Parvo Treatment - Symptoms And Options
The Canine Parvovirus, that is usually just referred to as Parvo, is a viral infection that attacks dogs (although other animals may also get it, including cats, ferrets, raccoons, along with other small mammals, for example).
Parvo treatment
There are two main types of Parvo - cardiac and intestinal, which is the intestinal form that is much more common.
Parvo Symptoms
The main symptoms of Parvo are:
• not eating / lack of appetite
• lethargy / lack of playfulness
• not drinking
• dehydration
• diarrhea (often bloody and more often than not foul-smelling)
• vomiting (either an off-white egg-white consistency, or frothy and yellow)
• depression
• fever or chills
Although people associate Parvo with diarrhea, this is usually not the first sign of Parvo - what you typically see first are the behavioural symptoms, such as losing interest in food, hesitant to play either with you or his favourite toys, and maybe not drinking.
The diarrhea and vomiting then follow shortly thereafter.
It is important to note, however, that does not all dogs show the suggestions above symptoms (e.g. not all dogs get a fever), and that they may not appear in exactly the same order.
You also have to realise that Parvo is not just a puppy virus - even adult dogs can get it, regardless of whether they’ve been vaccinated or otherwise. (We know of one 14-year old dog that got Parvo, and that dog had been regularly vaccinated for that first 12 many years of its life.)
Parvo Treatment
So, in case your dog has Parvo (i.e. it has been confirmed with a positive Parvo test) or he is exhibiting the above symptoms, you will want to spring into action immediately, because the one thing you do not have with Parvo is time.
The latest strains, especially 2c, are unbelievably aggressive, and dogs happen to be known to die within hours of the first bout of diarrhea.
For this reason it’s crucial to look for the non-physical symptoms like the lack of appetite and the lethargy, as these are really good clues that something is seriously wrong. In the end, how many dogs do you know that turn their nose up at food?
So, what Canine Parvovirus treatment options do you have?
Most people will take their dog towards the vet, as this is what individuals have been “trained” (or brainwashed) to do, but this is what our thousands of customers have been telling us:
Parvo treatment
• You can expect the cost of treatment for Parvo to be anywhere from high to extortionate. In the USA, your bill might be anywhere from $500 USD to in excess of $12,000 USD - and that’s just for one animal.
• You will likely be quoted a success rate of about 50%, which means your dog is equally as likely to die as it is to survive. A few vets will go as high as 80% (but not many), although some go as low as 20%.
• Vets’ Parvo treatment will contain IV fluids (which is basically salty water), antibiotics (the side-effects of which are often the same as Parvo, such as vomiting and diarrhea, that is clearly not what you would like), anti-emetics (more chemicals to supposedly assist in preventing vomiting, although vomiting more may be a side-effect), and they may even suggest (or insist upon) blood transfusions (which are very expensive, and one is not usually enough).
• A few vets will provide liquid nutrition (in the USA, this may be a product such as CliniCare), but the vast majority do nothing to address the real risk of hypoglycemia (i.e. a drop in blood sugar levels that is especially dangerous and frequently fatal for really young and/or really tiny dogs).
But there is another option for how to treat Parvo, and one that your vet probably won’t even mention, and that is…
Home Remedies For Parvo In Dogs
Yes, Parvo may be treatable successfully at home, without any specialised training, without any specialist equipment, and without needing to stick needles into your sick pet.
Here's what we would expect with a decent home Parvo Treatment Kit, again, according to our extensive experience:
• A cost that's around $200 USD, and that may treat several animals (up to 50, in fact), based on their weight.
• A success rate that is about 90% (provided that people follow the detailed Parvo treatment plan to the letter).
• Safe, home remedies that address both dehydration (check out our ParvoBuster Emergency Tea Recipe) and hypoglycemia.
• No adverse side-effects, because the products are chemical-free and 100% natural.
Conclusion
Parvo is an extremely nasty virus, and it’s getting worse all the time. Even if you only suspect your pet might have been infected (because there are other reasons, of course, for dogs vomiting and having diarrhea), our policy is when it looks like Parvo, then you should treat it as if it were Parvo, because you really cannot afford to waste any time.
Why would you want to sit there and watch your pet die before your very eyes, whenever you could (and should) do all you can to get him better - after all, he can’t do it by himself, which is why he relies on you to do what’s best for him.
As strong believers in natural remedies, we obviously would recommend the Parvo treatment at home option - it’s safe, effective, affordable, and also you won’t be making a bad situation worse by clogging your gutters sick pet up with chemicals (and all of their consequent side-effects).
Concerning the Authors
Rae & Mark have been running ParvoBuster (part of Friends Of The Planet, Inc.) since 2007, and during that time have amassed an abundance of knowledge and experience in successfully treating Parvo at home (4,251 dogs and counting), helping pet owners both in the USA as well as in many other countries all over the world.
Parvo treatment
