Parvo Treatment Options

You have four options if your dog has Parvo, the advantages and disadvantages of which are fully discussed below:

1. Euthanise your dog.


2. Do nothing.


3. Take your dog to the vet's (or animal hospital).


4. Treat your dog at home, yourself.

Euthanise Your Dog

This option is basically killing your dog before you give him a chance to get better, and you will therefore not be surprised to hear that we do not recommend this option - ever.

The only advantage to this option is that it does put your dog out of its misery, and we do appreciate that it is very difficult to see your beloved pet in pain and in such a sorry state, and understand why people might wish to consider this option.

The biggest disadvantage of this option is, of course, that you are giving your dog a zero chance of survival - even if he may have made a complete 180 turnaround with the appropriate treatment, you are denying him this opportunity.

Remember too that this is not a zero-cost option - your vet will most likely charge you to put your dog to sleep (our customers have told us that fees from $300 USD to $500 USD are not uncommon, although it may cost less than this, of course).

On top of that, there may also be costs associated with the disposal of your dog - cremation is often recommended, as a way to kill the virus that will still be alive in your dog's body.

You need to be aware that many vets will recommend this option if you can't (or won't) pay their often exorbitant fees, or if there is blood in the diarrhea / stools.

One vet we came across said that 75% of his clients chose to kill their dogs when they couldn't pay his bills, and yet a large proportion of those dogs may well have lived if treated using safe, herbal products.

You should also note that blood in the stools is definitely not a sign that your dog is going to die no matter what you do - most of the dogs we have helped treat (over 3,500 cases at the time of writing) have gone through this bloody diarrhea phase, and yet we have been able to save the vast majority of them.

Do Nothing

This option is a sort of "let's see what happens and hope for the best" approach, and, needless to say, we don't recommend this option either.

It is potentially the lowest cost option, as you're effectively not paying for any treatment at all.

First and foremost, you need to know that 80% of dogs that go untreated will die within four to five days.

The bad news is that these statistics relate to the older 2a and 2b strains of Parvo, which are still out there and infecting dogs; the latest 2c strain is even more aggressive, with some dogs dying in as little as five hours after symptoms first appear.

To give you an example, we had a customer in the state of Washington whose dog showed the very first symptoms on a Sunday morning, and by later that same afternoon, it was already dead.

Should your dog not make it, which is highly likely, then you will be faced with the costs and/or effort of disposing of him (in a safe and responsible manner).

You shouldn't underestimate the emotional trauma of simply sitting there and doing nothing while your previously healthy dog withers away and dies, in great pain, before your very eyes.

You wouldn't do this with your children (we hope), so why would you put your family pet through it either?

Take Your Dog To The Vet's

This is, of course, the most popular course of action, because animal owners are trained to do this, just as most humans' first reaction when they get sick is to go to see a traditionally-trained doctor.

Veterinary care can be the best option if you have the disposable income to pay their bills, or if you are unable to stay home for several days to take care of your sick dog.

From speaking to our many hundreds of customers, most vets will quote you anywhere from $500 USD to over $12,000 USD to treat a dog that has Parvo, and that cost is for each sick dog - where an entire litter is infected (and we see this happen all too frequently), these costs may be multiplied many times over.

Even a simple Parvo test and a vaccine cost one of our customers $250 (and although the test came back negative, the dog did actually have Parvo - and was successfully treated at home using safe, chemical-free products and a lot of TLC).

Secondly, and again based on what our customers are telling us, most vets will only offer you a 50% chance that your dog will survive. A few vets will go as high as 80%, with some going as low as 20%, and one vet we know of said that he had never managed to save a dog that had Parvo.

If you leave your dog at the vet's (or animal hospital) overnight, or for several days, then it will be a very stressful situation: he may be left alone for many hours at a time, he may be surrounded by other sick animals, and he will be in a strange environment with strange people,

All of this stress will increase the time it takes him to recover from the Parvo, if indeed he does, and it may hasten his death.

It will also be more stressful for you, as you'll be constantly worrying about how he's doing, and you may also be faced with frequent trips to the vet's office to see how he is. Given that you'll be worried, with your mind on other things, your chance of having some form of accident will also be increased as a result.

Many of the vets we've heard about, and the procedures they use, do not appear to be up-to-date with the Parvo virus:

• The vaccines they still insist on using are becoming increasingly ineffective against the 2c strain, which is why we are seeing more and more fully-vaccinated dogs, including both puppies and adults (as old as 14) still getting Parvo.


• The Parvo tests they do in the clinic, which use stool samples, can generate false-negatives in the case of the 2c strain, which is dangerous as you then think your dog is OK when in fact he's not, and all you're doing is wasting valuable time.


• They will often give Parvo shots / booster shots to dogs that have been exposed to the virus (i.e. the virus is in their system but they're not showing symptoms yet), or even to dogs that do exhibit symptoms, which is about the worst thing you can do to a dog that has Parvo - it can kill a dog in as little as five hours. All the Parvo shot does is to send in more troops to join the Parvo army, as well as weakening, or even eliminating, your puppy's already-compromised immune system.


