# Parvo and HW policy?



## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

I do rescue coordination for a rural KY shelter and I've been working this week on finding a rescue placement for a beautiful female Border Collie and her 4 two and half week old pups. I have had a couple rescue groups express interest but both have mentioned in the course of that process that they do not treat parvo. I don't think these dogs have parvo, so at this point it's just academic, but still concerns me. I also have a Chow that I'm working on and the only rescue to contact me about him want's him HW tested before they'll commit. When I told them that we can't test the dogs at the shelter so they're as is, they've said they can't commit and their policies on this are "standard."

I know different groups have a variety of policies but was curious what you guys think - Would you consider this standard? What are your policies on treating these issues?


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## oregongsdr111 (Nov 20, 2005)

From the rescue side, when we take in a shelter dog we expect that we will have issues.
We take them straight to the vet and see what the damages are.

From the shelter side, every rescue we work with (and the list is very long) the rescues take as is. Some take our HBC, some take our Kennel Cough, we have one that takes any parvo cases as they have an ISO area. As a "reward" so to say I would send them some very easy placements as well. If the Pug rescue took an old dog that needed $ in dentals, I would offer them the next pup or young dog as a quick adoption to help off set the cost. 

At our shelter all of our pets go out spayed / neutered, chipped, current on vaccine, Bordetalla vaccine, rabies, flea treated, and wormed. We did not do any additional testing.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

Yes - I try to do the same thing! If someone has taken and treated a couple hard luck cases, I will try to offer them something really adoptable the next time around. But on the rescue side, I expect that I'm getting the dog as is. The shelter I coordinate for doesn't have the $ to do any testing or vetting at all, so the dogs are what they are.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

In our are vet care costs have become excessive. Most vets do not even accept parvo cases and the ER charges around $1500 per day per dog/pup. Vets will not give fluids and meds for rescues to administer, so there is no way around it (unless a volunteer is a vet tech or has a vet as relative). Under these conditions even the largest rescues cannot afford to take parvo cases often. A treatment can wipe out a small rescue. The cost of the heartworm treatment went up from $200-300 five years ago to $500-700 these days (at the least expensive vet, others charge $1200-1500). So the sad question becomes as to what one can afford rather than what one would want to treat. 
One of my foster dogs had complications after the HW treatment. He spent 3 hours at the vet (not ER vet so it was less expensive and probably better care) on IV and suddenly developed massive bleeding from the lungs and died. The cost for the 3 hours of care was $750.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Unfortunately it's all a matter of the most rescue-value for their dollar.

A rescue could spend $1500 to save one dog/pup or spread it around to save many.

There's no lack of dogs needing rescue but there is a serious lack of funding to rescue them. The money needs to go where it can do the most good.

In regards to the Chow - would the rescue group you talked with be willing to pay for the test?


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

I think they would but if he tests positive and they leave him there it's a death sentence for sure. 

I definitely understand the cost/benefit analysis, but I guess I just feel like there's a certain amount of risk that goes with pulling an animal but you're commiting to see them through it to the best of your ability. 

I just had another breed group who wants me to get a biopsy done on a mass before they'll agree to take the dog. To me, that's asking a lot of a shelter.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

It is not $1500 to save one pup, one day of fluid treatment does not do it. If it is five days of fluids treatment that is $7500 for one pup. If there are three parvo pups in the litter it will be over $20,000. 

I fostered for a large GSD rescue some years ago, and even they did not have that much money sitting in their bank account. It is not cost-benefit, it is simply the lack of funds.

You have to put up 60-70% of the estimated cost of the treatment ahead of time for any kind of emergency care here, otherwise they won't even deal with your dog. The rescues I know are committed to the dogs they pull but they may be cautious when committing to puppies from shelters that have parvo. It is horrible and a heartbreak to everyone not to be able to afford the necessary care, nobody wants to see the animals suffer. I wonder why a dog IV is more expensive than the human IV or why a dog ray costs three times as much as my x-ray in the ER. It would be nice not to criticize the rescues alone for not doing enough but also those in the lucrative businesses of treating animals who make the big bucks on the parvo puppies.

Every rescue I know here will treat for heartworm.


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## dd (Jun 10, 2003)

I think to a great degree it is a vet problem. It doesn't make sense that there are such HUGE differences between states for treating very similar conditions. In my area the cheapest rate to treat heartworm is $900. I asked my vet to explain why the same protocol costs $250 in Georgia, and he couldn't explain it.

