I am bringing my baby home this Sunday! While i am very excited im also scared about parvo. I have another dog in the house (Shih tzu) that goes outside to potty. Could are other dog infect my new husky? Any personal stories would be great too!

I had a 8 week old German Shepherd puppy when I was a teenager that we had purchased with parvo. We had no idea he was sick. He had to be put to sleep 48 hours after bringing him home. It's a horrible HORRIBLE disease and you'll never forget it!

That's why you always buy from a responsible breeder. Get you're puppy vaccinated for parvo and don't take him to places like the dog park until he has all his shots.

If you're really concerned, talk to you're vet about it and they will instruct you on what to do.

Does the shitzu have all its shots up to date? If so then it shouldn't be a problem. Just don't take your pup outside of your yard until all vaccinations are done Socializing can still be done with dogs that you know for sure have all of their shots, I still might be cautious and wait until at least the first shots are done for this. Congrats on the pup

I know my puppy has already had his basic shots 6 weeks which i think included Parvo since thats one of the basic shots. I thought for some reason parvo shot could only be given at 12 weeks. Where i read that i have no idea. So sorry i should have researched this more.

Did anybodys huskies come home with the Parvo vaccination and still contracted the disease?

From my experience with parvo, and correct me if I'm wrong, lives in the ground for a very long time and cats are carriers of this disease. My girl got parvo after about a month of being home. It was so very sad I had to borrow $200 before the emergency vet would even do the test which she obviously had it. I had to give her an IV of fluids in her back to keep her hydrated and keep her meds going alot. I seriously thought I was going to lose her but every IV counted and helped her gain her strength back. I would definitely keep your up up to date on all vaccines, no dog/puppy should ever have go through that.

Parvo is not carried by cats, and cats do not get parvo, so you don't have to worry about stray cats bringing it into your environment. Parvo resides in areas that infected dogs defecate, such as dog parks or homes that have a parvo positive dog. Make sure you keep up with the puppy series of shots and do a general wipe down after he/she is outside going potty.

This may be helpful. Something I wrote up last month.

Why You Should Vaccinate Your Puppy

Our baby KK came home with parvo, she had her 6 week shots but when we brought her home she wouldn't eat and I emailed the breeder asking if she had any suggestions (thinking she was homesick) and she said one of the other pups wouldn't eat. I took KK in the next day and while she was at the vet the breeder contacted me and said all 3 of her remaining litter mates tested positive and to get her in immediately. I called the vet and told them and they said her results had just come back positive as well and they started her on IV fluids. The next day the vet said there was nothing else he could do and the best thing we could do for her was to end her misery because she was too small to recover. So we had an $800 vet bill and still lost our sweet baby after only having her 2 days it was devastating.

I have learned from this experience:
If you're bringing your baby home Sunday call now & set up an appointment for Monday.

Watch and make sure your baby is eating and doesn't have upset stomach, if he/she does, call the doc. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

Parvo has a gestation period of 14 days, so your puppy can be exposed to it before you get him/her and not show symptoms for 2 weeks.

Bleach is the only thing that will kill parvo. If an infected dog had been in your yard it can live in the grass for I've read up to 5 years. The only way to Kill it is to spray the yard with a bleach mixture that will also kill your grass.

Lysol is the best thing to use indoors. It will not kill parvo, but it can weaken it and will help avoid the spread of the virus.

A reputable breeder is SO important. Check the conditions your puppy is living in and ensure your puppy's health is the breeder's top priority.

I wouldn't stress it too much unless your pup starts having loose or bloody stool. But if you see that, get him or her in.

Best of luck & congrats on your new fur baby!

I've heard it can live in the ground for up to 10 years.
It isnt killed by cleaning agents such as bleach nad discinfectants and can be carried in on your shoes. (Thas what the vet told me).

I didnt even let Freya out to potty outside until she had had all of her shots at 4 months old as we'd only been in hte house a yhear and I didnt know if the previous tennant had dogs and if they were fully immunised. It set us back in toilet training but it made sure my baby girl wasnt going to get the awful disease

I am firm believer in the idea that you can prevent a lot easier than you can treat. I'm a bit of a holistic nut, and you can take whatever I say however you like, but I know that when I got Cato I gave him Vitamin C every day until that last shot. Boosting the immune system is the best way to ward off disease.

