Vaccinate Your Babies

Parvovirus is one of the deadliest viruses in the canine world. It has over a ninety percent fatality rate in puppies and young dogs, while most adult dogs have a ten percent fatality rate. There are so many misconceptions now about parvovirus, and people love to spread the wrong information like wildfire. And by chance you are told your fur baby has this horrible virus, it’s hard to figure out what is the truth and what is false. Now, if you are anything like me, you research the absolute h*ll out of it and find out everything you can, and here, I’ll share my findings with you.

Let’s kick it off with some misconceptions, and one of the big ones I heard was that parvo is airborne. No, parvovirus is not airborne, and I’ll explain in a moment. Another one is that if you have a dog with parvo, you can’t bring in another animal for “X” amount of years. While it is recommended not to bring a dog into a home that has had a parvo-positive pup living there, it is actually possible to do so if you have cleaned properly. And one of the biggest misconceptions is that parvo kills in 24 to 48 hours. You may guess the answer to that: no, it doesn’t kill in that short amount of time, but that is the amount of time that you see something happening.

Okay, now the really rough stuff: explaining what parvo is and sorting out the truths to the misconceptions. Parvovirus has two classifications due to where it focuses on its destruction. There is a variation of parvo that attacks the brain, but it is rare. The most common strain of parvo is more intestinal. Parvo is not a crawling virus, meaning it needs to be moved by contact with one specific thing: infected feces. Many people want to say that parvo is airborne because of dogs sniffing an infected dog’s feces, but they forget the fact that most dogs put their noses in what they sniff, and then when they lick their snout, they ingest the virus. Now, this virus loves young, rapidly-growing cells. This means your puppy’s intestines are a perfect breeding ground. Yes, this virus basically eats the intestinal lining of canines, and most deaths from parvo are due to dehydration and intestinal bleeding.

We aren’t completely done talking about what it does, so if you need a moment, go watch a cat video or something to make you happy. Okay back for the rest? Now it generally takes about five days for the intestines to repair themselves. Now, remember when I said parvo does not kill in 24 to 48 hours? Here is why; by the time a puppy is showing signs of parvo, they have already had it for about three to five days, and generally, it takes about a week for a puppy to die of parvo if they have received no medical treatment. And to be honest, once a puppy is showing signs and they are hospitalized, it only provides a slight change of success. So when a pup has parvo, they stop eating and drinking because when they go potty or puke, they are passing blood from where their intestines are bleeding.

Now that you made it through that rough explanation of what parvo is, let’s talk a little bit happier. What can you do when you find out your baby has parvo? If you have the money for hospitalization, go for it. The main thing that hospitals do for dogs with parvo is supportive care: IVs and monitoring. Now if you are doing this at home, it’s gonna be rough, but there are people who have helped their baby survive. Mainly, trying to get fluids in them to keep them hydrated so they can basically flush out the virus is the best thing to do. Keeping them comfy and clean is also very important so your pup has love and support, even if that is from their crate where they can see you.

One of the most important things to do when you have a parvo pup or dog is to clean your entire house and anything they have come in contact with for at least the last week using bleach. There are things out there that claim that they kill the parvovirus, but the only thing that 100% kills parvo is bleach. Now it doesn’t have to be too strong; 1:32 to 1:30 is sufficient, and funny enough, it doesn’t kill furniture or flooring as much as people want to freak out about. There is only one thing of mine that got stained, and it was a sheet that didn’t get washed in it but got sprayed. Basically, you spray what you want to be cleaned with your solution, then let it sit for about 15 minutes before cleaning it up with water.

Now I’ll give a bit of my story and discuss why I wanted to write this article. Back in June, my parents and I went and picked up a precious little puppy from a breeder, and we were smitten by him. He honestly was just happy being held and slept in my arms the entire way home, and he stayed close to me when he barely kept his eyes open. Mom was the first one a bit worried about why he was sleeping so much, but I figured he was a baby, so he needed sleep. He didn’t eat or drink much that day and we scheduled a vet check first thing in the morning. That morning, he puked before we got to the vet's office, and when they did the test, within five minutes it came back as a strong positive for parvo. I was heartbroken when they told us that, and I went into research mode. I was a wreck all that day when I had to work. That night, mom and dad were keeping him comfy in his crate when I got in, and I kept him in my room with me that night. That night was the roughest of my life. Basically, I had stayed up the entire night trying to get fluids into him and keep him comfortable as he was dying in my arms. Around 5:26 that morning, he was gone, and I mourned my little boy.

We also had a friend who was a vet who just about berated us about everything we did wrong, and she told us that we couldn't bring in another dog for a year or more. And partially out of spite and pain, we were out to prove her wrong. I honestly cleaned every surface in my house at least twice with bleach and steam. The pup only stood on uncovered floor one time, but I still cleaned everywhere like an intense germaphobe for over two weeks.

You can heal after parvovirus

Now I’ll admit I wasn’t ready to bring in a new puppy so soon after losing him, but the breeder was so distraught because he sold us a dying pup (plus losing the other littermates the same day we lost him, along with others from other litters and buildings) that he was willing to let us have another puppy or a refund. We were brave and decided to get another. Now the second one we picked out didn’t make it home because we decided to wait two more weeks before bringing that one home, and he also contracted something and died two days before we were going to get him. Again, there were a bit of tears and the breeder was so upset. Then there was the phrase, “Now we do have a little girl pup who is in a completely different building and hasn’t even been out of the whelping box yet if you want.”

This was the biggest debate for us. While we were okay with a girl pup, the question was, should we bring it in? When we got there, we talked with the breeder about what would be best. He told us to get the puppy out of there before she passed like the others. And so we brought her home that day, and I kept cleaning to make sure she would be healthy. I’m happy to say she is a year old now, fully vaccinated and crazy as can be. Well, not right now, since she’s sleeping beside my foot, but it’s late.

Now the breeder did say he figured out where the strain of parvo came from. I kid you not, this man had such a set up to try and prevent parvo in his dogs, it made a hazmat clean look mild: hand sanitizer, bleach solution to walk into before going into a building, and separate kennels with their own sanitation system where it flows into separate tanks! But the culprit was a family that wanted to come to look at puppies who had just been at a trade show where they were around animals, and then they handled a puppy at his place. He was so upset with them and himself for not making sure that they were clear before they came in and killed so many of his puppies.

So just to wrap up after my long story, make sure to get your pup vaccinated. If they are near strange dogs and you don’t know their shot history, make sure they stay away from strange poop. If they do come down with parvo, please get them hospitalized and bleach everything. It’s not airborne, but it is highly contagious, so please be cautious with your fur babies until they are fully vaccinated and wait at least two weeks after each shot. That’s about how long it will take the vaccine to take hold.