my puppy who survived parvo

by dawn
(tenneessee)

Hello there, I have a 10 week old puppy who survived parvo, he caught it when he was 5 weeks old and so did 3 of the other puppies out of the litter,there was 6 puppies in all 2 never caught it and 4 did and within 1 week 3 of the puppies died even with the iv's and parvo shots.

But then there is Buddy he also caught it and was showing signs he was on next on the death list and i woke up the next morning and he was showing signs that he wanted to live, now my question is even though he has survived the odds he is smaller then the other 2 pups at his age he looks like 2-3 weeks smaller and i was wondering if this is normal.

Also he has a touch of kennel cough now i'm treating and he is very dependant on me now and will not leave my sight and if i'm gone for even 5 mins he starts freaking and has a coughing attack. I'm afraid to try and sell him due to he is so dependent and by the way he is a pitbull .thank you



Hi Dawn
I'm sorry to hear that your pups caught ,a href="http://www.the-puppy-dog-place.com/canine-parvovirus.html">Parvo, it's a horrible and deadly disease and some breeds (such as Rottweilers, Dobermans and Pitbulls) are especially vulnerable.

Parvo is very serious and it's perfectly normal for a pup to look small, skinny, weak and still sick for a while after recovering. Buddy is a lucky little boy to have made it through, but he'll take probably a month or so to really 'make up for lost time'. He shouldn't have any long-term effects though and I expect he'll catch up in terms of growth and development given time.

His immune system will be weak for some time, which is probably why he has a cough, and other conditions such as Coccidia can also strike a pup when his immune system is low.

The dependency is also natural, he's been through quite an ordeal and was probably very scared and felt terrible. He will still feel weak and it's to be expected that he's going to want a lot of comforting.

If he undergoes additional stress before he's fully recovered (such as leaving you and going to a new home) I think it would have a negative effect on his health and recovery, possibly even his temperament. Because of that I'd strongly recommend that you keep him with you until he's back to normal, then find him a good, loving home. It will be much better for him, and for the people who buy him. New owners would likely have a difficult time with him right now due to his poor immune system, and anxiety. Once he's feeling healthy again this should disappear.

I wish you the best of luck and hope that little Buddy is back to being 100% healthy soon, and that he finds his forever home when he's ready.