Most people know that puppy-proofing a house is important — it could mean the difference between a safe puppy and one being rushed to the vet.

But what you DON’T KNOW, could be even more critical.

Parvo in puppies.

When a puppy goes home at the age of 8 weeks, they have had their first full round of shots and worming. This includes the Parvo vaccine. A puppy must have all 3 rounds of the Parvo vaccine before they are allowed into public areas. One or two vaccination rounds are not adequate. Even after the full round of shots, some dogs continue to lack immunity to the virus and can fall ill to it later in life.

Read about it more in depth here:

What Every Puppy Owner Needs to Know About Parvo in Puppies

Many dog owners know that taking puppy out to the dog park to show them off is a no-no. But did you know that taking them for a walk down the sidewalk, taking them into the store, or having family over to visit can ALL expose your pup to Parvo?

Parvo is extremely contagious. In fact, it can survive several months, even up to a YEAR outside! A dog doesn’t have to come in contact with another dog to catch it. Simply walking through grass where another dog has been, on flat surfaces another dog has been, or family walking over these same areas then entering your home can all expose your puppy to the virus.

Your VACCINATED OLDER DOGS CAN PASS THE VIRUS ON.

This is a subject most health professionals don’t want to talk about . . . contamination from vaccinated dogs.

When most people think of a vaccine, they see it as a magical force field, bouncing nasty viruses away for good.

This simply is NOT the case.

A vaccine produces an ANTIBODY response in the body. It triggers the body’s natural system into fighting the vaccine and developing the appropriate antibodies so when a dog becomes exposed at a later time those antibodies are ready and waiting. As the virus enters the body, the body red-flags it as an intruder. The immune system kicks in to identify the intruder and sends out white blood cells to fight it. If the body already has the correct antibodies waiting, these are what it sends out to fight first.

IN the meantime, your dog is now also shedding that virus. He or she may show no signs, or minimal symptoms. But they are still potentially contagious.

RECENTLY VACCINATED DOGS ALSO POSE A HEALTH RISK!

For this reason the CDC warns that if a child is immune compromised, they should be quarantined when other family members receive vaccinations or booster shots . . . vaccinated family members are viewed as potentially contagious and able to infect others. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/immunocompetence.html

https://www.akcchf.org/canine-health/your-dogs-health/vaccines-and-vaccination.html#:~:text=Canine%20Parvovirus%20(CPV)%20Vaccine%3A,available%20because%20of%20poor%20efficacy.

SYMPTOMS/What To Look For

In puppies, watch for a lack of desire to run and play, more sleeping, lack of appetite and loose stools, possibly with clear liquid or blood. Collect a recent stool sample immediately and send to your vet for diagnosing.

Infection and symptom onset usually happens within 3-5 days of exposure, rarely more than 10 days after exposure to the virus. Often the source can be nearly impossible to track down since even a raccoon running through a fenced yard could have tracked it into your yard from a neighbor’s dog.

My Puppy Tested Positive For Parvo, What Can I Do?!

This is the hardest part. But stick with me, I’ve got you.

99% of vets will tell you THERE IS NO CURE. The only course of treatment are iv fluids and meds to control the vomiting and diarrhea.

They are not quite correct.

Whether it’s because there is very little profit in it, or because the treatments have been around for so long, or because they just plain don’t care to study it, doctors and vets DO NOT look into natural methods. Natural remedies are NOT actively studied. Why? Funding. There is absolutely no profit in it because plants CANNOT be patented. Medicine is 50% profit 50% desire to cure. Once you take the 50% profit out, the desire to cure is gone.

So how do we “cure” a Parvo puppy?

Lets break it down to WHAT Parvo does . . . it attacks the digestive system and intestines. If left unchecked it can begin to attack the bone marrow.

The digestive system is where the body’s first line of defense begins. This is a smart virus. By attacking this area of the body first, it opens the dog up to other invaders, which in turn continue to weaken the dog’s immune system, allowing the parvo virus to gain more control.

Luckily we can help quite easily if caught in time!

Step 1: no more dog food. Dog food is mostly crap anyway, so just put it away for a while.

Step 2: give puppy pro-bio tics and aloe vera juice. Mix both into a small bit water and syringe into his mouth. 2 teaspoons of the mix for every 5lbs of body weight. You could also use no salt beef or chicken broth to mix it into. The probiotics can be bought at most farm stores in a 1-5 lb jar. These are great for ANY ANIMAL including human and will last a LONG TIME. I use them on kids and animals with great results. Probitocs build healthy guts to help fight off bacteria and viruses. They help firm up lose poops! The aloe vera juice does as well, but has the added benefit of COATING THE DIGESTIVE TRACT and helping to prevent invading organisms from passing through these tissues and into the body. Aloe Vera Juice can be bought at most places that sell natural supplements or vitamins such as Meijer.

