There are lots of “puppy diseases” out there that can cause a person to lose their pup, but while I am not going to cover every disease known to man that pups can possibly get, but I will cover this one because it is so common and because the results can be so devastating. Most breeders will probably concur with me that arguably the worst thing that can happen to any pup (or especially any litter of pups) is to get hit over the head with parvovirus. For this reason, I will be discussing both the preventative measures one should take to avoid this disease first, as well as the corrective measures to take if you are faced with an acquired case of this disease on your yard. If you are looking for a more comprehensive rundown on several of the more comprehensive puppy diseases (and if you want to learn how to get the necessary drugs cheaply, at below wholesale prices), order my complete work The Pit Bull Bible.
Parvovirus Prevention
The saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” exists for a reason: it is simply timeless and it is simply true. In the case of parvovirus, yep, this means it is better to keep all of your dogs up-to-date on their shots than it is to treat your pups for parvovirus. Being up-to-date on shots doesn't mean using cheap brands; this means using top-quality brand names, not feed-store cheapies. When ordering your shots from your vet catalog make sure you use names like Vanguard-Plus by Pfizer, Progard by Intervet, Galaxy by Schering Plough, or Duramune Max 5 by Fort Dodge. These products are the best in their class, as some of the lesser-known brands don’t cover any of the new parvo strains that always come out. What you need to understand is that new strains of parvovirus are developing all the time, as the disease mutates and re-mutates, and the top brands of inoculation stay current in their offerings while the cheap brands do not. Thus giving your dog inferior inoculations, by using cheap brand namess, can essentially be like injecting water into your dogs: they basically afford no true protection. In fact, there is a brand new strain of parvovirus (CPV 2C) that was discovered in the United States in 2008.
To inoculate properly, you give your pups their first shot at 6 weeks, their second shot at 9 weeks, and their third shot at 12 weeks. For the 6-week and 9-week shots, I use Vanguard Plus 5/CV, but whichever brand you use, do not use the shots on your young pups that contain leptospirosis prevention. Too many cases have occurred where puppies actually contract the disease from the “modified” live virus. Although this can happen from the “modified” live parvo shot too, the signs are easier to see and treat. Once your pups reach maturity, you no longer want to use high-titer “plus” or “max” type vaccines at all—adults don’t need that much kick in their shots. Therefore, after your pup gets his last shot of the series, you can let him go for a whole year after that without another booster. From that point on, the dog can get a yearly booster shot, but these shots are going to be a step down in potency from the high-titer shots. For instance, the product Vanguard has its product Vanguard 5/CVL (notice: this is not Vanguard-“Plus” anymore, it is just regular Vanguard now). The reason for this is only puppies need highly-concentrated inoculations; adults simply need a casual booster by comparisonYou may be asking, “Why don’t I just rely on my vet to give the shots?”, and here’s your answer: Many vets use inferior products (like Solvay) to cut costs. Besides the desire of many vets to cut costs by using inferior products, and then charging 8x more for them than what you can get them for from your catalogue—there is also another motivation for your vet to use inferior products: if your dog gets sick, guess who is going to make money when it comes time to treat it? Don’t get me wrong, most vet are ethical (to varying degrees), but it’s hard to tell which ones are sometimes. And, no matter how ethical your vet may be, he or she still charges you a whole lot more than what you really need to pay for easily-accessible items, such as shots. Why spend $625 to give 25 pups their first shot each, when you can spend between $125 and do the same thing at home? Further, since you have to give out three shots to each pup, why spend a total of $1875.00 to let your vet give 25 pups their 3-series shots, when you only have to spend between $175 and $375 to do it yourself.
But regardless of what you do, if you begin the inoculation of your puppies by boosting the mother first, before you even breed her (as relayed in The Pit Bull Bible), and then if you keep your pups in above-ground pens (also as featured in The Pit Bull Bible), if you feed them good food, if you worm them out properly—and if you give them their preventative shots at ages 6-weeks, 9-weeks, and 12-weeks with a top-quality brand like Vanguard-Plus—your pups will simply be healthy and they will not get parvo.
