Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How To Treat Parvovirus in Dogs

A fella down in central Texas discovered this at the tailend of a bad dose of parvo in the sixties.It was widely circulated back then but after a few decades of no parvo,it sorta got forgotten.I lost a good young gyp to parvo and had two more pups exposed about ten years ago.
The two pups-6 month old littermates- were throwing up and already had bloody stools.Thats the accepted death sentence sign;the dark runny bowel movement with the awful parvo smell.
Jake,a friend of mine who raises greyhounds for the track,called me at 9 o'clock at night.He had remembered the cure! I applied it and by next morning the pups were frisky as ever.They both went on to make good dogs with no after effects from the parvo or the treatment.Here is what you do:

Mix one ounce of Clorox bleach in eight ounces of water.Use a syringe and get as much of it down him as you can.He may throw some of it up but dont let that keep you from getting it down him.Some of it will stay down.Wait 30 or 45 min. and give him a good dose of Pepto Bismal.If he will eat it,some dry toast will lessen the bleach burning his belly.

My vet at the time was an old horse doctor and when I told him about it,he remembered it from the sixties.He said" I can't apply that treatment but if one of my dogs ever gets parvo,I hope I remember it,because it makes perfect sense and I'll sure treat my own dog."

The vet thought of just what the old dog man in the sixties thought of:Here he was disinfecting his hands with bleach water and even stepping in a pan of bleach water with his rubber boots on each time he left one dog pen and headed to another to keep from spreading the virus.If bleach killed the virus on his hands and feet,why wouldn't it kill the virus in the dogs intestinal tract.IT WILL.

Caution: Too many small animal doctors diagnose parvo as a catch-all.If the pup gets ok,he is a hero.If it dies,it ain't his fault.MAKE SURE YOU ARE DEALING WITH PARVO BEFORE ADMINISTERING BLEACH WATER.IF YOUR KENNEL EVER HAS ONE CASE OF IT,YOU WILL NEVER FORGET THE SMELL.FROM THE FIRST SYMPTOMS TO DEATH IS SELDOM MORE THAN 24 TO 48 HOURS.

Gene,

If your treatment worked - there's no arguing with it.

That said, Parvo is actually a blood borne virus that attacks rapidly dividing cells - such as those found in the intestinal tract and bone marrow. The lining of the intestine dies and is prone to bacterial infections that release toxins into the bloodstream. The cause of death is typically septicemia (blood poisoning).

I'm not a vet, but adding bleach to the mix would only seem to further the problem in a dog's deteriorating digestive system, and do nothing about the source of the virus - the blood stream.

I won't argue with what works, but I would strongly advise checking with a vet.

Interesting Gene. My experience with Parvo was a complete cluster&*#@. My brother-in law had a Shorthair pup. The cheap baspoop never kept the dog's shots up to date. He decided he couldn't handle the pup any longer, called my wife and asked her if she knew anybody that wanted a dog. Deb asked him to wait a day, she'd let him know. I told her we'd take him, the first dog I can remember as a tyke was my dad's Shorthair. She called him the next day, only to find out that he'd called the dogcatcher and told them he found the dog wandering the expressway and picked it up. They made arrangements to get the dog from him. This happened on a Friday. When I found out I was irate to say the least. We called the pound Monday morning, told them we were interested in a Shorthair they had. They told us they had to wait for the rightful owner to show up first, going to take till the next Friday. Now I'm really hot, told the wife to call back and tell the truth. They blow us off, question if were the ones lying. Finally, Friday rolls around, no one claims the pup, my son heads over and picks the pup out of the pound. Everything is well and good till Sunday morning, pup has diarrhea, throwing up. Take him into an emergency clinic, test shows Parvo. So we have him treated, leave him there with the idea we'd pick him up Monday morning and transfer him over to my regular vet. Vet talks to me about treating the pup at home. I had to take the little guy in every morning, vet would inject � an IV bag of fluid under the pups skin, I'd continue to force fluids and meds for the diarrhea and antibiotics. After 4 days pup is getting worse, starting to show signs of Distemper. If the pup only had Parvo, it was a 50% chance of survival. With Distemper, chances were nil, so we sent the pour little guy on his way over the rainbow bridge. We found out that it's well known that Saginaw County Animal Shelter is a breeding ground for Parvo. Dogs are not segregated, kept in a communal cage. Both my wife and I were heartbroken from what we went thru trying to heal the little guy, even though we had him for less than a week. This is the honest to Gods truth, Friday night (same night we had Bo put under) we experienced a severe thunderstorm. I was at work watching the storm recede, a double rainbow appeared in the East. Guess the little guy made his trip successfully, was sending a message that all was well.

my dad owned his own veterinary practice for 25 yrs with a masters in vet. science from Purdue university. there really is no treatment you just try to keep the dog hydrated with ivs usually and the pepto helps to keep some kind of nutriton down it once symptoms lessen. youre main objective is to keep the dog hydrated and let his natural immunity to the virus build and take care of itself

As I remember. Larry Mueller's cure-all for parvo and for displasia is massive doses of vitamin C. For the displasia, both during pregnancy and the first year of life.

Have no idea if it works that way on dogs. I do know for myself that about 3500 to 7,000 mg/day when heavy-duty backpacking almost eliminates sore muscles. also cuts down on catching colds and duration/intensity of colds.

Sounds good to me. If he dies the parvo killed him. If he lives the Clorox saved him. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Lot's of home remedies work that way... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Huey,

While there is no direct treatment for the parvo virus, antibiotics will protect the vulnerable dog from bacterial infections and other opportunists and give the dog time for its immune system to win out.

Treating parvo can be very intense and expensive. Along with the IV fluids and antibiotics add in electrolytes, medication to control vomiting, and special foods. Red blood cells and protein levels are often monitored to measure progress and to determine if the dog needs protein added to the IV.

With proper treatment most dogs survive parvo nowadays, but many do not. You place your bets and takes your chances. I might choose to treat a dog and I might not - it depends on the quality of the animal, its age, and lots of other factors. The best bet of all is vaccination.

Actually,Shooter,this is a more accurate way to sum it up:
If a pup truly has parvo,which means- among other signs- you can smell it,you have nothing to lose by trying the bleach water.
I didn't post to start an academic exercise but it's fine with me if it goes that way.I posted so that if some dog owner is watching his pups die one by one,as many of us have,he might recall this remedy.
It was freely given to me and it worked for me the only time I've needed it. I hope I don't need it again.
Any professional will tell you that there is much they still don't know about parvo.I can tell you that in my experience I've known several cases of "parvo"- both fatal and non-fatal-that were more probably coccidius.That's especially true this time of year when the birds are migrating.
I'm done.
gene

Gene - I was just funning with you. (note the <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />)

If you say it works I believe you. I know you care for your dogs. I've used a few home remedies with mine too.

Wasn't trying to start a flame...