• The treatment protocols they use are still largely based on the older 2a and 2b strains, which are, in most cases, insufficient to deal with the 2c strain. Whereas IV fluids and antibiotics used to work in many situations, these are nowhere near enough now. Many vets may not give your dog any anti-nausea or anti-vomiting medication (and if they do, it will, of course, be chemical-based), and almost none of them address the hypoglycemia that most Parvo puppies suffer from, and which is, in our experience, a huge killer of sick dogs.

Some vets simply refuse to treat dogs that have Parvo (e.g. because it requires a lot of additional effort, in terms of clean-up, for example, they may need to pay somebody to stay with the dogs overnight, or because of the risk of contaminating other dogs that are currently healthy - we've had at least two customers whose dog caught Parvo at the vet's).

Some vets are not as caring as you might expect them to be, and can take a very callous attitude. For example, we've had a customer who took their sick dog to the vet's, and were not told that it had died until two days afterwards.

As stated above, some vets are all too eager to recommend euthanasia, and because many people trust their vet (as they trust anybody in a position of assumed authority), they agree, without stopping to ask or find out if there are other treatment options that are more effective or more affordable. (And because most vets know nothing about treating your dog at home using safe, herbal products, all they can recommend is murdering your dog, or euthanasia as they like to call it.)

Treat Your Dog At Home, Yourself

The fourth option, and the one we would always recommend to begin with, is to administer a set of safe, herbal products that are designed to help treat the Parvo virus and its accompanying symptoms at home.

The products you would need, which is based not only on our own extensive experience but also on the manufacturer's minimum requirements, are as follows:

1. Parvaid, which is designed to alleviate vomiting and diarrhea, repair the damage done by the Parvo virus, and stimulate the dog's appetite.


2. Vibactra Plus, which is both a natural antibiotic and an anti-parasitic. As an antibiotic, it will kill secondary infections (in the same way that prescription antibiotics will, except being chemical-free, there are no side-effects), and according to the manufacturer, the herbs it contains are proven to kill viruses. As an anti-parasitic, it will get rid of most common parasites (e.g. Coccidia, Giardia), but not heartworms (there is a separate product for that, called HWF, or HeartWorm Free), in a much gentler way than the harsh chemicals in traditional dewormers such as Panacur.


3. Life Cell Support, which is both an immune system booster - required as the Parvo virus attack the dog's immune system - and a detox agent, helping to eliminate junk from the dog's body.


4. Adizone, which was originally designed to alleviate the pain felt by older dogs who suffer from joint pain and arthritis, but because this product is helpful in reducing inflammation of any kind, as well as the pain this causes, it turns out that it's also very useful when treating dogs that have Parvo, as this virus now causes intestinal inflammation too.


5. Pet's Pain Formula, which will reduce the fever that many Parvo dogs have, and relieve the pain that all dogs with Parvo suffer from - the virus basically shreds their intestines, so you probably don't need us to tell you how painful that must be.

The first of these products, Parvaid, was launched in 1997, and there have been no reported side-effects in all that time.

In fact, they are all very safe products, when used correctly, and have a very high success rate, especially when used in conjunction with other vital pre-treatment home remedies.

A success rate of 90% is achievable, provided that people have the right attitude, a large amount of determination, the physical stamina to keep to the aggressive dosage schedule, and the ability and willingness to follow the instructions to the letter.

Almost as importantly, to many people, is the cost - you can treat a dog of any weight, from a Chihuahua puppy to an adult Italian Mastiff, for $200 USD or less (plus the cost of shipping, if you order online). Depending on the size of your dogs, as the dosage is based on their weight, you may even be able to treat multiple dogs for less than $140 USD.

Because you will be treating your dog at home, both he and you will feel less stressed, and it's been proven that reduced stress does increase the chance of recovery, and in a faster time too.

When buying these products, you do need to make sure that you can get expert help and support whenever you need it, since although home treatment can be very effective, every dog is different and adjustments to the standard treatment protocols can be required. Treating your dog at home can be a bit overwhelming, you may feel on your own, so having somebody who can answer your questions and provide moral support is crucial.

The one big downside to home treatment is that you will need to administer something to your sick dog every single hour, day and night, for several days, both before you begin using the herbal products (i.e. the pre-treatment phase), and for two days once you start the main treatment phase.

Needless to say, this is very tiring, and if you are by yourself, can turn you into a zombie after several days of this. All we can say is that the rewards of seeing your sick dog getting better, and knowing that it was you that did it, more than makes up for the lack of rest - after all, you can catch up on your sleep later, when your dog's recovered.

The required treatment schedule can also be a problem if you are unable to get time off work.

Conclusion

For some (i.e. those who are not already committed to a chemical-free life style), this option can require a leap of faith. You may face ridicule from your vet, your family, your friends, etc., but unless they have actually used the correct set of products with the correct treatment plan and supporting home remedies and still had an unsuccessful outcome, they are merely stating opinion and not fact, and you should therefore not be dissuaded from taking the best course of action for your sick pet.

Remember, this is your dog and you need to do what's best for him, regardless of what anybody else may say or think. While we strongly believe in the efficacy of treating your Parvo dog at home, we also belief that if it's your dog that's sick, then it's your choice - we just want to make sure you have as much information as possible so that the choice you make will be an informed one.