Oh &^%$

[Zoom]

I think we're royally screwed at work this week. Last Thursday or Friday, can't remember which, we had two dogs check in, one of which was a puppy that was adopted by this family four days before they were to leave on vacation. Ok, first issue is why adopt something you're just going to board right away? I can understand if an emergency pops up, but...that's not the point of this thread.

The day she checked in she was fine. Normal bouncing puppy with a normal temp. Over the weekend the puppy started to deteriorate. Listless, vomiting...just not acting right. We were closely monitoring her, keeping track of all her symptoms and told to wait for Monday to come so we could take her to the client's vet. Then yesterday, we find out two things. One, the shelter she was adopted from has had to go under a quarantine because of a Parvo outbreak and two...our puppy has a temp of 103 and just tested positive for Parvo.

Sh*t.

It's spring break, so we're booked solid. 155 dogs, plus any daycare dogs that come in. We have other puppies boarding with us right now and a couple that come in for daycare. Parvo pup has been just about everywhere in the building.

Double sh*t.

It's been a hectic, hectic week and it's only just started! Friday night we had another dog, this one a 15 year old, have a stroke. Clients wanted her to come back to stay at our place because we have 24 hour supervision, unlike the dog's vet, who was going to leave 30 minutes after seeing the dog. That dog is recovering, has some of appetite back and is walking under her own power again. Thank God for some good news.

 

[JennSLK]

wow, yikes

 

[smkie]

WE didn't even know what parvo was back in 1975. A person did the same thing, adopted a husky puppy and brought it straight to us while they went out of town for the weekend. Long story short. Pup died..then we lost 2 litters of 8 each, two beautiful pups in from California just arrived for training, 3 mths old and solid gorgous dogs. I will never forget that nightmare as longs as i live. NOthing we did helped and one by one they bled out. In three days we were in mourning only, no survivors of young dogs at all. THat was my introduction to parvo.
Zoom you cant monitor parvo..the second u see a puppy turn away from food and water (.isolate ).especially water, they sit like thier little tummys hurt so bad to even let it touch the floor..that is when you race to the vet and get the pills AND the saline solution. Then you bleach everything even if you are not sure..Your employer should have known this and it is total negligence that they did not. There is a smell that comes with the feces before you even detect a sign from the outside of the dog..and mucus..that smell is distinct. It is the blood rotting in the intestine. That will come later.
Worst part is parvo can and has mutated. They should turn away any pup..if fact i wouldn't want to board my dog there at all if i knew.

 

[Saje]

Oh Zoom that's horrible. You are going to have such a lllooonnnnggg week. So how do you have to handle the parvo stuff?

 

[filarotten]

That is terrible.

 

[RD]

Ugh, Zoom.. This is such a rotten situation. I hope everything settles down soon.

 

[bubbatd]

That's rough !!! Hope it doesn't spread ! Keep us posted !

 

[Fran27]

This is horrible I really hope the poor dogs will be ok.

 

[Renee750il]

Geeez, Zoom . . . you ARE in for a long week . . . keep us posted!

 

[Zoom]

Well, now I'm confused. Everything I hear about parvo says usually the puppy should be dead by now, but she survived the night. We've changed the dilution of our cleaning solution (hey i rhyme) to fit what the insert says about how to kill off parvo and are using that.

Smkie, we don't have room for any more dogs right now anyway, plus...we just didn't know. The thing about the shelter has just now hit the news and as there wasn't any blood and the puppy was lying down normally, just very listless, no one immediately thought 'parvo'.

I work tomorrow so I can get some more info then. Tonight was obedience class night and as I got stuck in traffic jam on the way there, I wasn't thinking about anything else besides how to quickly quickly quickly get ready to teach.

 

[smkie]

did you see the news about the shelter way side waifs? they are shutting down for two weeks because they have 4 cases right now. It seems early in the season to me for parvo, it usually likes the hotter temps for an outbreak. Do you know what shelter the dog came from?

