My 12 Week old Jack Russel Terrier that has survived PARVO

by Meredith Hand
(Camp Kinser, Okinawa Japan)

I just adopted a female Jack Russel terrier from a Lady who got him from a local pet shop where I am Stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Not even 24 hours later the puppy was throwing up yellow metallic smelling puke, so I called the emergency vet and they took her in, and it turned out that she had a light positive test for Parvo-virus.

They kept her there on Iv, and gave her injections, then the next day they wanted me to transfer her to a vet clinic out in town. So she was transferred and treated there for 2 more days and seemed a lot better. I have had her home now for 3 days. but I have noticed in the 3 days that she has been dry heaving, coughing and throwing up a little bit, she has been on an intestinal antibiotic, but I was thinking maybe it was her stomach acid that was bothering her and making her dry heave.

but this morning I noticed that she puked up what looked like flem? that had some brown chunks and blood in it, she is going back to the vet tommorrow for a follow up is there anything i should be worried about? is this common?




Hi Meredith
Canine Parvovirus is a very virulent and aggressive disease, and if a pup is lucky (and strong enough) to survive it, there is often a long recovery period.

The most dangerous and serious phase lasts about 7 - 10 days, so it sounds as if your pup is coming towards the end of that phase which is good news. However, her stomach and intestinal lining has probably been damaged and inflamed by this disease and that's what's causing her to heave and the mucus/blood you mention. Definitely tell your vet about this when she has her appointment as there may be something else such as anti-inflammatories that she can get.

Your little girl looks like a fighter and hopefully she will make a full recovery, but she will need a lot of rest and TLC over the next few weeks. The good news is that once a pup survives the 'acute phase' of Parvo, they generally make a total recovery and don't have any long-term side effects.

I hope that your girl is one of the lucky ones.