Possible parvo exposure - Page 1

We had a thanksgiving guest show up with their 3 dogs yesterday. They explained that they are feeling extra "attached" because less than 2 weeks ago they lost a dog to parvo. OMG what were they thinking/or not! One of the dogs they brought wasn't vaccinated until after they lost the other- this dog was not showing any symptoms and was very playful appearing healthy. We have 2 dogs and one of them isnt yet vaccinated. What should we do? Its the weekend and we can't contact our local vet. Should I go to the local farm bureau tomorrow and purchase the vaccine and administer it myself... or would I then be botching any test results causing my vet further pain when we can get her in Monday?  AHHHH.

http://www.workingdogs.com/parvofaq.htm

I dont know but check this and other search's online tonight if your worried.  nice friends huh.

I'd go ahead and give your call a vet today {Sat} if they are opened.  I know my vet is, we have an appointment.  Or you can call the ER vet and ask.  I'm pretty sure they are going to tell ya to bring the one in and get it's vacs, and to just watch the others just incase and what all to look for.  Good luck with it.  We dealt with Parvo in our first dog we owned after buying our new house.  It wasn't fun.  Had to sanitize everything with bleach, and I also sent away to California for a solution that we sprayed on EVERYTHING!  Then we were told we couldn't have a dog for 6 mo. to a year!  But then they told us as long as the dog was a little older and vac. we didn't have to worry about it, just to watch it for a couple of weeks to make sure it didn't show any signs.  Again, good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Please, go to local health food store and purchase Collodial Silver - don't get the cheapest....it is a natural anti-viral, anti-bacterial and I have used it for over a decade with my dogs/cats when exposed to other animals as prevention.  You can read about it on these links and others:

http://www.all-natural.com/silver-1.html

http://www.newstarget.com/010038.html

I am not advocating this instead of a vet visit, but am recommending using Silver as a preventative.  Do the research yourself - I believe everyone should have some in their medicine cabinet - I have over a decade of personal experience with family, friends & pets and am never without it.

When my pets are exposed I dose them for 3 days - I do not give daily.  For myself, if I visit a hospitial or am around someone sick - I dose myself for 3 days.  I found this when diagnosed with severe Epstein Barr virus and it is the only product that made a major difference.

I wish you the best of luck.  Let us know how things turn out.

How old are your dogs? If they are over six months of age you likely will not have a problem. Up to 12 weeks of age is the most dangerous up to the six months.

Also, even if they had not brought over their dogs they could have tracked the parvo into your house as it can be on their shoes or clothing.

I would get my dogs vaccinated today!

CALL YOUR VETERINARIAN ASAP!

Your veterinarian should be able to draw a titre to determine the level of immunity your dog may or may not have. Of course the results of the titre would not be known for possibly a few days, even with expedited air freight. Since you must report to your veterinarian anyway with the unvaccinated dog, you may request a titre at that time. If this is a young dog there is probably no immunity yet. Your veterinarian should take immediate action to start/continue the vaccinations and I do not mean to frighten you, but it could already be too late.

The fact that your freinds brought over dogs that were exposed to a dog that died of parvo is bad enough, but they could have easily had the virus on the soles of their shoes. Parvovirus can survive for a very long time in the soil. Since you are not a veterinarian (and neither am I) I would request your veterinarian to take immediate action. The veterinarian may well refuse to allow your dog in his clinic and may prefer to administer the vaccine in your automobile. I know that if I were he that I would be very touchy about allowing an "exposed" dog into my clinic unless that dog was affected and dying.

Many dogs do develop an immunity to parvovirus on their own, but it is best to err on the side of safety and vaccinate all puppies for this insidious disease as quickly as their bodies will allow. The virus is easily transmitted and is usually done so by animal-to-animal contact, contact with infected feces and/or soil, etc. There is no way to know whether any dog has immunity unless a titre is done. I wish the best for you in this and you are absolutely right to be concerned. In the meantime, you should make sure your dogs are kept away from any other dogs and sterilize everything they have touched with a chlorine bleach/water solution.

Hope for the best,

Bob-O

I would not panic if I was you , nor spend tons of money. Get to the vet and vaccinate your dogs.

Also, depending where you live you might have a source to buy and vaccinate the dogs yourself. Many farm or tractor supplies along with Feed stores sell the vaccination. Easy to give the shots. 

The main worry is if you have young pups and from expereince parvo is hard to second guess.

Bob-o gave excellent advice. Please do let your vet know when you take your dog in, as Bob-O mentioned the vet may want to come to your car.  Good luck with your dogs.  And find new friends.......

Animules - LOL "find new friends" - I ditto that !  Geez, what dolt would want their friends to possibly suffer the same thing they just went thru???  Common sense eludes many these days!

Innkeeptress

Don't judge your friends too harshly. Most people don't know much about parvo and how it can be spread. This would be a good time to educate your friends so in the future they can take pre-cautions if them or their pets are exposed. I remember about 20 years old when I had a litter and lost a couple of pups. I did alot of research and educated myself and I admit was very suprised on how long parvo can live in the dirt etc and how it can be transmitted. If you take your dogs outside the home it is really hard,  if not impossible to keep them from being exposed to parvo.

Again, unless your dogs are pups I would not worry that much about it.