The Dreaded Parvo
But suppose your pups do get parvo. Suppose you forgot to give them their shots, or suppose you bought a new pup from some breeder who failed to give the poor guy his shots—what do you do? How can you beat the dreaded parvovirus, should this disease rear its ugly head on your dog yard? The first step is, once again, a good game plan. With parvo what you must understand to treat this disease effectively is that many things are happening to your pup all at once: (1) His stomach is being attacked (massacred) by the virus and he may be bleeding internally; (2) in some cases the puppy’s heart is being attacked also, in which case the heart will be too weak to clear the lungs of all fluids, which excess fluids can drown a pup; (3) the pup’s body responds to these attacks by trying to expel the disease through repeated vomiting which weakens the pup even further; and (4) the pup’s body responds by trying to expel the disease via another route, by repeated diarrhea, which again weakens the pup still further. Actually, more is happening to your poor pup, but we will simplify it by listing just these four most-major ill effects. I think you can now see why a pup will die very quickly from parvo without some major help—and fast. The single most important factor to a successful outcome in treating parvo is to catch it early. This means you don’t take "what’s left" of your pup (if anything) to the vet after the 3rd day you let it heave its guts out in deathly-ill agony, it means you must nip this disease at the bud by jumping on it the moment your pup acts funny.
Signs to Look For:
- If your puppy starts looking depressed, or appears listless, you should immediately become concerned, as these are the first signs of parvo (and any number of other similar diseases). It may be nothing and it may go away—or it may be the beginning of the end;
- The next stage of parvo is your puppy refuses to eat. Puppies will still continue to drink water, even if they have parvo, so don’t be fooled by this;
- Soon after the puppy refuses to eat, he will begin to vomit—and vomit. After this the diarrhea comes, which is oftentimes bloody and has a nasty smell. In severe cases of parvo, the pup’s lungs fill with fluid, because the disease is attacking the heart, and the puppy will literally drown in his own juice. If you let your puppy’s symptoms get this far, the chances of saving it are slim. Most people wait and wait, until it is too late to save the pup. You cannot wait for vomiting and diarrhea to occur before you decide to act. If you value the life of your pup, you must act before these stages occur.
When to Act:
If your puppy refuses to eat at its normal time, and it seems either slow, lethargic, or depressed, immediately take it to the vet for a microscopic analysis for the following four (4) conditions: coccidiosis, giardia, coronavirus, and parvovirus. It is better to spend $50 on a false alarm than to have to bury your pup out of laziness and negligence. It is essential to have your pup checked out for all four of these potential diseases in order to treat your pup properly. All of these conditions have similar symptoms, but the first two are protozoan infections, while the last two are viral infections. If the problem turns out to be one of the first two, either coccidia or giardia, these can be easily-treated by referring to my “Saving Money” information in The Pit Bull Bible. Use the combination method outlined there, and your pups will be fine. The first two infections of either coccidia or giardia are not usually as severe as the other two (viral) infections, but any of these diseases can kill a pup if left unattended.
The Cure
However, if the problem proves to be parvo (or the less-severe coronavirus), then you will want to immediately get your pup on the human drug Tamiflu (Oseltamivir phosphate). It has been proven time and again that Tamiflu will cure parvo. For decades, no drug known to man would effectively cure parvovirus, but now it has been proven beyond all doubt that Tamiflu (used for Swine Flu in humans) will also kill parvo. This is a prescription drug, however, so you will need your vet to write you a prescription for it. Make sure he prescribes the children’s liquid suspension form of Tamiflu, because it is easiest to measure. This suspension contains 12 mg/ml of the active ingredient, which is dosed at 1mg/lb, BID. This means a 5-lb pup would need 5 mg. If you do the math 5 mg would be contained in just over 0.4 ml (i.e., just over 4/10ths of a ml) of the suspension. A 6 lb puppy would need 6 mg, so he would get exactly 0.5 ml (i.e., ½ ml) of the suspension. Again, there are 12 mg. of the drug oseltamivir phosphate for every 1 ml of the suspension, so you will just have to do the math for your particular pup based on his weight. (This again proves why it is so important to have a postal scale onhand at all times). After you give your pup his first dose, you then give this same dosage every 12 hours, for 5 days in a row.
