PARVO~ What To Do in an Outbreak
Parvo Prevention Plan:Our goal is to keep the immunity high and the wild virus numbers low. That prevents Parvo breaks! If you have a Parvo break, call us! We can help with a Game Plan to shut it down quickly.
When Parvo Happens:
- Vaccinate - 50% of prevention is giving the Parvo vaccine early. When they start eating gruel, it is time to start Parvo-only vaccines.
- Revival recommends vaccinating:
- Puppies - Start when they begin eating food and every two weeks until nine weeks of age. Booster at 12 & 16 weeks if you keep tehm back for replacements
- Breeding Females & Males - annual boosters
- Revival recommends vaccinating:
- Disinfect - Is the other 50% of prevention. Penetrating disinfectant is a must! Bleach will sterilize the surface, but will not go through smeared feces or fat to get the virus underneath.
- Trifectant®, Virkon, and OXINE® (with citric acid) are penetrating disinfectants. They are safe around young puppies. Bleach and quaternary ammonias like Roccal®-D Plus are absorbed through thin skin of puppies and are a cause of Fading Puppy Syndrome.
- Isolate - For 3 weeks, isolate incoming breeding stock or returning puppies! We treat them like they have the plague!
When Parvo Happens:
- Isolate – If you have an area to isolate a sick puppy do so! If not, do not move healthy animals around the kennel or to another kennel! You just spread the disease. Try and isolate to just the building where it started.
- Take Care of Healthy Puppy's First – Then move to the sick ones. Do not go back to the healthy puppies without strict disinfection and if Parvo is the issue, change clothes! Coveralls that are removed after care and washing your hands will go a long way to stopping the spread. Hand disinfectants take too long – don’t rely on just them. Be certain you’re using a penetrating disinfectant to kill Parvo virus. Bleach won’t cut it in an outbreak! Trifectant® spray and shoe bath is good.
- Booster – Give a Parvo only vaccine to every puppy over 4 weeks immediately and booster every two weeks.
- Give Electrolytes – All kennel puppies go on electrolytes in water. You want to hydrate any puppy thinking of getting sick. RE-SORB® in one gallon of water is economical to use. Always keep RE-SORB® packets in your kennel for use when needed.
- Fluids save the puppy from death! Parvo puppies do not drink and are losing liquid from the diarrhea and vomiting. Without injectable fluids they die! We like saline and it is available, non-script, in 500cc bottles. You have to give SQ fluids at least, but IP or IV fluids are faster and better. Ask and we can explain the technique.
- Start with 5cc/lb shock dose of fluids to catch them up. Then follow with 5cc/lb, twice a day, plus add what is lost in vomiting and diarrhea. 2 Tbsp of diarrhea is 30cc of fluid. You can add antibiotics (Tylan®100mg/500cc), but don't pill a nauseated puppy.
- You can add Dextrose 50% to make no more than a 10% solution for injection. We like a 2% (20cc of 50% dextrose & 500cc of saline), but up to 100cc of added 50% Dextrose is OK for fluid injection.
- Reglan – script product – stops the vomiting or use one of the many others. Your veterinarian can help you. Reglan 0.5mg/lb, every 8 hours is the dose we try and get in. Reglan is given to effect, but 1cc in 500cc saline usually does it. Injectable is currently difficult to get.
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