Actually bleach is one of the only things that will kill it however I wouldn't risk it. Also, 6 weeks is really too early to get any vaccines. Mom's antibodies are still in puppy's system, and if you vaccinate then, her antibodies will kill the virus, or vaccine that the vet would inject. So it's pretty much pointless IMO. We start at 8 weeks, and do 3 more rounds of shots spaced out to 3 weeks in between. I work at a clinic so I try to avoid parvo as much as possible since I have a 14 week old husky, but I worry about her sometimes too because I know I've tracked it in on my shoes!! Just make sure she gets her shots when she should, avoid dog parks, and park really, and any other places such as PetSmart when you are with her because you don't need vaccine records to go there!!

Also, there have been cases at our clinic where we've vaccinated and maybe 1-2% of dogs still get parvo, this is because of when that time frame is where mom's antibodies leave, and she starts making her own!! This can happen at any time from ages 8 weeks- 16 weeks, which is why we do FOUR rounds! Just to make sure we catch that time frame and don't leave puppy without any antibodies!! But, those dogs that have records of getting vaccined at our clinic at the appropriate times, actually got their vet bills covered from our vaccine vendor So it's also important to get a vet to give the shots and not a farmers supply store because if their shipment isn't refrigerated, the vaccine is worthless !

hypers987 wrote:

Parvo is not carried by cats, and cats do not get parvo, so you don't have to worry about stray cats bringing it into your environment. Parvo resides in areas that infected dogs defecate, such as dog parks or homes that have a parvo positive dog. Make sure you keep up with the puppy series of shots and do a general wipe down after he/she is outside going potty.

This may be helpful. Something I wrote up last month.

Why You Should Vaccinate Your Puppy

I'm pretty sure this explains how cats give it to dogs or dogs give it to cats...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22257775/

I could be wrong, but is it not logical to hold off on vaccinations until puppies are older? How is it beneficial to vaccinate so many times?

That study was done in the UK, not the US.

mheath0429 wrote:

I could be wrong, but is it not logical to hold off on vaccinations until puppies are older? How is it beneficial to vaccinate so many times?

Not too sure why this post was rated bad, but it is logical...
Vaccines are highly debatable and all, but puppies do have their mom's immunity for the first few weeks.

I would wait until the parvo series is finished or even after rabies is given to even think about letting your puppy out- it's worked out for me, and 85% of the tenants in my apartment building has dogs...

Every visit to a vet would equal having Tyrion wrapped in a towel, etc. Tyrion had NO access to anything outside of my apartment. NO contact with other dogs, NOTHING. I made sure. Pretty much keep your dog on quarantine in your safe, clean home. It's tedious...aka, cleaning shoes if you suspect walking on feces, etc.

My balcony was bleached for half an hour and cleaned and did it again for safe measure...a backyard would be harder to try to decontaminate.
It's only an issue if your other dog had parvo or any previous dogs that lived in the house had parvo.

There's something called parvaid that might help if you cannot shell out money for treatment.

That means potty would have to be done on a pad or outside...I went with pads due to not having a backyard

hypers987 wrote:

That study was done in the UK, not the US.

How does that make a difference?

ashleylou wrote:

hypers987 wrote:

Parvo is not carried by cats, and cats do not get parvo, so you don't have to worry about stray cats bringing it into your environment. Parvo resides in areas that infected dogs defecate, such as dog parks or homes that have a parvo positive dog. Make sure you keep up with the puppy series of shots and do a general wipe down after he/she is outside going potty.

This may be helpful. Something I wrote up last month.

Why You Should Vaccinate Your Puppy

I'm pretty sure this explains how cats give it to dogs or dogs give it to cats...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22257775/

In majority of the articles that I have read online with the exception of this article, I have read that Canine Oral Papillomas cannot be transmitted through the species line. That isn't to say your information is wrong just everything else I have read says otherwise about it being transmitted to cats

EDIT: This should say parvovirus, sorry I'm exhausted and I was just reading about Oral Papillomas

i currently have a beagle that showed possible signs of parvo, because i rescued him for a person who let there, mix breed dogs mate and they did not vaccinate at 6 weeks so when i got him at 8.5 weeks i vaccinated and a few days later he was not eating much or drinking. i took him to the vet and they said he had signs but i could not afford the test, they pumped him with fluids, and gave him a shot of antibiotics to keep him from getting any other infections while battleing this virus as well as fighting what ever else it was due to the fact that we were not positive that it was parvo, the vet that gave me a can of "hills prescription diet i/d for gasteroal intestines" i than proceeded to watch him and look up ways to battle parvo.

First thing all pet owners should know is that Parvo is a virus not bacteria, major difference between the 2 is that a virus can not be healed with a pill or shot, it has to work its way through, just like we get the flu and have to suffer until we get through it.