I cannot stress this to you strongly enough that the early use of Tamiflu can cure your pups of parvovirus (or coronavirus) literally almost overnight. However, if you wait too long and let the disease take root, Tamiflu becomes less effective. Therefore, if your fecal exam turns up positive for one of these two viruses, it is imperative that you have your vet write you a prescription for Tamiflu, on the spot, and that you administer this drug to your pups ASAP: the sooner you get this drug in your pups, the greater the chance they will survive. It’s as simple as that. If you wait too long to use this drug, it will do no good. Early administration is essential. One more thing to keep in mind is that some vets WON’T write you a prescription for this drug at all, as (in their own ignorance) many vets have never heard of this treatment. I myself had this happen to me, where my vet refused to write me this prescription when I first asked him to. Fortunately for me, my vet called me back after about an hour and admitted that he just researched the subject on his own, and he found out I was right. So my vet called in the ‘script to a local pharmacy and I was able to administer the drug to my pup and save him in the process. Therefore, the smartest thing you can do is prepare yourself in advance, by ordering Tamiflu ahead of time, online without a prescription, utilizing the Thailand-based drug company mentioned The Pit Bull Bible. This company only sells Tamiflu in capsule form, however, but you can still do the math and administer this drug. If you have a 35 mg capsule, just dump it in a large syringe and add 10 ml of water, shake well, and you now have a 3.5 mg/ml solution. You can call your vet right now and see if he’ll give you a ‘script, and if he will do this for you, great. You are now prepared that way, as he is willing to write you a ‘script when you need it. But if your vet won’t do this, then order Tamiflu in advance from the drug company I mention in my book. Whatever you do, don’t wait until your pups already have parvo before you take action, because it takes about 2-3 weeks to get your products from this drug store. A prepared dogman will order Tamiflu well in advance.
However, don't just rely on Tamiflu. Make sure you also give the following supportive treatment. This supporting treatment will also work, even without the Tamiflu, but it will take much longer to get the pup through his sickness.
Parvovirus Treatment
Well, suppose you don’t have Tamiflu, either onhand or available from your vet. Suppose that you ignored all my good advice here and didn’t prepare yourself in advance. And now you have a pup that looks sick and you just know that it’s parvo. If you have confirmed that your puppy has one (or more) of these diseases (parvo, corona, coccidia, or giardia), you should immediately bring your pup indoors—and I would recommend that it be the bathroom or the kitchen, as most likely the floors will be tiled or made of linoleum—and, since your puppy will be vomiting and defecating profusely, you want to be able to clean it quickly and completely. Yes, it will be smelly and disgusting, but the smell will go away—death, however, will not—so clarify your values. If your puppy has parvo, and you leave it outside, especially at night when it cools down, I assure you it will die, so bring it indoors immediately and into an appropriate location. Anyway, once you’ve found the appropriate spot in the house in which to keep the pup, make sure that the temperature is comfortable: not too cool nor too warm, comfortable. It is then imperative that you obtain the following supplies (and good breeders will make sure they have these items in advance):
- At least four (4) 1000 ml Bags of Saline Solution or Lactated Ringers (IV fluids) plus the catheter set ups and needles. You will not be running these fluids IV, but SC (under the skin). a) Ask your vet to provide you with the ringers. If your vet will not, he is a money-grubber, and I would advise you to go to another vet. In fact, I would clearly establish with your vet whether or not he or she would provide you with such supplies before it ever becomes necessary. Don’t wait until there is a life-threatening emergency before you find out that your vet won’t help you. When you first get your pup ask your vet straight-up “If my dog ever caught parvo, and I couldn’t afford the treatment, would you supply me with fluids?” If your vet says no, find a new vet. If he will get you the ringers, try to keep a supply on hand before such an emergency. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. b) If you are in an emergency situation, or if you can’t find a vet who will say “Yes” to the above question, ask yourself if you know anyone in the nursing or medical profession, either as suppliers or as administrators. Try to get the fluids in this way. But you need to get the fluids.
