I learn so much from the boards on this forum. I’m so sorry your sister lost her puppy. This story may save another dog somewhere.
This is just terrible. I’m sorry.
My adult dogs are going in first thing Monday morning to my vet.
I’m also now finding suspicious things about the rescue on line but I’m not sure. The owner won’t return my calls even though our puppy was part of a full litter that was adopted out.
I would be careful vaccinating a dog who has been exposed. I wouldn’t want their immune system to take the stress of a vaccination when fighting am exposure at the same time. Vaccinations take time to become affective so it isn’t instant immunity.
Unfortuately, your sister should not bring another puppy into her house. When she is ready, she should get a fully vaccinated dog. That vet bill is crazy. You should have been able to get the drugs to treat it your selves for less than $200. Emergency vets suck sometimes. I am so sorry the vets didn’t give you some affordable options. The poor little thing might have been to far gone anyway.
Parvo is a terrible disease and rescues sometimes don’t know when it will pop up. It is ALWAYS a risk and hopefully they did the best they could.
So sorry for your loss.
[QUOTE=shea’smom;7514400]
Unfortuately, your sister should not bring another puppy into her house. When she is ready, she should get a fully vaccinated dog. That vet bill is crazy. You should have been able to get the drugs to treat it your selves for less than $200. Emergency vets suck sometimes. I am so sorry the vets didn’t give you some affordable options. The poor little thing might have been to far gone anyway.
Parvo is a terrible disease and rescues sometimes don’t know when it will pop up. It is ALWAYS a risk and hopefully they did the best they could.
So sorry for your loss.[/QUOTE]
You can really provide oxygen, IV fresh frozen plasma and packed cell blood to your dog at home, and for under $200? Oh, and routine glucose checks? Lactate, pH, electrolytes? No offense, but a severe case of parvo is NOT something that can be treated at home.
I guess it is a matter of degree. I have successfully treated parvo at home. More than once, as have several of my friends.
[QUOTE=shea’smom;7514400]
Unfortuately, your sister should not bring another puppy into her house. When she is ready, she should get a fully vaccinated dog. That vet bill is crazy. You should have been able to get the drugs to treat it your selves for less than $200. Emergency vets suck sometimes. I am so sorry the vets didn’t give you some affordable options. The poor little thing might have been to far gone anyway.
Parvo is a terrible disease and rescues sometimes don’t know when it will pop up. It is ALWAYS a risk and hopefully they did the best they could.
So sorry for your loss.[/QUOTE]
The vet actually did say that people have chosen to do that. He said when he was younger he even took a litter home and tried to save them. He was very honest with us.
Absolutley, however the OP was saying that the puppy was dyspenic - that is not something that should be treated at home 
Mild cases can very frequenty be treated at home with appropriate medications, however there are some cases that require extreme intervention if they want the dog to survive.
[QUOTE=shea’smom;7514400]
That vet bill is crazy. You should have been able to get the drugs to treat it your selves for less than $200. [/QUOTE]
That’s the biggest load of tripe I’ve seen in these parts recently.
I don’t think I would blame the rescue for parvo…sounds like he didn’t have any symptoms when your sister brought him home. However, I do find fault with them not returning your calls…unfortunately, that’s how some people running rescue deal with bad news. By avoiding the confrontation.
At the very least, they should refund your adoption fee.
Frankly, I don’t think the rescue could have done anything different. Parvo is one of those things that you need to be aware of no matter where a puppy comes from. We could puppies in from breeders and shelters who have parvo. Until the puppy is fully vaccinated there is a risk.
I am sorry for your loss.
I recently rescued a 3 pound starved adult chihuahua. She had passed thru two homes thatI know of and was a neglect case. Two days after bringing her to my house she started with diarrhea and I knew I needed to have her seen immediately because of her fragile state. I suspected hookworms but was surprised to find she tested a weak positive for parvo. She was in the clinic for three days and nights on sub-q fluids and antibiotics. She survived. Four of my other dogs were overdue for vaccines so I took them in and one by one all of them got sick. Diarrhea and some vomiting, general icky stuff. It was two weeks in hell. I think the vaccine compromised their systems as they are all older dogs but maybe I’m wrong - they were all together when rescue got sick so all drank from the same bowl, etc. Parvo is a beast. I foster for a rescue that lost an entire littler a month ago, one by one. Rescues pull from some really bad places, and sometimes dogs have so much wrong from the get-go that they can’t be saved. The moral of the story is SPAY AND NEUTER. Intact dogs are the root of the problem and why rescues are full to the brim.