At first go i gave him gatorade because when a dog passes due to parvo it is mainly due to dehydration, and when athletes need to stay hydrated gatorade replenished the electroylites needed in the body. my dog didnt really like it for some reason he was just a little down still. internet said childrens pedyalite would help keep him hydrated as well.

Bleach Bleach Bleach.. Is the only thing that can kill parvo virus on surfaces. everything i read said to clean floors with bleach and food/water bowls, and toys, now of course after you bleach them you should wash the bleach off as to not poison them.
Also to kill parvo in your yard due to urination or drop of feces from your dogs and any strays that may have passed through causing the problem. you can spray your yard with bleach it will kill the virus as well all your grass and flowers, but that is a small price to pay to insure the health and life of your beloved family member, besides you can replant flowers and grass grows back but you can never replace a loved and lost member of your family

But even after doing all that they is no guarentee that a puppy with parvo will survive as sad as it is, 30 percent of all puppies that get parvo die from it. All you can really do is help the dog by killing the virus in the home, keep them hydrated, and pray for the best.

My beagle is doing well, we do not believe that he actually had parvo, more likely just a rogue bacteria that got into his system due to not being vaccinated at the proper age.

Robinhuskylover2231 wrote:

ashleylou wrote:

hypers987 wrote:

Parvo is not carried by cats, and cats do not get parvo, so you don't have to worry about stray cats bringing it into your environment. Parvo resides in areas that infected dogs defecate, such as dog parks or homes that have a parvo positive dog. Make sure you keep up with the puppy series of shots and do a general wipe down after he/she is outside going potty.

This may be helpful. Something I wrote up last month.

Why You Should Vaccinate Your Puppy

I'm pretty sure this explains how cats give it to dogs or dogs give it to cats...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22257775/

In majority of the articles that I have read online with the exception of this article, I have read that Canine Oral Papillomas cannot be transmitted through the species line. That isn't to say your information is wrong just everything else I have read says otherwise about it being transmitted to cats

EDIT: This should say parvovirus, sorry I'm exhausted and I was just reading about Oral Papillomas

Either way we all believe what we want to believe. Robin could you put some links up so I could read them im actually very interested in this topic.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/dog-care-parvovirus.aspx
http://www.cpvh.com/2011/08/08/parvovirus-canine/
http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/parvo/2000/cat-dog_parvovirus.html

From what I understand is that as Brooke said it is not transmittable to cats, only to other dogs through contact with feces of the infected animal. This is just my understanding, as I said before I may be wrong. I'm not a vet or anything close Just going off of what I have read before!

Robinhuskylover2231 wrote:

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/dog-care-parvovirus.aspx
http://www.cpvh.com/2011/08/08/parvovirus-canine/
http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/parvo/2000/cat-dog_parvovirus.html

From what I understand is that as Brooke said it is not transmittable to cats, only to other dogs through contact with feces of the infected animal. This is just my understanding, as I said before I may be wrong. I'm not a vet or anything close Just going off of what I have read before!

Right im no expert by any means I'm just going off of personal experience and what I've been told. I don't mean to come off as rude or disrespectful. But what I was saying is that dogs don't give the parvo virus to cats, I was saying cats are carriers and when they do there business outside/going to the bathroom the parvo virus is then injected into the ground where it lives for up to 20 years. Some cats are carriers not all, how the cat gets it is beyond my knowledge.

http://www.aspcapro.org/canine-parvovirus.php
this site clarifies that cats can infect dogs.

Quote :

Robinhuskylover2231 wrote:
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/dog-care-parvovirus.aspx
http://www.cpvh.com/2011/08/08/parvovirus-canine/
http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/parvo/2000/cat-dog_parvovirus.html

From what I understand is that as Brooke said it is not transmittable to cats, only to other dogs through contact with feces of the infected animal. This is just my understanding, as I said before I may be wrong. I'm not a vet or anything close Just going off of what I have read before!

Right im no expert by any means I'm just going off of personal experience and what I've been told. I don't mean to come off as rude or disrespectful. But what I was saying is that dogs don't give the parvo virus to cats, I was saying cats are carriers and when they do there business outside/going to the bathroom the parvo virus is then injected into the ground where it lives for up to 20 years. Some cats are carriers not all, how the cat gets it is beyond my knowledge.

I didn't take it as rude or disrespectful as I said I am not a vet or professional so I am open to learning more about different people's opinions and experiences.

Quote :

http://www.aspcapro.org/canine-parvovirus.php
this site clarifies that cats can infect dogs.

I must of missed that, thanks for pointing that out.