# Parvo and fostering question



## Melly (Mar 21, 2010)

Ok so as some of you may know I foster dogs from time to time whenever I can. My dogs stay current on vaccines and are not what im worried about. But 1 of my foster dogs just had 3 puppies, and a little over a month ago we had 2 foster puppies here. 1 died and 1 is still here just fine. The 1 that died we are pretty sure it was parvo, because his siblings at the shelter died from parvo around the same time as him. The other little 1 seemed to get semi sick but he hung in and is just fine now and has had 2 puppy shots. But now my concern shifts to the new babies. We have tiles/wood floors so we are using a lot of bleach, will this be enough, is there anything else we can do besides puppy shots asap??? please help any advice would be great.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Parvo can live outside for a minimum of six months, possibly longer. I think you have to put the bleach down, wait ten to fifteen minutes and then rince it. 

Everywhere that puppy has been bleach and clean.

As for the outside, if you can completely quarden off any area that that pup was in, that would be good. 

To be safe, I would wait before bringing in any other puppy for 2 years. That is rough, but that would be what I would do. Spend the time on your other dogs, and wait for a new pup.


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## Melly (Mar 21, 2010)

Well its not that I want to go out and buy a puppy. Its that I have a foster dog that had puppies. At our shelter any pregnant female that comes in is PTS. So I took 1 in to foster, We only had the puppy here 2 days before he got sick and we had him in a kind of quarantine because he was feral and so didn't take him outside because he would have ran off so he went on paper. There is no one else in the little cruddy town that will foster this momma and her babies, so its take chances here or be pts for the babies.


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## Deuce (Oct 14, 2010)

Just keep your dogs UTD on their shots and keep your place clean. I hope you're not using bleach on wood floors


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## Jgk2383 (Aug 5, 2009)

I would keep doing what your doing in regards to bleaching etc but I would put mama and babies somewhere like in a laundry room or a large crate where you can constantly wipe it down when Mama comes in and out to potty so you are really minimizing the risk of infection. WHen those babies are up and mobile I would really try to gate them off in a room where the sick pup hasnt been.


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## Melly (Mar 21, 2010)

I will bleach the crap out of the wood if it saves the puppies lol. They are in my back bathroom atm which is somewhere the sick puppy never went but I still keep it clean Thanks for advice.


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## RunShepherdRun (Oct 5, 2009)

The Shelter Medicine Program at UC Davis has helpful information on Parvo online:
Information Sheet - Canine Parvovirus

and on cleaning/disinfection procedures:
Information Sheet - Cleaning and Disinfecting in Shelters

It's crucial to disinfect floors but *also* all objects that come into contact with floors, people handling puppies, and puppies: Shoes should not be used in both rooms, wash and disinfect hands, either wash clothes with bleach or wear separate clothes that have not been in contact with sick puppy. This is why hospitals use scrubs and disposable covers on shoes. New dishes and toys, but you probably have that covered already.

Does the pound that takes them in disinfect? Follow basic hygiene protocols? If not, the puppies might already be exposed by the time you get them, and all you can do is keep the viral load as far down as possible.

Years ago I lost a foster cat to Feline Panleuk, cat distemper contracted at the shelter, and had to go through disinfection. The Panleuk and the Parvo virus are related, with Panleuk even more persistent in the environment. We have all floors in tile and wood except the stairs are carpeted and could not be disinfected. We had certainly tracked some virus from the room the kitty was in to the carpeted stairs. And the poor kitty had been in the BRs with doors. Vet advice in that case was to not get another cat for another six months, better a year. I eventually adopted one that had had two rounds of shots against Panleuk before I brought her home. Since you have a separate room where the sick pup hadn't been in, your space might work better than mine. 

Thank you, Melly, for saving momma and her puppies' lives. I am so sorry one of the previous puppies died. You must have taken care of them really well that one survived. We are rooting for you and the next little family. Please keep us posted.


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## Melly (Mar 21, 2010)

Ty for your response, it is a city shelter with low funds little volunteers (almost none but i go weekly) and very low fosters. The people that work there do what they can to save as many animals as possible and to avoid euthanasia which is suppose to be at 10 days but rarely happens at that time. I have had the mom here for about 3 weeks, and her puppies are 1 day old now. They are in my back bathroom where the foster puppies never were. The foster puppies were pretty limited on where I let them go because they were feral when we got them in and they would have all been PTS without foster (they were fear biters) we did save 1 of 4 and he is still here and has just got his 2nd vaccination. It has been 3 wks since the sick puppy passed. We bleached the area the puppies were in and used separate shoes and such as soon as the 1st puppy was sick. So I'm really hopeful these puppies will be ok. The mom just got a vaccination when the puppies were born not sure if it will help or not. I will be buying a lot more bleach I think lol. Thanks everyone


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