There were vets in my region giving substantial breaks to rescues and they were criticised by the Veterinary Association.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

I agree. The rent for the vet office might be higher here than in rural areas, but the meds and equipment cost the same. Staff is more expensive too, but not that much. 

Beyond profit there is little justification for the veterinary care to be more expensive than human health care. While health insurances put a cap on the cost of human care vets can charge whatever they want and get away with. Human hospitals also spend huge amounts on liability insurance, which is not the case with veterinary hospitals. The keyword is profit, I think. Some rare vets give rescues a 10% discount, but most will not. And many are not interested in dealing with the difficult health problems of rescue dogs - they would not want to expose the "real clients'" dogs to parvo.

One of the vets even lied to me that the immiticide alone for the heartworm treatment costs $500 (6 years ago), the other vet charged me less than $200 for the same dog (and I am sure the second one also made a profit). Same as when a plumber charges $100 for a pipe that costs 15 bucks at Home Depot. Interestingly many of the vets we use work 3 days a week.

This problem is much more complex than rescue policy. The rescues will be attacked for taking in dogs that they cannot afford to treat. In case of parvo, there is no time for fundraising. Many other treatments are not that urgent and therefore rescues can take on more financial risk with nonurgent health problems by counting on raising funds.


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## Prinzsalpha (Jul 6, 2005)

In our journey of saving dogs we have met some very amazing vets and foster people along with boarding places who all try to help us, help them. Sometimes depending on the area we run into more expensive rates but certainly once we commit to a dog we do what we have to do. Thank goodness we are very fundraiser crazy people. We get in the hole but we scratch ourselves out of it. We have a place in the state that treats heartworm with an overnight stay for $200, not bad. Our last parvo case our foster mom administered the fluids and she is doing fine now. The whole cost of treating her was greatly reduced as we did most of the work.
But our motto is ,if we commit we do what it takes to make the dog right.


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## aspatter (Mar 8, 2005)

One of the reasons that heartworm treatment is less in the south is that we have so many cases. One of the humane societys I work with told me 50% of the dogs test positive. The volume of cases gets a good discount.


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## dd (Jun 10, 2003)

Agreed - but $1000.00 difference for the very same drugs? Seems excessive.


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## aspatter (Mar 8, 2005)

I agree, if the vets down here charged that here, few dogs would get treatment. I'm going to ask my vet how many non-rescue, non-humane dogs they treat for heartworm.. I'd bet the farm all the dogs I see tied out are HW+, they would never get treatment. I do know they had a parvo pup a few weeks ago they were treating.


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## aspatter (Mar 8, 2005)

Also, I'm in North GA, a lot less expensive than Atlanta!


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## terry_demag (Jun 8, 2004)

What I find with heartworm treatment cost isn't necessarily just the medication, but the whole treatment protocol. Most vets up here (in New England) won't treat without full blood work-ups and xrays. When I deal with southern vets, they don't do this unless they expect a problem, or maybe only do blood work. The vets I've dealt with up here always do the more conservative split protocol, two treatments 30 days apart. Southern vets tend to do the bit more aggressive, single treatment (24 hours apart). The vets up here also insisted on an overnight stay for the microfilaria treatment 30 days later, which is basically a heartworm pill. Other vets just tell you to start the dog on heartgard 30 days later.

So, if I treat a dog up here, 3 seperate stays, full bloodwork and xrays is what really make the costs add up.

I've recently treated a dog in PA for $200, a dog in Little Rock for $400, a dog in Tennessee for $400, another dog in Tennessee for $100 (just the cost of the meds, the shelter is treating). Up here it adds up to $800 - $1200.

Terry
http://www.echodogs.org


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

I paid over $500 9 yrs ago here in Florida when I rescued Vishnu.


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## dd (Jun 10, 2003)

I got a quote of $900 in my area; a neighbour got a quote of $1200. Both were quotes for a young dog, X-rays were not mentioned, nor overnight stays. The treatment would have been the two shots a month apart. Full blood work costs about $150. Still doesn't account for the difference as far as I'm concerned.

ETA - ALSO doesn't account for the $300 difference between her quote and mine for what would essentially have been the same process. Really makes you wonder.


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