 

[Nobody's Fool]

Slightly off topic..... but since we're discussing parvo:
A PetLand store opened in our town just last month. Early this month, it was reported that at least one of their puppies had parvo. Naturally, the poor thing died. On top of the parvo, they had an outbreak of kennel cough and there was suspicion of some strain of canine flu.
Questions, questions....... shouldn't they have posted a warning on the door about the parvo, so people wouldn't stupidly take their unvaccinated puppies in there? If one pup had it, couldn't all the pups that came in on the same truck have it? The vet for the store said that all pups get their shots "as soon as they come off the truck"....... shouldn't they have shots before that? When asked about the "general health" of the pups at the store (both when they arrived and while up for sale), the vet replied "no comment"..... comforting, huh? I know where the pups come from (puppy mills), and would never buy a dog from a pet store anyway, but many people don't care about the background of the dogs. They sold so many puppies the first weekend they were open, it makes me sick.
The really sad thing about all this (for me)? The vet for the pet store is MY vet! I think I'm gonna look for a new one. If he had no comment about the puppies general health, it seems to me that he is covering something up.

anyway....... sorry this is so long. Just wanted to put in my two cents.

Sara

 

[smkie]

you would think that would be the responisble thing to do gee i wonder what puppy mill those puppies came from.

 

[Nobody's Fool]

you would think that would be the responisble thing to do gee i wonder what puppy mill those puppies came from.

Here's what they say on their website:
"Our registerable pets come from professional and hobby breeders who have years of experience in raising quality family pets. Petland puppies and kittens are checked by at least two and in most cases three veterinarians before being offered to our customers. Trained Petland kennel technicians check the health of our puppies and kittens every day. Weight, temperature and eating habits are monitored and records are kept.
Any inconsistencies are noted and reported to local consulting veterinarians who provide follow-up care. Petland’s custom-designed kennels are larger in all dimensions than recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture. Our kennels are designed to be easily disassembled and are cleaned continuously each day."

Funny, they say their pets are checked by "at least two" vets..... but they (the one here, anyway) only names one, and there are only two vets here in town. Their "kennels" are not very big at all.... so what size does the USDA recommend?? Big enough for the animal to stand and turn around? I'd hate to live in something like that for days or weeks at a time. Here's another quote:

"We at Petland make the health and well-being of our pets our #1 priority. Every Petland store has local consulting veterinarian(s). And our puppies and kittens are the finest available -- happy and healthy family pets."

Yeah.... the finest pets available..... happy and healthy.... except for the ones who have parvo, kennel cough, canine flu, and look simply dreadful: skinny, sad, depressed little tykes living in glass boxes with wire bottoms. The only time I saw true action from them was at feeding time. I'd like to break in there and take them all away.....

Sara

 

[bubbatd]

I'd change vets ASAP !!! A sign should have been posted on the door by the vet !!! I can see parvo in a HS... but not in a petstore !! Shows that their pups come from stupid BYB.!!!

 

[Zoom]

Got to work this morning for a nice dose of death news. First, the parvo puppy died early this morning. Second, a cat that had been a regular for years (and was 17 with kidney failure) was put down this morning as well. He at least had a very good, very long life and was happy to the end.

I have never done so many loads of laundry and so many dishes in my life! Lots of bleach and we upped our cleaning solution from the normal 2:1 to 8:1 and it took us an extra three hours to clean this morning because we were being so thorough. So far no one else has exibited any signs. Keep your fingers crossed it stays that way.

 

[anna84]

I am so sorry you have to be ridiculously stressed out. It sounds like your doing everyhting you can to keep it from spreading. Keep posting updates and good luck

 

[Barb04]

What a horrible thing to happen. I'm at a loss for words.

 

[filarotten]

Gosh Zoom, I feel for you and everyone else at the kennel. Just curious, when something like this happens, do they give all the dogs an extra parvo innoculation?

 

[bigdaddyTank]

did you see the news about the shelter way side waifs? they are shutting down for two weeks because they have 4 cases right now. It seems early in the season to me for parvo, it usually likes the hotter temps for an outbreak. Do you know what shelter the dog came from?

WOW I saw that on the news and the first thing I thought was "I hope that doesnt happen at the daycare place." Then I see that it has, that sucks. Tank spent lots of hours there and they helped him get past his seperation issues, I hope it gets better for you Zoom.