Parvo puppy from shelter, advice/opinions

ScentHound

I recently picked up an awesome female Redbone Coonhound from a ASPCA shelter about 2 hours from me. I had her for one day and noticed some of the symtoms, but passed it off as stress related issues. The next day she started to throw up her food, so I took her to the doggy ER. I already knew what the Vet was going to tell me, but I had some hope. She threw a strong positive for the parvo virus. She spent the night there and was rehydrated, and watched. The next morning I took her to my normal Vet, where I hospitalized her to give her the best chances for recovery. I picked her up today and she is on the road to recovery and looking like she will be one of the survivors. She is eating like a horse, and annoying my poor old Beagle. I decided to NOT bring her back to the shelter simply because she deserved a chance to live just like those puppys that have had owners from the time they left the breeders. It was expensive but well worth it.

Is there any action that can be taken toward the shelter to insure that this doesn't happen to someone who else? I have contemplated calling them to inform them, but am waiting until I can talk to them in a civilized tone.

I also read that 80-90 percent of all shelters/hospitals/rescues have or have had some form of Parvo virus infection, but I would think that an ASPCA shelter would have higher standards then the others.

ScentHound

Sorry about the grammer, and spelling. I had not had my morning coffee at that point.

Mikey

LOL no worries about sp/gr Welcome to the forum!

My parents had the same thing with their first dog -Max-not parvo but distempter. Unfortunately it's very common for shelters to have outbreaks of these highly communicable diseases-there are too many animals in there. I know that they feel like they should have gone after the shelter after all they went through (he survived it)
Also our dog Mikey was born with Parvo and had a rough time of it.

Anyways -first and foremost get on the horn with the shelter-and ask to speak to supervisor/manager not the busy/stressed clerk who answers the phone. Ensure they know your dog had parvo confirmed and it came from their facility (the dog was not exposed after leaving). This is really really important as they need to know to be able to start early treatment (and often a full shelter cleanse etc).

I'm so glad your pup is recovering-there is a high fatality associated with Parvo and as I understand it takes a very good vet and very early intervention to make it -KUDOS and WOOT!

ScentHound

In about 30 minutes I am going to call the shelter and either drop a bombshell on them or confirm something they already knew. We shall see.

ScentHound

Just called them and informed them about the Parvo. They had absolutely no clue. In fact, the lady I talked to dropped the phone when I said that Missy was well into her exposure before I picked her up. They are going to cleanse the Kennel and have the rest checked for the disease. This is not an insult to anyone volunteering or working at a shelter, but one would think that it would be ideal to hire people that know something about the animals they care for (i.e. common contagions, diseases, poison, etc.). Let's hope that Missy was the only one and they don't have to put any of the dogs to sleep. I know they won't spend the amount of money I did.

Criosphynx

how old is your pup?

personally...if I adopt a dog under a year old from a shelter, I always know that parvo is a risk..and I just accept that risk.

Parvo incubates for almost two weeks, its possible there were no symptoms for the workers TO see.

...most shelters tho, allow you to return a sick dog, in exchange for a new one....not that that helps.

Mikey

I'm SO glad you phoned them!! You may have just saved some lives! (Even if not shelter dogs if they do have to euthanize-and those you saved from suffering-but other dogs they may expose to in the shelter or if they adopted them out and exposed other dogs!!)

I know how you feel. Definitely their may have been no symptoms and sometimes, there are just TOO many animals to keep them protected. Vaccines take a while to take effect so even if they vaccinate when they walk in the door-it's still not full proof. As well, many shelters require/allow people to bring in their dogs from home (or other pets) if they are adopting-so that's a potential exposure, especially since they just can't check vet records for every pet who walks in the door with owners.

ScentHound

I do expect with a pup her age (3 months) that there is a possibility of Parvo, but I also expect a shelter with an ASPCA endorsement to be under better standards. I saw the symptoms almost immediately. My Vet also said that the viral count from the fecal was consistent with a pup that was well into the stages of full blown Parvo. One other sign that she was showing at the shelter was the simple nature of the shape she was in. Her sister was also at the shelter. She looked well fed where as Missy was thin, almost like she had not eaten much for a while. Although, she seems to have a mild form of the virus, so the signs could have been so slight that they were missed.

She is a little down this morning but still ate very well. She did hack a couple of times, but it was no where near as violent as in the beginning. A little like she ate to fast, combined with the meds made her hack. She is starting to eat some dry food also. She is on Antibiotics, and an anti-nausea medication to help. It has been about 4-5 days, so I am hoping she is through the worse of it.

pawzaddict

I gotta agree with Crio on this one, I have seen a dog get parvo and symptoms came on SUDDENLY. Shelters are also so full right now and it is hard to keep each individual dog/cat/exotic under close watch. Also most of the people who work at shelters are volunteers not employees. It is very frustrating to deal with it, that is understandable. These dogs sometimes come in off the street and get adopted out within a day or two, not enough time by any means for a serious disease to be caught. It sucks but like Crio said, you kind of have to just accept the possibility of a rescue dog from a shelter being sick. Hope your little girl gets better

Mikey

Scenthound-In canada (I'm not sure about the U.S.) -there is absolutely (sit down for this) NO regulations about using SPCA or Humane Society in any shelters name. In fact we have 13 Humane Societies in my province and ONLY one is 'accredited' to have the name.

I can't say that's the case where you are-but often shelters can call themselves whatever they want and it has no bearing on their practices