Parvo! Advice needed.

[colsen4nc]

Sorry if this is long, but I want to get all the details in because I am worried!

My husband and I adopted a puppy from a rescue on Saturday and by Sunday he became sick and was diagnosed with parvo. He spent about 24 hours at the animal hospital, then the vet called and said he is doing great and drinking water and keeping down food so he is okay to come home. Well, he ate great when we brought him home that night and the next morning (eating food prescribed by the vet), but then started refusing to eat, but would drink water and was not vomiting or anything. That evening I decided to try and give him a little of his hard puppy food to see if he would eat that and he did. He then ate about 1/4- 1/3 cup of plain chicken and rice with a tiny bit of puppy food mixed in. A few hours later he vomited, so we took him back to the vet. The vet said he may have just been irritated by the dry puppy food and he was slightly dehydrated. She gave us a bag of fluid to inject once a day to keep him hydrated.... SO here we are now today (day 4 since dx), he has not wanted to eat, but drank some water. My husband gave him 3 pieces of the dry food mixed with his soft food just to see if he would eat it, and he picked out the hard food to eat. We don't want to give any more of the dry food though as we don't want to upset his stomach. The vet also gave us anti-nausea meds to help. What are some things we can offer him to eat that will be gentle on his stomach. We've tried the chicken and rice so far. I'm planning to get some lean ground beef and try that. What about yogurt or I saw they have goats milk for puppies at Pet Smart.

One more thing...if anyone's been through this and can offer any other advice or words of encouragement, I would appreciate it!

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Oh, I am so sorry. Parvo is a nasty disease and is so hard to go through.

I happen to think it's great that the vet let your pup come home after only 24 hours! To me, that sounds very optimistic. Buddy had parvo as a pup and he was in the ICU for a week. It was a long, hard, week.

With that said... what about some pedialyte? There is also a vet's version that is chicken flavored, I think. I don't recall the name right now, it's been a long time.

I didn't try it myself, as I didn't know about it then, but Amber Technology makes Parvaid, which is supposed to aid in the support to get over parvo. Some people really swear by it, you can do some google searches, etc.. Since parvo can only be treated symptomatically it may be worth a shot.

As far as the kibble.. if you moisten it a little, will your pup eat it? Make it just soft enough? I suspect the vet gave you/recommended canned food because the kibble may be too rich for your pup, but maybe you can add some rice or something?

Just throwing out random ideas- I wish you the best of luck!

 

[colsen4nc]

Thank-you for your advice. It really is an ordeal to go through! We just gave him some Esbilac milk replacer and he lapped that right up. We also cooked some lean ground beef and he ate a little of that and drank some water. We are just praying he keeps it down. I've read about the Parvaid. Maybe we will try it if he doesn't improve.

 

[grab01]

I would stay away from anything dairy (yogurt, goats milk, etc)..you really just want bland things. I'd probably stay away from the milk replacer too, in case it's too rich. Try soaking his kibble to see if he'll eat that. If he's vomiting frequently, I'd fast him for another 24 hours so you don't end up with a vicious cycle of eating/vomiting and having an irritated stomach. The bland diets are helpful as you want to give their systems a rest while they heal. You might try the dry version of the low residue food (what I assume the vet prescribed). There are dry versions available, and if he likes dry food more, he might eat that better. Good luck

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

I strongly recommend you immediately get some powerful digestive aids for him. Nature's Farmacy makes a very good one.

also Slippery Elm Powder, available at most health food stores, is a very good gut soother, and is impossible to overdose. Most dogs like the taste of it too.

If you are going to use it, I would GRIND the kibble and soak it in the pedialyte until its completely soft.

Things made for babies can be good too, to start back. Flaked baby cereal with low sodium broth and/or pedialyte, and other baby foods can also be good.

Foods served at body temperature are also best with dealing with a healing gut.

Hope he's feeling better soon.