- The next step is to get 4 Bottles of Pedialyte. You can obtain this at any supermarket or drugstore. Pedialyte is a fluid/electrolyte replacement drink for babies who have had chronic diarrhea and vomiting, and it is absolutely essential to the recovery of your pup. (Pedialyte is not as critical if you have the saline/ringers, above, but it still is good to have even with them.)
- Get a bottle of Immodium AD, or any other anti-diarrhea medication.
- Get an anti-nausea medication (Reglan or Cerenia).
- Get a bottle of injectable Penicillin.
- Get a 20 ml syringe. Always have these on hand.
- Get at least 20 16-gauge needles ¾ to 1” long. Always have these on hand.
- Buy some cotton balls (or gauze pads).
- Buy a bottle of Betadine, or some other topical disinfectant.
- Buy some Nutri-Cal, or some other calorie-replacement supplement.
- Buy some white rice.
- Buy (or make) some chicken broth.
How to Use This Stuff:
Immediately weigh your dog and determine how much fluids he needs. You can do this by remembering this BASIC RULE: all animals need approximately 30 ml of fluid per 1 lb of bodyweight, per day. Therefore, a 5-lb pup needs 150 ml of fluid (5-lb x 30 ml) per day; a 10-lb pup needs 300 ml of fluid per day, a 20-lb pup needs about 600 ml of fluids per day, etc. After you determine what amount of fluids your pup needs for the whole day, then divide this number by ½ and give the ½-dose twice daily, every 12 hours. For example, if a 5-lb pup needs 150 ml a day, then give him 75 ml of fluid under the skin at 7:00am and give him another 75 ml SC (under the skin) at 7:00pm. Before you give each dose, make sure the ringers are body temperature. You do not want either to chill, or to overheat, your pup. Remember: body temperature. Make sure you have installed the tubing to the bag of fluids properly, and that all of the air bubbles have been washed out . Give it a test to see if it works. When you’re sure it does, use a cotton ball and some Betadine to cleanse the puppy’s skin, and then insert the needle you’ve placed at the end of the catheter tube under the puppy’s skin.
There are two key injection points to administer your puppy’s SC fluids from: (1) under the skin to one side of the neck (can be either side), and (2) under the skin to one side of his kidneys (can be either side also). You just pull the skin out, aim the needle straight down into (and just under) the skin parallel to the puppy’s neck/side, without actually touching any meat. Insert the needle and administrate the fluids. For the next administration, you simply alternate from Point 1 to Point 2, and alternate sides of the dog used as well.
There are two key injection points to insert the needle: Key Point 1 is in the hide of his neck, off to either the left or the right side. Picture giving a pup a giant booster shot. You do not stick the needle directly into the puppy’s neck or spine, what you do is simply pull-out the puppy’s skin with the fingers of one hand, and then gently push the 16-gauge needle straight down and just under the surface hide of the skin with the other hand. You do not want to be in meat at all, you want to be between the hide and the meat. This is what is meant by “sub-cutaneous”: just under the skin. The reason you do it to one side or the other of the puppy’s neck is that when you are done, there will be a huge lump of fluid that has amassed under his skin, and if it’s on the side of his neck, said fluid will drain and spread-out under the pup after awhile. Key Point 2: The second prime injection point you want to use is right alongside his kidney area. Notice I did not say “in” his kidney, I said alongside his kidney area. Once again, you just pull-out the hide, insert the needle just under the skin, aim straight down, but do NOT go into any meat at all. You then just run the fluids in the gap between skin and body. Again, a big lump will develop whn you’re done, which fluids will soon drain down under him, which is what you want. Whichever location (1 or 2) you start with, doesn’t matter. Simply administrate the appropriate amount of fluids into your pup (a ½-day’s dose) by releasing the valve on the catheter at full tilt. When the appropriate amount of fluids has gone into your pup, withdraw the needle back out and then pinch the hole left by the needle for a few seconds so the fluids don’t run back out of the pup. The “appropriate amount” to give your pup is, again, one-half of your full daily fluid dose calculation for his bodyweight.
