There is one common thread that unites many of the 850+ customers we’ve worked with during the past two years, and this is it: people don’t seem to comprehend just how aggressive and fast-acting the Parvo virus is.
You can go to bed one night, with a perfectly healthy-looking, happy dog, and wake up in the morning to a very sick one – and, yes, the title of this article is not just a play on a popular expression, because Parvo has an unmistakable smell, as the diarrhea, which can often be one of the first symptoms you’ll see with the latest 2c strain of this virus, is absolutely disgusting and unlike anything else you may have experienced before.
As an example, one of our customers, in the Pacific Northwest, noticed that their dog was sick with Parvo on a Sunday morning, and later that very same day, in the late afternoon, it had already died.
Even when this virus doesn’t claim your dog’s life quite so quickly, too many people sit around for day after day, watching their dog suffer, and doing nothing about it, because they reckon they have time.
But nothing could be further from the truth!
You know what dogs are like – most of them, if not all, absolutely love their food, so if your dog stopped eating, for as little as one day, wouldn’t you be concerned that something could be seriously wrong?
All of our dogs are, thank goodness, healthy (although we do live in the worst state for Parvo), but even on those rare occasions when one of them does throw up, they are ready to eat again just minutes later, so a dog that’s off his food for even a few hours (which is often the very first sign you’ll see that your dog has Parvo, assuming that you’re observant, of course) should be a big, red warning sign.
The sad thing is, there is such a lot of misinformation about Parvo that a lot of dog owners are lulled into a false sense of security.
People think they’re safe because:
- Their dog has had all of its vaccinations (including boosters). Here’s the reality: Parvo vaccinations are not effective against the 2c strain (which is why many of our customers are finding that even their adult dogs are being infected, and dying, from this virus, even though they’ve had all of their vaccinations), and your dog may even develop full-blown Parvo symptoms (particularly if your dog is given his shot after he’s been infected, which is about the worst possible thing you can ever do).
- They have an adult dog, and everybody knows that Parvo only affects puppies. Sorry, wrong again! Parvo may still primarily be a puppy illness, but more and more adult dogs are getting it now as well. If this sounds like a broken record, then we’re not making any apologies, but vaccinations do not work like they used to – the latest 2c strain of Parvo is just too strong and most vaccines on the market today are only effective against the older 2a and 2b strains (and that’s besides the long-term issues with all vaccinations, which most vets keep quiet about).
- They try to do the right thing by having their dog tested for Parvo at the vet’s, but do nothing because the test comes back negative. Reality check time again: the 2c strain of Parvo is well-known for generating a false-negative result, and this particularly applies to the in-clinic stool sample tests that are very popular these days. This means that although you are told your dog does not have Parvo, he actually does, and that leads to more days of inaction while your dog is getting sicker and sicker.
- Their dog never goes outside, so it can’t get Parvo. This is another myth, as one of the most common reasons that dogs who are confined to living indoors all of the time get Parvo is because they get it from their owners / breeders! Yes, people walk this virus into their house without realizing it (or take it in on their clothes or hands). That’s why we always recommend that people (including visitors) change their shoes whenever they go indoors.
So, with so many myths floating around, not to mention bad advice, where can you go to get accurate and up-to-date information that you can use, knowing that, rather than harming your dog and making matters worse, it will actually increase his chances of surviving this most devastating of viruses?
Because another problem we see all the time is that people have never even heard of Parvo – until their dog gets it, of course – and, somewhat amazingly, we even come across people who breed dogs commercially who don’t know what Parvo is. For people in the doggie business, this is basic knowledge that you simply should have!
Well, you’ll be glad to know that we have put together a 100+ page ebook all about Parvo, called Parvo Treatment 101, that you can download to your computer in minutes – and the best part is that it’s 100% free.
This is an excellent place to start, as it contains practically everything you need to know about this virus, including the symptoms to look out for, treatment options, and much more.
If your dog is already sick, however, and by that, we mean that a vet has confirmed that your dog does have Parvo, or he shows one or more of the standard Parvo symptoms, or even if you believe or know that he was exposed to the virus within the last two or three days, then you should delay reading this book, because you need to administer Parvo treatment immediately, because the one thing you don’t have with this virus is time. Although this book contains a lot of useful information, you would be far better reading it once your dog is successfully treated.
Well, we hope you have found this article useful – it may even save your precious dog’s life – but we have a load more Parvo treatment information available for you, over and above what’s in our free book.
If nothing else, we hope we’ve inspired you to find out more about this devastating virus, and about the treatment options that are available (you don’t have to take your dog to the vet and part with anywhere from $500 USD to over $10,000 USD, with a mere 50% success rate, because inexpensive, safe, effective Parvo home remedies do exist), so please, if you know anybody with a dog, then do forward this article, and/or our free book, on to them – you just never know when they might might need it, and there’s no better feeling than knowing that you’ve helped to save somebody’s family pet from an excruciatingly painful death from probably the most devastating doggie virus there is.
