There has been a lot in our local news this week about parvo. A subject I know all too well, we brought home a parvo puppy.
Bella was 8 weeks old when she came into our lives. Little Bella (she was only 4lbs) was fine for the first few hours she was home but then developed diarrhea. My first thought was it was the new food and didn’t think much about it but by the next day she only wanted to sleep and was refusing food and water. Luckily I already scheduled a well puppy visit for that afternoon.
Our wonderful vet Theresa Hetrick @ Burien Veterinary Hospital immediately suspected what was wrong with our little girl and a blood test confirmed it. Bella had parvo, she spent 3 days in isolation on IV fluids. We didn’t know if she was going to make it or not. To visit her we had to put on special clothing and step in a bleach bath so we would not spread the virus. She was so sick she could not even acknowledge we were there for the first 2 days, she couldn’t even lift her head, she was a very sick baby. On the third day she was able to lift her tail in a wag the first sign of improvement we saw and we were hopeful she would pull through.
I also have to mention this was a pet sitters / dog walker’s worst nightmare! Here I was with a sick parvo puppy and had to be very careful I didn’t spread this around. Bella was with us for 24 hours before we knew she was sick and it was possible that I could have spread the virus through my clothes and shoes. I immediately contacted all my clients to verify their dogs were up to date on their vaccines and thank goodness they were!
What did I do to prevent spreading parvo all over West Seattle, Burien, Normandy Park, Seatac and Des Moines WA? I started by controlling our home environment. Since parvo is spread through feces we had to monitor when Bella went and scoop immediately and then bleach the area. One problem was that during the first 24 hours we didn’t do this so our yard had been contaminated and once contaminated the virus can live for up to a year. The virus can also shed so I kept up the yard for 30 days then did one final all over bleaching of the house and yard. I also made sure all my clothes and shoes were Bella free when leaving for work each day. I even went as far as bleaching my car’s gas and brake pedals. This was a very long 30 days but worth it to keep from spreading anything to my clients or the community.
At Heart 2 Heart Pet Care our policy is that we will not walk or take puppies out of your yard until they have been fully vaccinated plus 2 weeks. This is to protect your puppies from catching this potentially fatal virus. I don’t wish that anyone go through what we did.
Our story has a happy ending! Bella is happy and healthy and didn’t suffer any side effects from her bout with parvo. She will be celebrating her 3rd birthday on 12/7.
For more info on parvovirus.