My puppy has parvo! How long might it take him to recover?

Question

I know parvo is very serious. Axle (6 month old c**k-a-tzu) started acting down Sunday morning. By Sunday night he was vomiting what appeared to be water. Monday morning (Labor Day) he had bloody diarrhea. I immediately called the vet and rushed him to the clinic. His health got so bad so quickly. We honestly didn't know if we were going to make it to the office with him. He was almost completely unresponsive. It was horrible. He had only gotten one set of shots (my fault-I know and please don't remind me how horrible I am). It is now Wednesday night and Axle has been under the vet's care since Monday morning. He has made improvements but is still in critical condition. He vomited twice today and had one pinkish diarrhea type bowel movement. He does have a little sparkle back in his eyes. How long does it usually take to know if they are going to pull through? Does anyone know the stages of parvo? Anyone ever had a puppy recover that appeared to be at death's door? Any advice is appreciated. You can even degrade me if you want - I deserve it!

Answer 1

I'm real sorry about your pup, but don't give up hope yet. If the vet got your pup in time, they will give him fluids which will keep him alive long enough to fight the  virus.  We had two rottweilers   that contracted parvo Both dogs lived threw it. It took allot of work  and time but they made it threw. Although a nursing back ground did help. We made big water pockets under the skin on the shoulder so that the dog didn't dehydrate. and watched them 24/7. It took about 2 wks. for their recovery, but they did recover. So keep the faith, say a heart felt prayer, hold your breath and wait.  GOOD LUCK!

Answer 2

It'll be a long hard recovery but it isn't completely out of the question. Slow progress is better than none at all.

Parvo is very contagious to other dogs so please do the following to protect other dogs in your neighborhood:

Pick up all of your dog's p**p outside.

Bleach down everything in your house. And this sucks...but you'll need to bleach or replace things like carpet, furniture, etc. It can live for up to 3 years. The bleach should be a 10-1 ratio and left on the surface for at least 10 minutes to deactivate the virus.

I work at an animal shelter and coincidentally we have 5 parvo pups right now. They are all doing very well and will be ready to be adopted very soon.

Good luck to you and your little one. And finish up those vaccines! Not only does it protect your dog but all the other dogs he comes in contact with.  

Answer 3

My GSD was 12 weeks and contracted parvo from the breeder....extremely irritating considering that I paid a fortune for him.  ANYWAY....he had a wierd strain of parvo where the tests for parvo didn't work.  He was bad enough that he couldn't stand up to go to the restroom.  Big thing was that I took him to a vet that kept him there for a week under observation and on a constant IV to keep him hydrated.  It was expensive but he was completely back to his old self within a week after that.  It took him a little longer to gain his weight back.  Make sure that the vet that you take him to keeps him there until he is better.  The first vet that I took mine to sent him home after two days and his health started to drop drastically so I took him to my in-laws vet who kept him for a week.

BTW- don't beat yourself up too bad.  Just keep in mind that you need to be responsible and make sure that you dog gets the veterinary care that it needs.  Also make sure that you get it's shots and heartworming medicine from now on.

Answer 4

My family and I have a dog that had parvo when

she was a puppy. It was about 6 - 7 years ago,

so I can't remember exactly how long it took for

her to recover, but I think it was about a month,

maybe a little more than a month.We prayed every

hour, on the hour. We asked God to heal her and

keep her tail wagging. Now she's eight years old

and wags her tail so much her whole body moves. I

sometimes call her waggles. Don't give up hope.

Think happy thoughts and think about how much fun

you'll have with him when he's all better. I will pray for

him to pull through and be a healthy, happy, waggy puppy.

Good luck.

Answer 5

parvo runs it's course just like anything else. it's not the same amount of time for any dog, just as the flu is different for every person. be absolutley positively sure to complete his vaccinations once the vet says he's well enough to handle them. you should probably expect him to spend at least another 2-3 nights with the vet. also, anywhere in your house that he 'messed' with bodily fluids needs to be bleached and scrubbed well before you bring him home. and the vet's bill will be degrading enough. you'll definatley find that getting him his shots is cheaper. it sounds like you caught it soon enough that he should pull thru. i've seen puppies who's owners waited longer and their little guys pulled thru.