Note: If your puppy has been vomiting and or has had profuse diarrhea prior to his first administration of fluids, give him twice the recommended amount (a full day’s dose) on his very first dose, because you will need to do this just to bring him up to par. And, from there, you can then go back to the recommended amount for his next dose twelve hours later, etc. IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS UNDERSTANDING ANY OF THIS, CONSULT A VETERINARIAN FOR ADVICE BEFORE YOU WORK ON YOUR PUP. After you have given your pup his first dose of SC fluids, continue to give him the recommended ½-daily dose, every 12 hours until your puppy has recovered. With each administration of fluids, you will switch from either Key Point 1 above (if that’s where you started), or Key Point 2 above (if that’s where you started), to the other Key Point. You will also alternate sides of the body with each administration.
For example, let’s say I found my pup had been vomiting and had diarrhea all day when I came home from work. I would want to give him a full day’s dose, then and there, not just a ½-dose, because he is already severely dehydrated. Thus, on his first administration, I need to bring him back up to par with a full-day’s dose. So let’s say the pup weighed seven pounds. 7 lb times 30 ml/lb = 210 ml total. Thus 210 ml is what I have to give my pup, in total, every day. Because he was already dehydrated when I found him, I am going to give him the full dose right now, and then I will give him another twelve hours later, which will be a ½-dose. I decide to use Key Point 2 for my first administration, and so I pull-out the hide by his right kidney and, with the needle parallel to his body (and pointing straight down), I insert the needle just under his hide and let the saline solution (or ringers) run full-throttle until the full 210 ml of fluids have emptied. When I am done, the pup will have a *huge* swelling, and when I pull-out the needle some of the fluids aregoing to start leaking out of that hole. So I pinch the hole in his skin for about 5 min until the little hole in his hide has sealed off. Okay now, the next morning, 12 hours later, the pup is due for his fluids again, and so from now on I am going to administer his ½-dose every 12 hours, not his full dose. The original full dose I gave to start him off was just to catch him back up to normal. Now, since I had used the right side of Key Point 2 last night, I am now going to switch to the left side of Key Point 1 for this morning’s administration. In other words, not only do I rotate from each Key Point injection site (be it the neck or kidney area) with each new application, but I also rotate the side of the body I use too. And I keep this rotation protocol up, in sequence, until the pup can eat and drink on his own.
Another example: Let’s say I wake up in the morning and a different pup comes out of his pen. He hasn’t vomited yet, nor has he had any diarrhea yet, but he just “looks sick” and won’t eat his food. Rather than waiting and waiting for him to actually get sick, and to actually get dehydrated, what I do is go ahead and weigh the dog and start him on fluids before he actually needs them. This pup, let’s say, weighs six pounds. Again 6 lb x 30 ml/lb = 180 ml of fluid my pup will need for the whole day. However, this time, he isn’t actually dehydrated yet, so there is no reason for me to run the whole day’s amount into him right now, so what I do is give him a preventative ½-dose to prepare him well in advance. Okay, well half of 180 equals 90 ml, so what I decide to do his give him his first administration on the left side of Key Point 1. Now if I had my meds (Trimethoprim/Flagyl and/or Tamiflu), this would be the perfect time to get these meds into my pup, before he is full-blown sick. This type of preparation gives a tremendous advantage to the pup, and attacks the problem before the pup himself is fully-attacked. Yet even if I don’t have a single med in my cabinet, these fluids alone can be a life-saver. Now, on my second dose of fluids, I select the right side of Key Point 2, so as again to alternate both the side of the dog used as well as the basic injection areas. I hope the proper way to give fluids has been made clear.
The reason why the SC fluids are so important to fighting parvo is that they get absorbed for sure, slowly over time. Unlike swallowing Pedialyte, there is no way for the dog to vomit SC back out, as many pups can and do vomit-out what they’re given if the fluids are administered orally. Over and above ANY of the meds described above, SC fluids are the most critical factor to a pup’s surviving a full-blown case of parvo. After you administer the first dose of SC fluids, you can leave a bowl of Pedialyte in there with the pup. I recommend Pedialyte over water because it contains critical electrolytes that water doesn’t have.
