Boomer has parvo, but he's not doing bad
 

Thank you everyone for your helpful suggestions. I wound up taking Boomer to the emergency vet at 1:30 in the morning and it turns out he has parvo. I knew I had to take him because he was no longer able to hold down the liquids I was giving him and had thrown up about 4 times. I could tell he was just getting exhausted so I took him to the emergency vet (CVS in San Marcos) which is about 20 minutes away. It was a horrible experience, I was there for about 3 and half hours during which they only treated my puppy for 15 minutes while the rest of the time they haggled over how much I wanted to spend to treat him. They even offered me a credit card application which I thought was tacky. All the while Boomer was getting worse and remained dehydrated and untreated as they insisted that we agree on a price before treating him AT ALL. Had Boomer not been so ill I would have walked right out. They gave me an estimate for $1,450 to care for him for about 4 hours until his vet opened, so I declined, allowing them to only inject him with fluids, anti biotics and anti nauseous medication. When the Dr. took Boomer's stool to test for parvo, she neglected to tell me that is causes dogs to spew diarhea and since I was not aware of this, poor Boomer soiled his bed and blankies that we had brought from home. When I asked for a towel to wrap him in since he was so cold the nurse said that their washing machine was broken and they were trying to conserve their towels. I demanded a towel when Boomer started shivering with cold, and she reluctantly gave me one. I ended up paying close to $400 for the 15 minutes of treatment.

Luckily Boomer slept soundly from when we got home around 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. when the vet opened. My boyfriend and I were so worried for him, neither of us slept. Both of us could not stop crying thinking that this was the end of our young little baby. This morning I got online and did some more research on parvo and local vets and I got a real answer to all the prayers that have been said for Boomer. The first vet (Rancho Del Oro Veterinary Care in Oceanside) on the list on google answered the phone (the actual vet herself) and was very kind and understanding and concerned. She gave me an estimate for a mere $150 for Boomer to be injected with fluids and antibiotics and anti nausea medication and to be treated at home as he was looking very alert. When I took him into the office, I was greeted by the kindest staff I have ever encountered at any vets office or even Dr.'s office for that matter. Boomer had to be put in his own room to keep from spreading the parvo, and after a short wait he was ready to go home and looking even shinier and more healthy than before. He was happy to let me pet him when the night before he had been too exhausted and had avoided my hand. He even rolled over in his bed and gave my boyfriend a little kiss on the nose. He's feeling much better now although he isn't allowed food or water until tomorrow. For now he has been injected with lots of fluids to nourish him and has to return to the vet at 5 to get more fluids for the night. I have great faith that he will have a full recovery and believe that it is by the grace of God that I found this kind hearted vet who truly cares for her patients. I had called around a few places this morning that I had heard about before or had been recommended to me and they all told me that I would be paying around $1,000-$5,000 easily. I don't have that kind of money and was overjoyed at having by divine chance found an affordable and very caring place to take my puppy. This vet was a far cry from the CVS vet who told us our puppy was not likely to recover and even after possibly paying an absurd amount of money would likely die. The attitude of the new vet was amazing, she was so positive and encouraging about everything and I will certainly recommend her to everyone looking for a new vet, not to mention I will be a returning customer. I wound up spending only $275 for the two treatments Boomer will recieve today along with food he needs to eat while recovering, parvocide spray, and a take home medication. I know Boomer isn't completely recovered yet, but my outlook on the situation has changed drastically by encountering a kind vet. Luckily we caught the parvo early before it got into the really bad stages, and hopefully Boomer will continue to do well. Please keep us in your prayers, and thank you for all the kind suggestions.

Ahhhh...Honey, I am praying for your little fella :(

What a wonderful Vet you found....I know Parvo is very, very scarey, so take it Day by Day and if he seems worse, please get him to the Vet ASAP.

You also need to do major cleaning inside and out, b/c I do believe the Parvo virus can live on the surface for a while

:littleang

:getwellso:getwellso

:hands::hands::hands:

I am so sorry your baby has Parvo, but glad you found iy early and found a caring vet. I will keep Boomer in my prayers for a full recovery.

Glad you caught it early!

I am so happy you have found an understanding vet. My experiences with ER vets are the same...all but one that I have ever been to have cared more about the $$ than the life they are there to save.

