Parvo

I have been told that the contamination can last for a year once it gets in the soil.

http://www.animalsheltering.org/resource_library/magazine_articles/jul_aug_1996/parvo_factsheet.pdf

Here is some info on treatment from another board. I have no knowledge of its success or failure.

A New Treatment For Parvoenteritis

On April 24, 2004, the concept of treating Parvoenteritis in dogs with a neuraminidase inhibitor (Tamiflu) was introduced on the Veterinary Information Network’s Infectious Disease Board. Since then, Tamiflu has been used successfully by veterinarians, shelter workers and rescue groups to treat Parvoenteritis in thousands of dogs, cats and raccoons throughout the world.

Tamiflu: Oseltamivir is one of two commercially available sources of a neuraminidase inhibitor that has been used successfully in treating infectious parvoenteritis.

Neuraminidase: An enzyme that is produced by both bacteria and viruses. It is considered a virulence factor in viral and bacterial infections that require neuraminidase to remove biological barriers that protect the host.

Super infections: Any infection that requires both a virus and bacteria to produce an infection that is more pathogenic than either infectious agent can produce alone. Veterinary examples: canine and feline Parvo, canine kennel cough and influenza, feline URI, parvoenteritis in raccoons, and bloody scowls in deer.

The use of Tamiflu in canine, feline, and raccoon parvoenteritis: The success of using a neuraminidase inhibitor in treating canine and feline Parvo is due to the suppression the production of bacterial neuraminidase, and has no effect on the Parvovirus' ability to replicate. Puppies can still develop myocarditis and CHF...kittens can still develop cerebellar hypoplasia...the patient’s feces will still contain the viral antigen even while the animal is recovering. Tamiflu does not interfere with the replication of the Parvovirus, and as a result, no mutant or resistant strains of the Parvovirus will be created from the use of Tamiflu.

Tamiflu should never be used to treat any animal that does not test (+) using the fecal antigen test. All of the guidelines for using Tamiflu have been developed in cases that have had a (+) fecal Parvo test.

Dose: 1mg/lb that dose given every 12 hours for 10 consecutive treatments...requires a (+) fecal antigen test.... There is a direct relationship between clinical response and the time treatment is started…Tamiflu should be given w/in 48 hrs of onset of clinical signs...if no response after the first dose...double to 2mg/lb for the second, third dose, etc.

Specific Breeds of Dogs: Dobies, Rotties, Retrievers, Pit Bulldogs, and Alaskan sled dogs...all require at least 2mg/lb as the starting dose as these breeds respond poorly to Parvo infections...

As a preventive: Animals have been exposed, but are not currently showing any clinical signs should be given 1mg/lb once a day for 5 days...if these animals develop one or more clinical signs (vomiting/bloody diarrhea/anorexia)...treatment should be changed so that they are given 1mg/lb every 12 hr for a total of 10 treatments.

Animals requiring IV support: Animals sick enough to require IV support (fluids/antibiotics/antiemetics) respond poorly to Tamiflu. Their clinical condition is the result of a damaged GI tract with the introduction of GI bacteria and toxins beyond Tamiflu’s ability to protect the patient. If used, Tamiflu can be started at 2mg/lb and the dose adjusted according to the patient’s response every 12 hours.

Animals that vomit after being given oral Tamiflu: These patients can be given the same dose as an enema. You can also divide the contents of a 75mg capsule into lines and mix the appropriate amount into pancake syrup or honey and place under the tongue or in the lip fold.

Tamiflu Products: There is a suspension that you add 23 cc of water to get 25cc of 12mg/cc. There is also a flat of ten 75 mg capsules.

To use capsules to treat a 5 lb puppy: Mix the contents of 1 capsule into 10 cc of a liquid diet like Canine Rebound...this will create a 10cc suspension with a concentration of 7.5mg/cc....Refrigerate and shake well and give 1cc q. 12 hrs x 10 treatments.... do not mix capsules with water as this water suspension is very bitter and can cause the patient to vomit. One can also use liquid VAL or similar vitamin prep.

To use the suspension (12mg/cc) to treat a 5 lb puppy: Shake well and give the puppy 0.5cc of the suspension q. 12 hrs x 10 treatments. Refrigerate the suspension after adding water and between treatments.

Tamiflu and FDA: On March 20, 2006, the FDA banned the use of Tamiflu and other neuraminidase inhibitors in treating chickens, ducks, turkeys and other birds...goes into effect in June 2006.... you can still use Tamiflu in dogs, cats, and raccoons.

In the emergency clinics or private clinics that are presented with cases whose disease course is unknown or have exceeded the 48 hrs time-frame: The professional staff should make the client aware of the poor response to Tamiflu due to the high levels of bacterial neuraminidase currently present in the patient's GI tract, and the presence of GI pathology created prior to presentation. Tamiflu will only prevent future pathology, and cannot reverse any pathology created prior to treatment.