Parvo is brutal and sad and you have to know when to call it and euthanize. My bill was nothing close to the OP’s, at only $350.
Parvo is why I won’t foster puppies, but clearly adult dogs can get it too.
moonriver, what your adult dogs had is exactly how parvo presents in an older dog. More than likely since their vaccines were lapsed they just caught it. Like getting the flu shot when you already have the flu or are coming down with it.
Having an un-vaccinated dog is more the culprit for the spread of parvo than having an intact one.
Parvo is everywhere-around here the coyotes and wolves carry it. Dog parks are full of it. Rest stops have it. Petco probably has it on their floors. People that go to look at puppies for adoption that have unvaccinated dogs at home can have it and give it to the puppies. They can have it on their shoes when they visit the shelter after walking through dog poo on the way in. Or on the way out their yard.
I don’t let a pup out of my arms in public or be petted by anyone else until they’ve had a series of three vaccinations. I don’t let them run around public area hardly ever if I can help it. I just cringe when I see people with a pup in for first shots at the vet and all the other people in the waiting room are petting the puppy… or the puppy is running around on the floor!
We just got a pup-I made sure the other dogs were all vaccinated (which in my paranoia they were anyway), I bleached the whole house, actually sprayed bleach on the parts of the porch and yard that the pup was going to be in for going to the bathroom, and sprayed bleach water in the car before he came home. I kept him away from the other dogs until he was with us for a week showing no signs of illness. I did his shots myself so he didn’t have to go to the vet until he had had a series of two. I probably went totally overboard but he is my son’s first dog and I was not about to let that pup get sick from any other dog or the environment.
S/N is a high quality message but parvo can happen to any un-vaccinated dog.
cowboymom you are right - vaccination and using your smarts is imperative. what I meant with my S/N comment is that the large number of shelter puppies who carry it in and spread it could have been prevented if parent dogs were altered. Especially here in the South with our tremendous stray population, parvo is rampant. Rescues are more likely TO get a parvo litter than not. I have seven other chis and four of them had been vaccinated last year, the other four two years ago. From all the data i have read, the vaccine protects for three years. I was in a gray area with these four so took them in as a cautionary thing. All my dogs have been to the dog park and other places (the barn being one) and are exposed to natural elements and whatever parvi risk those places hold, but this was definitely related to the vaccines I think because the three who were NOT vaccinated at that time showed no symptoms.
Whatever it was, I was so sick of cleaning up raging diarrhea I could have screamed if I had not been so GRATEFUL the little rack of bones survived. She was supposed to be a foster. She is now Numero Ocho.
On another note, GREAT THINGS are being done in Florence, AL regarding completely curing distemper in dogs, even those presenting with neurological signs!!!
Your pup is a miracle-I remember hoping she made it through and being very pleasantly surprised that she did!
She not only made it, she has gained a pound and I can no longer see bones!! She’s stuck to me like glue and one of the happiest little balls of sunshine I have ever known. I cant believe she made it either, but I have a wonderful vet and a hotline to the man upstairs, 
[QUOTE=Ghazzu;7515323]
That’s the biggest load of tripe I’ve seen in these parts recently.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. Here is an interesting article about ER vets: http://pawcurious.com/2014/04/no-obamacare-for-dogs-5-things-you-should-know-about-the-vet-er/
I always tell my friends who bitch about vet care for their small animals that they should just get a horse and it will all be put in to perspective. 
[QUOTE=PaintPony;7517547]
I always tell my friends who bitch about vet care for their small animals that they should just get a horse and it will all be put in to perspective. ;)[/QUOTE]
I’m always amazed at how much less I pay for the horses vs. the dogs and cats.
Yeah, I think that my cat vet is a bit overpriced, but after 6 years of horse ownership, it’s just statistical noise by comparison.
