent dogs from getting Parvo, so why take unnecessary risks? Give your dogs a real chance by preventing Parvo instead.
Make sure to have a Parvo Treatment Kit on-hand at all times.
Fluid Levels
Many people are aware of the risk of dehydration that comes with Parvo, but what is less well-known is the risk of over-hydration.
In the desire to make sure your dog gets enough fluids, it’s all too easy to give him too much, and the symptoms of over-hydration include excessive vomiting, and trouble breathing.
It is therefore important to stick to the dosage instructions, and do not be tempted to increase the quantities just because he looks thirsty.
Isolation
By the time you realise that one or more of your dogs has Parvo, it is probable that others have already been infected, so isolating the sick dogs is a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
What it will do is cause additional stress to dogs who are already stressed, and additional stress is definitely something you don’t want, as it will only serve to slow down the recovery.
Conclusion
Parvo treatment at home is a tiring but rewarding undertaking, but just remember to use your common sense.
There is a lot of misinformation about Parvo on the web, but if you buy one of our Parvo treatment kits, you’ll receive accurate, comprehensive, step-by-step instructions that will guide you through the entire ordeal.
