By law and common sense we must say that this not a medical guide. No one involved in the authorship of this is in any way a doctor, vet, scientist or even extremely smart. We are just people who did our bet for our dog, Zora. This is not meant to be used instead of adequate veterinary care for your animal but rather an addition to the good quality care a vet can provide.We hope you will print a copy and take it to your doctor. Ask your doctors opinion on all that we say here and make up your own mind as to how to treat your animal should it become infected with deadly Parvo.
ZORA
Moved in to our yard a few weeks before she was stricken with parvo. Zora was a stray and we worked hard to find her real owners. No one came forth. She was a rambunctious dog who loved chasing the cats, running amok, digging in the gardens, tearing down the laundry, and generaly being a pain in the glutes.
It was heart breaking to see what parvo did to her.
PARVO IS FATAL
So is cancer. Today there are tens of thousands of cancer survivors in the US. There might also be thousand more parvo survivors in the US . Some vets see parvo as the end of a dog's life. Infection with this fatal disease is often a signal to put the dog out of it's misery. We are writing this blog to inform you of the true events surrounding Zora's infection and her remarkable if not miraculous recovery.
The decision to terminate your dog's life rest with you.
Because Parvo is so devastating you may want to consider allowing your animal the benefit of a quick and painless release.
We are happy we did not.
The duration of parvo ranges from about 7- 14 days. This is one of the key components in our decision to try to home treat Zora. We knew that we would see worsening or improvement within days of the onset, we reasoned then that if home treatment was not working we could always choose the second option and either way in two weeks it would be over.
We did have this advantage: We got her to the doctor within two days of the onset.
SYMPTOMS
On July 3rd Zora vomited up what looked to be a pound or two of dog food. She got very lethargic after that. The next day she pooped a thin watery stool which had the smell of death about it.
It would be utterly foolish to run to the vet every time the dog vomits.
Most dog hurls are from something they ate. Their bodies reject the tainted substance and within minutes the dog feels better, perhaps hungry but better.
Watch for:
Vomit
Stinky poopies
Laziness, depression
Fever
Any combination of two means a vet is a must see.
Our vet told us that f we hospitalized her she stood a 30% chance of survival, if we took her home she stood only about a 10% chance. We are unable to afford the care given by a hospital so we opted for the home care. We are glad we did. We do not feel as though Zora would have survived had she been isolated and strapped to a metal table being fed through tubes. As we will explain later, love and attention is very important to survival.
Our vet gave us a powerful antibiotic in pill form to prevent any secondary infections. We used this because we could be sure any home remedy could stay off a bacterial infection considering lack of nutrition was robbing Zora of her natural immunity.
He also gave her a powerful anti-vomiting medicine in injection form this halted the vomit at once.
PARVO IS A VIRUS
It cannot be cured. All of the treatments you use are symptomatic treatments. They are there to relieve the symptoms associated with a viral infection . None of them will cure your animal. Your animal must have symptomatic relief to reduce suffering and allow the body to purge the virus. God made our bodies to do this. If you can help your dog to at least feel better the animal will either get well or die. Either way the suffering will end . Your job is to make the journey towards that end more bearable.
HERE IS WHAT WE DID:
We supplemented the anti vomiting medicine the vet gave us with a huge syringe full of Dollar General Pink Bismuth Liquid (the same as Pepto Bismal). Bismuth is highly absorbent and it protects the stomach lining. It also allows food more time to stay in the belly. This is important . It also helps control diarrhea . Bismuth is basically harmless. We gave a full adult dose twice a day. Considering how much smaller her stomach is than a full adult, that is quite a bit.
We fed Zora through a large syringe, the end had to be cut off to make the opening wide enough for the food to pass through easily.
We mixed Science Diet Adult Dog Food with Yogurt, pedialyte and fresh bottled water. We made this into a thin paste. Then forced it into her throat with the modified syringe.
The Science Diet is well balanced and nutritious.
The yogurt must contain live active cultures. This adds vital bacteria into the digestive tract. This bacteria helps to quickly break down the food and allows the body to absorb nutrients quickly.
Pedialyte (baby water) helps to replace electrolytes in the bodily fluid system. I do not understand what electrolytes are but they are obviously important when body fluids are being lost. Zora hated it. I don't blame her. It is nasty. We found it more palatable by mixing it with fresh bottled water and forcing it into her mouth with a syringe. You cannot give your dog too much. Remember that your dog is loosing water every minute. Dehydration is the reason most of the beats that pass, die.
The virus is not killing your dog. It can't. The starvation and dehydration caused by the virus is killing your dog. The virus robs your dog of fluid and nutrition.
Your dog's body could live for days without food, but your dog's brain is also starving. If the brain doesn't function nothing you can do for dog will matter. Considering all the trouble your dog's digestive system is having delivering nutrition brain damage or death is almost inevitable.
However, sugar become energy inside the mouth and throat.