However, if parvo strikes your yard and you don’t have (or can’t get) Tamiflu, on top of which you if you don’t have (or can’t get) 4 bags of fluids for your pup for your pup either, then the Pedialyte is going to have to become your primary line of fluid defense to save your pup. Again, if you DO have the 4 bags of fluids, then just leave the Pedialyte in a bowl and let the pup drink what he wants. However, if Pedialyte is all the fluids your pup is going to get, then you need to measure the amount of Pedialyte you are giving him. The amount of fluids to give via Pedialyte is going to be the same as the SC fluids, approximately 30 ml of fluid per 1 lb of bodyweight. The trouble with giving fluids via Pedialyte is the fact your pup can vomit the fluids back out, where he can’t do this when you give him fluids under the skin. This is why giving SC fluids is preferred. Moreover, because a pup’s stomach will be weak you will also have to break the amounts of fluids down to much more manageable quantities. You can’t make a sick little pup drink 90 ml of water twice a day, so you will have to break it down in much smaller increments.For instance, let’s pretend our 6-lb pup needs his 180 ml of fluids a day, but because we were unprepared dummies, with no fluids on hand and no Tamiflu either, we have to give our pup these fluids via Pedialyte only. Okay, to do this we just dump 180 ml of fluids into a water bowl. 180 ml of Pedialye is what our 6-lb pup needs for the day. What we are going to do is let him drink naturally, if he will, and supplement him at the same time. We have to give him the oral Pedialyte every 2 hours now, which will be 12 doses overall by the end of a 24-hour period. 180 ml divided by 12 equal parts is 15 ml, which means you need to give your 6-lb pup 15 ml of Pedialyte every 2 hours. Now if the pup vomits some back out, then we have to wait awhile and try again. This is why the anti-nausea medication is so critical (see below).
To give the Pedialyte, take your 20 ml syringe (no needle, just the syringe) and withdraw Pedialyte into it. Sit the puppy down between your legs, with his back to you, and then tilt his head back so he’s looking up. Put the syringe in his mouth (again, without a needle) and gradually disperse the appropriate amount of Pedialyte, until it’s swallowed. Be careful of gagging or choking the pup. If your puppy vomits the Pedialyte back out, withdraw some more out of the bottle and put some more right back in the pup’s mouth, until he keeps the proper amount down. Yes it can be messy, but it is absolutely essential to his life that he retain fluids. Remember, if he throws it up, he doesn’t have it in him, so you’ve got to withdraw more and put it back, until he keeps it down. Do this every two hours until your pup is better and can drink on his own. Give your pup ½ ml of Nutri-Cal (per 10 lb. of body weight), orally, every two hours after his dose of Pedialyte. This will give your pup some rich nutrients that, believe me, he really is going to need.
An hour after he kept his dose of Pedialyte down, give your pup 1 ml of Immodium AD anti-diarrhea orally, per 10 lb. of body weight (using a 3 ml syringe without a needle). Do this every four hours. Again, if he throws it up, put it back in. Sometimes, however, Immodium AD can irritate the dog’s stomach. If you notice your pup keeps down the Pedialyte, but vomits right after you give him the Immodium AD, then you should probably forget about using the Immodium. It is much more critical that your dog get the fluids and nutrients, so if your dog reacts to the Immodium (or Pepto Bismol, or whatever), stop using it.