Treating Parvo requires the same mental process used in treating Diabetes Mellitus.... The DVM begins with a standard initial dose of Tamiflu or insulin and then uses professional judgment to adjust the following doses required to get a clinical response.

In an uncomplicated case, presented within 48 hrs. of the onset of clinical signs, one should see no vomiting after the first dose...no diarrhea after the 2nd...and alert/eating after the 3rd dose. If there is no clinical response after the 3rd dose...you have either started using Tamiflu too late, have a secondary medical problem that needs to be addressed, or have the wrong diagnosis.

In summary, the introduction of the concept of using a neuraminidase inhibitor to treat canine, feline and raccoon Parvoenteritis, has opened many new doors into the understanding of the pathobiology and treatment of this disease. Prior to April 24, 2004, Parvovirus was thought of as viral enteritis. Based on this concept, vaccines were developed to help prevent or reduce the severity of the clinical disease.

Once the disease was diagnosed, treatment protocols were all designed to address the various end products produced during the disease. The presence of vomiting and/or diarrhea usually dictated that most drugs were given intravenously. Animals that are hospitalized usually remain 3-7 days with unpredictable prognosis. This is because none of the treatments address the core problem of excessive GI bacterial neuraminidase. Drugs are given to address all of the various reactions such as: vomiting, endotoxic shock, pain, bacterial septicemia, GI mucosal ulcerations and general organ failure. This approach requires many drugs and man-hours to treat the multiple pathological processes associated with viral Parvoenteritis.

With the introduction of using a neuraminidase inhibitor (Tamiflu), we established that Parvoenteritis is not a viral enteritis, but a super infection that requires the presence of bacterial neuraminidase. When a neuraminidase inhibitor is use under the strict guidelines developed since April 24, 2004, the disease is not allowed to develop into the clinical disease currently known as viral Parvoenteritis. The commensal bacteria do not transform into pathologic bacteria, and the patient’s disease is not allowed to progress as described in the veterinary literature. In order to achieve this reversal, there has to be a definitive diagnosis and the neuraminidase has to be given according to established guidelines.

Please keep in mind that any recommendations given in this article are not FDA approved. They are offered to help educate and guide those anticipating using Oseltamivir therapy in the future. Roadrunner Pharmacy is currently in the process of acquiring Oseltamivir powder to be compounded into the various formulations and concentrations requested by our clients.

To insure the continual gathering of clinical data, please contact Jack J. Broadhurst, DVM at [email protected] or fax at 910-295-2265. There is a clinical trial form that if filled out and returned, will insure a central point for clinical results to be stored. He can also be contacted at 910-295-2287.

Jack J. Broadhurst, DVM

The Cat Health Clinic

2212 Midland Road

Pinehurst, NC 28374



Disclaimer: Always discuss this and anything else you read about on the web, in regards to medical treatmentnts, with your vet before administering. The above info is provided for the readers convenience to discuss with their vet and is not meant to be the sole treatment for Parvo.

I think this is a very thorough parvo article:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/canine_parvovirus.html

Of course, hearing from people who have gone through it is invaluable!

It's not really "normal" but it's something to watch for. Since good, reputable rescues will keep puppies for a few weeks before adopting them out, you generally don't have to worry as much about getting a rescue *with* parvo, but it is a chance you take with a shelter puppy straight from the shelter. Or, a puppy from a breeder even-there is a puppy in this health section right now who is back at the vet and hopefully will be better soon-not from a shelter or rescue. Or a puppy who gets exposed to parvovirus while living with you after going to the vet or petstore. Okay, parvo freaks me out, so I am going to stop now before I panic everyone.

Zamboni came to me with parvo, distemper, pneumonia and kennel cough. She was fine when I got her from the shelter. Several days later, she was the sickest little pup you could possibly imagine. She stayed at the vet hospital about 4 weeks. The vet gave her 70% of not making it, and did suggest that euthanasia was a practical consideration, since she was so sick and so young (3 months old).

Yes, it cost a fortune, but there have been virtually no side effects. It's been a long time, so I don't remember *all* the protocols for disinfecting the house and yard. But be sure that you do all these obsessively. A property of a pup that survives parvo won't reinfect the pup but can infect others. I recall that I pretty much threw out everything (toys, leashes, collars. I still have her puppy crate, so I must have cleaned that with bleach and scalding hot water.) I also tossed my bedding, since she often played on my bed and washed everything else in blazing hot water. I recall scrubbing walls and floors. I had my carpets cleaned and my car interior detailed since she had ridden around in it a lot in those few days (meeting all the family and friends!)

I lived in an apartment, so I didn't have a yard specifically to disinfect, but yeah, organic material is a whole other matter when it comes to disinfection.

