My puppy died of parvo after being treated at a animal hospital for 10 days. He seemed fine like a normal playful puppy. On the afternoon of December 29th he seemed a little tired but I really did not think much of it. At 2:00 a.m. (Dec 30th) He had a little diarrhea with what I thought was a speck of blood. I thought he may have ate something he should not have so I immediately took him to the animal hospital. They tested him for parvo it came back positive and he was admitted. They right away started him on IV'S, meds) He did not have another episode of diarrhea until the next day and it was every few hours. He threw up also so they withheld food for 24 hours. Still had the bloody diarrhea no vomiting so they gave him food. He showed no interest by this time he was showing more depression. Vomited later that day so they again withheld giving him food. By Wednesday he needed a blood transfusion, that evening he really seemed to perk up he was walking around in his cage. Still had a little bloody diarrhea no nausea still depressed. He seemed to improve a little everyday after the transfusion. By Saturday he had no bloody diarrhea or thrown up for 2 days. He still did not seem interested in food so they began force feeding him on Friday am. By Sunday evening he was eating on his own. (They vet would call twice a day to give me updates) On Monday she called and said Dasher was really improving but she would still like to see him a little more "perky" before she was ready to release him to us. I asked if I could come for a visit. She said that normally they do not allow this but she would make an exception since he seemed to be much better and they had no other cases of parvo at that time. She said to come in the morning. I got up but before I could get there she called (8:30 a.m.) told me she was not sure what happened but Dasher's condition started to decline about 3:00 a.m. and he passed away at 6:00 am. I was shocked. I was wondering if anyone has had an experience similar to this. Dasher was getting better and suddenly died. We are so heartbroken over the loss of our puppy. Thanks

cajc, I have not experienced this myself with my own dogs, but a few of our members have. Hopefully they will stop by to offer you some support. I am so sorry this has happened to you and your puppy. Please accept my condolences. Parvo is such a deadly virus. Once a puppy contracts it, the survival chances are always 50/50, even if you do everything you can as you most certainly did. It just wreaks havoc on a pups young system because they haven't had a chance to build up enough immunity to fight it. Even though it looks like they are rallying, many times it is just a final last fight for their lives and the virus simply wins out. Again, please accept my condolences.

cajc, it's not common, but parvo can sometimes damage the heart muscle, and this can result in sudden death of a puppy that seemed to be getting well. There's no way to predict it. Be sure any future puppies you bring into your home have already been vaccinated at least once, since parvo can last in the environment for a long time. I'm sorry for your loss, hope this is some help.

Thank you. We are still so devastated over Dasher. We would like to eventually get another puppy but realize we have to wait. I have berber carpet so I was able to bleach it with my steam cleaner and I of course have used bleach on all our bathroom's and Kitchen floor. I have read so many different opinions about how long we should wait. Do you think 6 months is long enough? Dasher would always use his puppy pad but did sometimes pee on the carpet. He was never outside in my yard. We only had him for 5 days before he started showning signs of Parvo. I immediately took him to the animal Er. I talked to the vet after Dasher died and she said she just did'nt know what happened. The vet tech who was on overnight duty called her to come in because his condition started to get bad about midnight and by 3:00 she said he went in to kidney failure and after that it was multi system organ failure. Out of everything I have read on the internet about parvo I have not come across something similar. He was doing great as I mentioned he had not even thown up or passed bloody diarrhea for several days. He just did not become real perky that's why she was going to let me come for a visit. To see if he would perk up. But anyway, it's still very hard for us we got so attached so fast. If you have any advice on how long we should wait before we get a new puppy I would appreciate it. Oh I also forgot to mention that I took Dasher to the vet on Dec 26th. For his 9 week boosters. He had never ever been outside on the ground. Do you think he could have got parvo from the shot? Thanks Cindy

Cindy, the incubation period for parvo is usually about 5-7 days, so he could have been exposed to it even before you brought him home. Even though he was not outside, you could have accidentally picked up the virus on your shoes or clothes and brought it in. (Everyone else worries about the person who used the shopping cart before them had the flu; I worry whether they have a sick puppy at home!) The viruses in vaccines have either been killed or modified so they can't cause the disease they are meant to protect against.
More than likely, his body just didn't respond as well as it should have to the shot. The shot may not have had time to work, since it takes a few days for the body to respond to a vaccine. Viruses can change, or mutate, so they are stronger than the vaccine's protection. Everybody knows someone who had a flu shot but got the flu anyway. Also, if he was just 9 weeks old, he probably still had some antibodies left from his mother. These are temporary and start to fade away as the pup gets older. But if there are a lot of them still around, they can interfere with the puppy's ability to respond to the shot by making his own antibodies. Who knows? Sounds like you did everything you were supposed to do when you were supposed to do it. I don't think anybody knows how long parvo hangs around in the environment, most experts talk in terms of years. The only thing I know for you to do is either adopt an older dog, or if you want another puppy, ask the owner if they will keep it for you until at least 7-10 days past its second set of shots, that way it will have had time to respond to the booster. Talk to your vet and see what she recommends.

Before getting another puppy, read through what the AVMA has to say at http://www.avma.org/communications/b...o_brochure.asp

I would really look at getting an older dog, at least 6 months old. You can't be sure any shots will take with a young puppy, and you don't want one that has been kenneled until 12 weeks or more missing the important socilization between 6-12 weeks. Look into rescue dogs.

One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue
Dogs. These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home
To be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them. You may
Find a rescue near you starting at http://www.akc.org/breeds/rescue.cfm The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year.

I have a 10 week old pup that has parvo right now and were trying so hard to keep him alive. I have been doing so much reseach and they can't get it from the shot but its kind of like our flu shot they can still get but it will help them fight it more and sometimes make it were its not so bad but no matter how many shot a pup has it can still get parvo until its 16 weeks and fully vaccinated and then when you bring them home (sorry you wasn't able to) they can get it again if you don't clean your house from top to bottom with bleach I'm so so sorry that you lost your pup I knew how you feel like I said I'm going through this right now and I kept spending all this money to keep him alive but I look at him and know in my heart that I don't like his going to make it he looks so bad and has losted like 6 lbs in a week please pray for my pup his name is bear

I had a puppy almost a year die from parvo it's a very tricky virus sorry for your loss I know I how felt I was really sad but I havee a puppy right now that seems to be doing fine its recovering from parvo and is very active and everything but I'm knda angry about parvo because now I can't get another puppy because its in my yard house clothes car and everywhere its impossible to clean if your going to get anthoer dog wait for a year and spray bleach daily around your and yard otherwise the virus is still lingering because it is dies but it is really slow like radition in a way but wait for at least a year spray bleach everywhere and don't let the parvo virus hold you back from getting the dog you want fight the virus everyday and in a year get another dog and get all its shot asap OK and if you need any extra info just ask the ? On this website and someone will be gladly to help you OK bye God Bless :)

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