I almost hesitated to say I thought it was Parvo, but I AM GLAD I DID! I have seen many dogs with this over my lifetime, it is SCARY, Dangerous and very hard to battle.. but with dedication and love it can be done. I prayed for your little man and I am glad he does not have a bad case of it, this gives him a much better chance of survival. He will be in my thoughts and I KNOW you will help him get through this. He knows you love him very much and I am sure he will fight twice as hard because of that.

I honestly think it's better he be treated at home, so you are doing a great thing for him. The last thing he needs is to be ill and in a strange place. The IV does so much for a dehydrated puppy.. I am just glad that you asked for a test for parvo and he is on his way to recovery.. May God bless you and Boomer.

If you have any questions feel free to PM and ask.

-Adrianna

He's feeling so much better today!
 

Thanks so much for everyone's prayers, they are working! He's walking around a little bit, he even ate some food. The vet told me just to give him a small tablespoon so it wouldn't make him sick, and he's kept it down. He hasn't been vomiting at all since the first night, although he has had a tiny bit of diarrhea, the vet said it's to be expected. It makes sense since he's had nothing to eat for two days until now, poor little guy. I've called the vet to let her know how well he's doing and she told me he doesn't need to come in unless he throws up his food or seems really lethargic. He even tried playing ball, bless his little heart! I've been having him go on newspaper so I can just throw out the infected poop instead of have it infect the yard. His little body is swollen from being injected with fluids but he's feeling and looking much better. All I have to do is give him oral antibiotics twice a day. I can't wait to have him back to normal, and to give the poor little guy a bath when he's feeling better. I feel bad because I have to keep him restricted to the bedroom, and he wants to come out so bad and play. I am so glad we caught it early, and that he's feeling better!

So glad to hear! he is most likely on his way to recovery now, parvo usually runs it's course in 2-3 days .. if the dog makes it past those days he should be good!! your lil guy is a fighter bless his heart! make sure you keep him confined for 2 weeks, as the virus is shed in the stool for up to 2 weeks after an infection has occurred... everything should be cleaned with bleach and water solution... if you have leather or fabric surfaces that need cleaning go to revivalanimal.com and purchase thier A-33 in the dry or spray solution and use that... it DOES kill parvo. Also keep hand sanitizer around for yourself after you handle him, wash your hands and then clean with the sanitizer.. you may want to designate 1 pair of shoes and clothing that can be worn when you handle him as it is easily carried to other places in the home and it takes 1 microscopic germ to infect another dog or puppy.

I used to breed pit bull puppies so I have dealt with parvo before and know a lot about it... IT STILL SCARES ME TO DEATH when I even hear the word. We dealt with it once with an adult dog and once with a litter of puppies that were only off their mother for 3 days (don't even know how that happened they should have had protection from their mother) and once with a puppy we purchased that had parvo, EVERY1 survived except for 2 of 6 in the litter that were very ill in a matter of hours this was in 2 seperate homes over a period of 5 years... I STILL WORRY SO MUCH about any puppy we get NO MATTER HOW MUCH I CLEAN I keep them confined as much as I can until all their vaccinations are completed.

I am sorry for going on about this, I just want you to be as informed as possible about this disease and how easily it is spread. I wish someone would have been available for me when I first had to deal with this.

I appreciate your advice, I have been cleaning everything and I bought parvosol spray from the vet for the things I can't use bleach on. The one question I had was if color safe bleach was just as effective as regular bleach with killing the parvo because I wanted to wash my darks and make sure no parvo survived on them. The vet said I could use parvosol in the wash but I'd rather save the parvosol for the house and use color safe bleach if that works, if not I'll go ahead and use the parvosol. I've been changing my clothes every time I see him because I have to go back to my healthy dogs and care for them as well. None of the other dogs are sick, and hopefully it stays that way. They are vaccinated, but the vet said there is still a chance they could get sick so I've been very careful. It still boggles my mind as to how he contracted parvo, he's lived his whole life in my home (he's the son of my two yorkies) besides vet visits I've only let him out in my own yard to go potty and no strange dogs have been inside. There must have been parvo on some surface of the yard, I can't think of any other explanation. I don't know how to go about sanitizing my yard, I'm scared to have the other dogs go outside to go potty lest the parvo is lurking somewhere in the yard. I was also worried that my long hair might somehow carry parvo when I've handled the puppy or my face, because my other dogs want to lick my face and touch my hair when I'm with them but I'm too scared to let them and they don't understand. They always like to lean up on my hair and smell me and kiss my face, and they're mad at me for acting weird. The emergency vet told me I had to wash my hands and feet with bleach before seeing my healthy dogs or going out in public, they didn't tell me that antibacterial soap was sufficient so I've been washing with bleach like an idiot thinking I had to. This whole thing is such a mess and nightmare! I'm going to be cleaning forever! I still can't bring my yorkie Rudy home even though he isn't sick because he's been near Boomer the sick puppy, so Rudy is upset because he can't come home and be with Allie and Ivy, my girls. Poor Rudy doesn't even know why he's banned from the bedroom where Boomer is. So frustrating! Dogs really don't take well to having their routine changed, I feel terrible.

