Wake Up And Smell The Parvo!

If there’s one common theme that we can see in many of the 850+ customers we’ve worked with over the past two years, it’s this: dog owners don’t seem to appreciate 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 is frequently 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 dog owners 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 you noticed that your dog skipped even one meal, wouldn’t you be concerned that something might 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 eager 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, provided you’re observant, of course) should be a massive, red warning sign.

Unfortunately, there is such a lot of bad advice around about Parvo that a lot of dog owners are understandably but ill-advisedly complacent.

People feel safe because:

• Their dog has had all of its vaccinations (including boosters). Here’s the reality: Parvo shots are not effective against the 2c strain (which is why we are seeing more and more customers with fully-vaccinated adult dogs still getting Parvo and, if they’re not treated, dying), and your dog may even develop full-blown Parvo symptoms (especially if your dog was vaccinated after he’s been infected, which is about the worst thing you can do).
• They have an adult dog, and everybody knows that Parvo only affects puppies. Oops, wrong again! It is true that Parvo still infects puppies more than adults, but we have also observed, after dealing with over 850 cases of Parvo, that an increasing number of adult dogs are getting this virus too. If this sounds like a broken record, then we’re not making any apologies, but vaccinations do not work like they used to - the 2c strain is simply too virulent and most vaccines on the market today are only effective against the older 2a and 2b strains (and that’s not to mention the long-term issues with all vaccinations, which most vets won’t tell you about).
• They take their dog to the vet’s to have it tested, and the test comes back negative, so they do nothing. 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 is another example of how the medical profession has not caught up with the development of the Parvovirus - you think your dog is OK, when in fact he does have Parvo, and that leads to your doing nothing while the virus quietly launches its attack on your dog’s body (mainly the immune system and his intestinal tract) for several days until, suddenly, you see symptoms.
• Their dog never goes outside, so it can’t get Parvo. Sorry to burst this balloon as well, but one of the most common reasons why dogs who are confined to living indoors all of the time get Parvo is because it is their owners (or breeders) who give it to them! It’s true, you can walk this virus into your house without even knowing it (or transmit it via your hands or clothes). This is 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 up-to-date and accurate 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?

This actually highlights another major issue to do with Parvo: many dog owners have never heard of Parvo (until their vet tells them that’s why their dog is sick), which means they don’t know what to look out for. Even more amazing, to us, is that we come across many breeders who know nothing about this virus either. For people in the doggie business, this is basic knowledge that you simply should have!

Well, the good news is that we have put together a free, 100+ page ebook all about Parvo, called Parvo Treatment 101, that you can download to your computer in minutes.

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.

However, if your dog is already sick (i.e. a vet has confirmed that he has the Parvovirus, or he shows any of the classic symptoms, or even if you know he’s been exposed within the past few days), then you don’t have time to read this book now - you need to administer Parvo treatment as soon as possible, because there’s one thing you don’t have with this virus, and that is time. You can always read our free book later, once your dog is stabilized, or better.

We hope that you found this article both interesting and useful, and if it helps you save your dog’s life, even better. However, we do have a load more information about Parvo treatment for you, which is in addition to what’s in our free book.

We’d like to close by encouraging all dog owners to at least be educated about just how devastating this virus can be, and about the treatment options that are available (because contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to take your dog to the vet’s and spend anywhere from $500 USD to over $10,000 USD, with a mere 50% success rate, because safe, effective, inexpensive Parvo home remedies are available), 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 who might need it, and there’s nothing better 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.