Give your pup 1 ml anti-nausea medication, every 4 hours, right after his Immodium AD, and in exactly the same way, as with the above. Again, if your pup seems to be reacting to this too, forget about using it, and just concentrate on the fluids—the fluids are the most important part. [By the way, if your pup really is having a tough time keeping anything down, take him to the vet for a shot of Reglan (Metoclopramide), 0.05 mg/lb to 0.23 mg/lb, 3x/day. This injectable drug will chemically settle the dog’s stomach, stopping his nausea, and thereby allowing him to drink his fluids. Moreover, vomiting is incredibly debilitating to a dog, which is reason enough to seek this drug.] Give your pup a shot of penicillin. Only give him this shot once a day as a preventative. Use a 3 ml syringe, with a ¾”, 22-gauge needle. Administer ¼ ml of penicillin for every 5 lb of body weight. Simply withdraw this amount into the syringe and then point the needle upwards. Flick your finger against the syringe so that all of the air bubbles go to the top. Depress the plunger of the syringe, with the needle still pointed upward, until all of the air has been removed. Then deliver an intramuscular injection. To do this, disinfect the skin of the meaty portion of one of the pup’s rear legs, and insert the needle just to the rear of the center of the meatiest part.
Note: There is a large nerve that runs down the centerline of the pup’s rear leg, and you want to avoid damaging this nerve—ask your vet if you are unsure of what you are doing. Avoid sticking the dog in the center, and instead push the needle in off to one side, about half-way into the flesh, and then depress the plunger all the way to deliver the penicillin. Contrary to popular ignorance, the penicillin does not harm the parvovirus (or corona, coccidia, or whatever). What the penicillin does is help prevent secondary infection. (If you can get injectible Ampicillin instead, so much the better.) Again, only give the penicillin once day, and switch back and forth between each of the pup’s rear legs, with each injection, to allow healing. Vigorously rub a cotton ball with Betadine over the injection site both before and after each injection.
Other than that, mix the cooked white rice with a little chicken broth and see if your pup will eat it. If he doesn’t eat it, throw it all away and make a new batch six hours later, and try again. Keep trying every six hours until the pup begins to nibble at it. Never give up on your pup until it either dies or eats. Keep trying and don’t lose hope. Speak kindly and lovingly to your pup, and stay with him as often as possible to give him moral support. [Remember when you were a child, how much better it felt to have your parent(s) close to you when you were sick? Your puppy’s spirits are raised too when you’re around to comfort him. Never underestimate the power of love in healing the very sick.]
If your puppy begins to eat again, you’ve made it. Do not feed your pup his regular meal at this point, as his stomach lining is much too sensitive to tolerate it, but you can add some Nutri-Cal to the rice and chicken broth as well as some solid pieces of cooked chicken (never feed raw to a sick dog). Feeding the pup cooked chicken and rice will do two things: 1) it will give him some nutrition, and 2) it will begin to firm-up his stool. As the pup’s stool begins to firm up, you can begin to switch him back to his regular diet after about two days, gradually increasing the change-over, until his stool is completely firm again, and his rice is completely replaced by his regular food. If your pup dies, and you did all of the above, please understand that even under 24 hr. veterinary care, pups still have a high mortality rate with parvovirus, and reassure yourself that you did everything you possibly could. In fact, many vets will tell you that a pup has a much greater chance of survival staying at home, with this kind of treatment, because of the supportive care, and familiar surroundings, that only his home could offer. There are certain things such as jugular IV fluid therapy, and plasma transfusions, which of course you are not set up to perform at home—but remember, this advice is for those who cannot afford to take their pup to a vet.
I invite you to show this advice to your vet and have him clarify, explain, or amend any of these steps until you feel comfortable with all of the procedures. Parvovirus, etc. is serious business, and the better you understand these procedures, and the quicker you act on implementing them when you see the first signs of parvo, the better chance your pup has of pulling through this critical disease. These are important lessons to learn. I hope you never experience parvovirus with any of your dogs; it’s a terrible disease. And if you take my advice and inoculate as I have laid out you never will.
But, if you do get parvo on your yard, remember Tamiflu is the #1 thing you need to get, with SC Fluids being #2. If your problem is coccidia or giardia, then get your TMZ/Flagyl combination going. If you are not sure what you’re dealing with, just use both the Tamiflu and the TMZ/Flagyl together as early in the game as you can. I hope this section will assist you in saving the life of your beloved pup, and if your pup makes it, congratulations.
~ California Jack (Disclaimer)
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