ER vets are a nightmare
 

I still can't get over how terrible the ER vets treated us. My mom went in to the same one before with a bulldog puppy that turned out to have a hereditary condition that caused pulmonary edima, but the puppy died in my mom's arms in their hospital because they refused to help her until my mom signed an agreement on how much she would pay for them to treat the puppy. My mom still ended up walking out with a dead puppy and a $1000 bill. I was looking for some site to write a review on, but the worst part is that they are the only 24 hour vet I know around here, they take so much advantage of your love for your pet. Many other users had horror story reviews posted about that same ER vet, it still makes me angry just to think about it.

No problem on the help, You can use a bleach and water solution but I have found that hand sanitizer works fine as long as you do it ROUTINELY. As far as color safe bleach goes I wouldn't chance it, you can however use the A-33 dry and it comes in a tub that will last a couple of years for about $15.00 it is really useful as far as the parvasol goes I'd use that if you cannot get the A-33 or use clothing you can bleach and just bleach them I wouldn't chance the color safe bleach. I don't know if it is as effective or not.

As far as the yard you mix a bleach and water solution and clean with that, If you have a garden center near you go rent a sprayer and fill that up with the solution and clean the yard. Even a weed be gone empty container or things like that will work just rinse it well before putting the bleach/water in. It may kill some spots on the grass but It HAS NEVER killed our grass so I know it's not a for sure thing BUT IT BEATS A SICK DOGGY... Concrete must be cleaned with the solution as well. Also, cats can carry parvo in their feces which can contaminate a dog that sniffs it or licks it or steps in it and then cleans it's feet so this may be a possibility on how your little one got ill or even a bird that has stepped in something contaminated elsewhere can come to your house leap on your grass and drop the germs there.. anything is possible as it take such a small amount to make them ill.

I wish you luck, if you need any more help let me know...

Doing even better today!
 

Boomer is almost back to his old self, running around and playing and wanting attention. :DEvery time I leave the bedroom he's confined to he scratches frantically at the door because he doesn't know why he's not allowed to follow me. I think he is still contagious for another week or two so I'm just keeping him in one room to avoid making any other dogs sick. In the mean time I've been disinfecting my car, working on the many piles of laundry that need to be disinfected, and cleaning everything I can think of with bleach or parvosol. I had Boomer's sister tested for parvo this morning and she came out negative so I'm just going to continue to keep them separate and she should be fine. Boomer has been especially affectionate which I think is his way of showing his gratitude for my taking care of him. I bought all new toys and threw out the old ones, but I hesitate to give him any treats or toys until the vet tells me he's completely clear. He is going back in a couple of days for a check up. There has been no vomiting and only one more small bout of diarrhea which the vet said is fine as long as its not excessive. There was some blood in it too but she said that's just from his insides healing after the parvo wore away at his stomach lining and intestines. He is already begging for treats and wanting to go outside, but I'm going to wait until he is completely cured. I feel bad because he's bored, and I'm not sure if it's ok for his health for me to give him a chew toy, after all he is teething. I'm going to wait until the vet calls me back and I'll ask her. I can't believe how quickly he is recovering and I am so grateful to God that his sister hasn't caught it. Thanks again for all the well wishes and advice!:animal-pa

I am so glad Boomer is doing so well!!!

Great job catching it so early! My Franklin was diagnosed with parvo and he survived! It sounds like he's being taken well care of. :)

He hasn't pooped in going on 3 days
 

this will be the third day he hasn't pooped. He's been eating alot, shouldn't he be pooping? Also I can't get him to drink any water because when he was sick he kep throwing it up and now he just doesn't want anything to do with it. I mix water in with his food, but does anyone know how I can get him to drink water again? I tried ice cubes but he only licks it for a second because he knows I want him to.