Step 3: Grapefruit Seed Extract (powder form). PLEASE NOTE: this is NOT “grape seed extract”. They are TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. Grapefruit seed extract is both an anti-viral and an antibacterial. It works to supercharge the gut when taken internally. It also claims to be an anti-parasitic, although I have not tested that yet. *(update: upon recent reflection I believe it helps prevent fleas, not sure how, but since feeding it off and on to the pets the last 3 months, we have had zero tapeworms in the cats and no fleas on cats or dogs!)

Your pup will need this 4x a day. Take a capsule and pull it apart and sprinkle a bit onto some food mix (I’ll go over the food mix in a second). The powder is bitter, but I haven’t had any critters turn it down yet.

Step 4: Food. The right food is critical. A puppy can go 4 days without food (from what I’ve read). But a bit of careful nutrition can help too. Canned babyfood in pumpkin, beef and chicken (preferred) are an easy way to feed meds. You can mix in purred peas or green beans too. Start out with 1 Tablespoon (per 5lbs of dog) of this mixed with the sprinkle of grapefruit seed extract, four times a day.

Step 5: You will need to administer meds for 10 days. After 4 days of the canned baby food, your puppy should be starting to feel much better and energy returning. His poops should be solid with no more blood or clear liquid/mucous. You can start to add the grapefruit seed extract powder over his dry puppy food. If he turns down the dry food you can mix a bit of the baby food over it and gradually wean him off. Continue feeding the probiotics in the water for the next month, changing it daily.

But what is my vet says I’m too late?!

Despite IV fluids and various injections from the vet, veterinary treatment MIGHT NOT WORK, and you’ve been told to wait for him or her to die at home. Now you find yourself HERE, looking for hope.

Believe me, I’ve BEEN IN YOUR SHOES. This next section is for YOU.

Step 1: Heat. It might sound overly obvious, but your pup at this point will be having trouble regulating their body temp, which is critical to fighting off infection. A red heat lamp over a box with a thermometer in it to check the temp will be enough. Temp should be 80-85 degrees F. Be careful though, heat lamps and heaters DO pose a fire hazard, so be sure nothing flammable is nearby and that nothing can knock your light or heater over. Heating pads CAN work IF you get the special kind for pets . . . human types often have internal timers and won’t let you keep them on all day. IF you choose to use a pet heater pad, be sure it doesn’t cover the whole area so the puppy can scoot to a cooler section if it gets too warm! You also may need to slightly cover the box to trap heat in if you use a pad.

Step 2: Meds. You will be using the SAME MEDS in the SAME DOSES as stated earlier, but a few more. Puppy should NOT be eating much for food at this stage. While they might be dying of malnutrition, they will also die from trying to digest that same food. Instead, get some rice baby food cereal (dry in the box) and some chicken broth (no sodium) and a tiny dab of pumpkin puree. You will mix the meds mentioned earlier into 1 teaspoon of cereal mixed with broth. It should be VERY runny. You will ALSO ADD 3 drops (for every 2 lbs of puppy) of Elderberry Syrup Extract (available from most stores that sell children’s cough syrup). You will also get a capsule of Turmeric and sprinkle a bit into it. In a pinch you can use the stuff in your pantry, but be sure it’s FRESH. Turmeric is a great anti-inflammatory and helps clean the blood. This mix will be fed to puppy EVERY HOUR.

IF PUPPY CANNOT SWALLOW YOU WILL NEED TO TUBE FEED.

Tube feeding sucks, straight up. It’s NOT FUN, but it WORKS. As long as the puppy’s internal organs have not shut down, this SHOULD BE THE WINNING TICKET to get your pup back up and running.

You can find videos and articles on how to tube feed a puppy online.

Keep a careful watch on your puppy’s stomach, and maybe even use a flexible tape measure to track the girth to see if your food has been digested and absorbed. It’s very easy to overfeed a puppy when using a tube since they cannot tell you “no more”. You might also try to feed every 2 hours instead of every hour.

After 6 feedings your puppy should start to perk up. Once she starts lapping the food out of a dish you can begin adding extra rice cereal to make it thicker and a TINY bit of baby food chicken. Not much though as protein is harder to digest.

Continue to offer every 1-2 hours for the first 24 hrs, this INCLUDES THE NIGHT. After the first 24 hours you can move to larger feedings at a rate of every 3 hours, gradually adding more chicken into the mix along with peas or beans, and no nighttime feedings.

After 2 days you can feed every 4 hours and begin to transition into thicker and more solid food (puppy food) AS LONG AS STOOLS LOOK NORMAL. Continue rate of meds are stated earlier.

Please leave a comment if you’ve been through this with your puppy! I have had luck doing similar treatment on 4 day old pups with distemper, so I CAN SAY IT WORKS.