Betsy's Notes on Parvo

They are contagious before showing symptoms. There are also 2 common strains of parvo, one is much quicker than the other, it was identified in the 1980's. They can break 48 hours after exposure.

Immunity is not solid for 48-72 hours after inoculating.

EVERYPLACE the dog has been is infected as well as your shoe bottoms, everything you touched after touching the dogs fecal matter while cleaning, etc. Parvo is spread via feces but, a thimble full of feces contains a minimum of 10 thousand particles, or cells, it only takes one ingested cell to cause the virus...so that should give you a rough example of how serious this is.

Bleach will kill it but what some people don't realize is that bleach only sterilizes clean surfaces. Say you have a dirty surface and you spray bleach on it, the bleach only sterilizes what it reaches, so if there are crumbs or particles you are not really cleaning completely. The surfaces must be bare and clean, then spray.

DO NOT KEEP ANYTHING PLASTIC NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!! No plastic dishes the dog used, NO TOYS!!!!!!!!!! NO bedding, throw it away! I do not fool with trying to clean bedding, its not worth it. I even throw out the plastic crate pan if the dog has had a bowel movement in the crate. I am extreme but so is parvo.

For the yard we used a plant backpack sprayer thing like to insecticide and sprayed the yard, now the bleach will eat up the washers and sprayer guts so rinse the thing out super good with hot water. Once you bleach heavily then we use powered and pelleted GARDEN LIME every two weeks...........we do that all the time anyway to keep the dog crap from smelling, help it disintegrate and help kill parasites. At first lime the yard every few days to help all the infected feces dissolve. Garden Lime can be purchased in bags in the garden section of Home Depot or Lowes and its about two dollars a bag. BE SURE to use powdered at first, sprinkle your yard heavy enough that it looks like a powdered donut. IT will NOT hurt you or the dogs, my dogs walk right back out on it the same day we spread. We use a seed spreader with our lawn tractor but you can even use a noodle strainer by hand for small areas. Its like sprinkling confectioners sugar.

Okay, for the pups, you understand all you can do is supportive therapy. Keep them quite and resting, calm, no ruckus so their bodies can heal.......if the other pups break they will most likely first refuse food and then water. DO not try to force them to ingest anything, parvo is like the worst stomach flu you ever had, the kind where you are sitting in the toilet and barfing in the tub all at once. Anything you introduce to the gut will compromise things even more. It is scary because you know they will dehydrate but nothing in the gut, they must have subcutaneous fluids only or IV fluids administered by the Vet...sub q. you can do at home if someone will teach you and give the amounts and intervals. If the pups break anytime soon you cannot wait long for a Vet to intervene and administer fluids so be prepared and be at your Vet tomorrow morning. See if they will give you a crash course on sub q fluids incase the other pups break when they are closed. Also remember, for a living creature, us or them, digesting food is the hardest work your body has to perform. SO its super important to not make the body work on gut introduced items till they are really ready. Then it must be easily digestible Have your vet give you some Science Diet ID canned, its really easy, its for gut problems and old dogs, etc. Bland and easy to digest. ALSO, remember that your stomach contracts for 3 hours after each bout of vomiting, so if the dog starts to want to drink and vomits, withhold water for 3 more hours, anything you put in the spasming gut is coming out. 

Parvo has been found in soil 7 years later, even in areas that freeze hard. It can lay dormant for 6 mths or more, it can live inside on surfaces for up to 2 years, do not keep anything you cannot sterilize, throw it out! Anything plastic, toss it. Only use stainless steel bowls or ceramic crock types. Toss all toys, its just not worth the risk.

I am sure there is more I am missing but I have to do a few things here, write back with any more questions or anything I missed, or clarification on anything, I will check the mail every few hours.

Betsy~