This looks pretty helpful. UC Davis is highly regarded on the west coast for all things veterinary: http://www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_parvovirus_canine.shtml

So, I spent a lot of money. I got serious dish-pan hands. And Zamboni celebrates her 15th birthday in a few weeks. So when someone tells me their pup may have parvo, I'm always cautiously optimistic.

I don't have a lot to add beyond the links that have been posted on parvo itself but here are some of my related thoughts -

Our rescue pulls dogs exclusively with shelters and we see a fair amount of parvo. It is so contagious that it's really impossible for shelters to eliminate it and, as a previous poster mentioned, they often don't have the resources to even do as well as they otherwise could.

Parvo is definitely treatable. We're seeing an almost 100% cure rate in puppies that are started on treatment immediately - that is, as soon as there is any sign - so the puppies we're getting tested have usually had at least one bout of vomitting or diarrhea and they seem depressed and lethargic but they're still responsive and up walking around. We see the slightest hint of parvo and we've got them at the clinic getting tested. If you do a wait and see with parvo the prognosis isn't as good, but with treatment it's still around 80% survival.

Some of the rescues we work with are now giving tamiflu to all puppies when they get off the transport and have seen a dramatic decrease in their parvo cases and a substantial decrease in the seriousness and length of illness in the few that do get sick. They are not seeing as much help from it when it's started after the dog is clinically ill but it's worth investigating. Our vet uses a protocol with supportive fluid therapy, an antivirus serum, anti nausea and anti diarrheal drugs, and antibiotics. It typically takes 3-5 days for our puppies to recover and costs us about $300 per puppy.

Other random things I've noticed - when older puppies come down with it, they sometimes seem to get it worse - no idea why that would be. And we've seen zero cases of adult dogs getting it, even dogs in the shelter during an outbreak who have no vaccine history. Basically, parvo is so widespread in the environment that by the time a dog reaches adulthood, they've probably encountered it and built some immunity.

That said, it's very contagious to puppies. When we get new puppies in they spend the first 10 days of their time at our house living in a double x-pen on top of a heavy contractor grade tarp. I use newspapers and I get in there and play with them and we certainly get them out and hold them etc, but they do not go in the yard and their feet do not touch grass until they're through quarantine. Any time my set up gets contaminated, I replace it. It gets kind of pricey but I'd rather have to keep buying x-pens and tarps than contaminate my whole house - which, unfortanately did happen with Lila recently because she was way too big to stay in an x-pen and I gambled she was too old to get it. She wasn't.

I cringe every time I go to Petsmart and see people waltzing around the store with their 8 week old (or younger!) pups. No dog of mine would ever be an common dog area until it was a minimum of 4 months old with at least 3 rounds of shots, older if it had had fewer. When I take puppies to adoption events they don't go until they've had at least 2 rounds of shots, I ask people to use hand santizer before handling them and those puppies never touch the floor or ground. Knock on wood, I've never had a dog contract parvo after we pulled it. They've always brought it with them from the shelter.

The info about parvo lasting a year in the environment is correct - it has to do with length of time exposed to higher temps and sunlight. If you live somewhere very hot and dry you could probably get by with less than that but if you live somewhere that the ground is frozen much of the year, it could take a long time. It dies inside the house much more quickly and from most things I've read, your house is safe again after only a month or two. In either case, the amount of virus sitting around can make a big difference so it's a good idea to pick up any contaminated poop and run the hose over the area for a long time to dilute it. Pouring bleach on the ground has no effect and does not kill parvo. I've known people to do this and then pronounce the area "clean" which it definitely is not and they're giving themselves a false sense of security. Bleach works but only on surfaces that can be completely cleaned of any biological material (poop, dirt, hair etc) before you bleach. So, crates yes, soil no.

Any time you pull dogs under about 6 months from the shelter, parvo is a very real risk and you should plan to quarantine. It's not really a problem pulling or adopting adult dogs and as Jean mentions, should not be an issue when adopting from a reputable rescue. IMO any rescue should be holding all animals at least 2 weeks before placement in any case, but that's something to check.

Hope that helps! Good luck with your babies. They can look pretty awful before they turn the corner so don't give up if they seem to be tanking.

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm the foster that has the pups. I picked the pups up from the shelter on Tues, felt there was definalty something wrong on Weds and made an appt. They weren't able to get them in until Thrusday afternoon. At that visit I was told there wasn't anything wrong from what the vet could tell. He pulled a fecal on one, in fact only looked at one, and said it was neg for parvo. Fri they were dropping like flys. I called his office and he told me to force pedialyte. Needless to say at this point I was very frustrated with this vet and went about finding someone that would take them. When I did get them in the vet said they were in trouble and admitted 3. The 4th, who is now hospitalized, was not showing signs so he did not want to admit her. Anyway, this is very difficult. I feel very helpless and just want them all back and healthy. I truely appreciate the help and prayers from all the board members. The pups have a thread going under the General catagory where I post updates when I get them.