Recovering from Parvo

Question
Hi Joyce,

I have a 1 1/2 year old Pomeranian that had the first signs of Parvo on Dec. 27th.  I was unaware of this disease and a response from All Experts sent me to the emergency vet clinic.  Cooper was admitted with a strong positive for Parvo.  He was put on IV, antibiotics, and had 2 plasma treatments.  Due to financial issues, I had to remove him after 9 days of treatment.  He was still vomiting and would not take food, however would drink small amounts of water.  On their discharge they noted that Cooper was slowly recovering from Parvo.  The first night home was rough, but the next day he seemed to be slightly improving.  The next day he was in rough shape again, so we took him to a local vet.  They ran x-rays of his intentines and in the morning are running barium to look for any leaks.  If that comes back clear, she wants to do exploratory surgery because she feels he should either be recovering better from Parvo by now or passed.  I do not want exploratory surgery.  Sorry for the long intro, but I wanted to give you as much information as possible.  My question is have you heard of slow recoveries from the Parvo.  Today is exactly 2 weeks.  Do you feel he could still be suffering from a torn up digestive system?  His symptoms are foamy yellowish vomit, severe stomach cramps, and gas, refusing to eat.  He will get up and walk around a little, but is resting most of the time, which is understandable.  Please offer any advice based on your experience.  

Thank you so much!

Deirdre

Answer
If it were not for the positive parvo test I would be thinking about a lot of other diseases this could be. For example, Addisons Disease, Pancreatitis, a foreign body obstruction, an obstruction secondary to an intussusception(this is where a section of intestine becomes entrapped within itself causing swelling and blockage) etc. Has he had diarrhea also? Parvo ALWAYS causes diarrhea and often vomiting. Was he ever vaccinated for parvo virus?
Exploratory surgery would not be my next step. I would advise an ultrasound first to evaluate him for a pancreatitis, an intussusception or a foreign body. An exploratory is not wrong but is very invasive at this point for a dog who is probably very debilitated.
I have had puppies with prolonged recovery from parvo but usually 9-10 days is the longest time to full recovery. It is so unusual to see an adult with parvo because the vaccines they receive as puppies are so effective.

I think that he may have something besides parvo and it is imperative that you have further diagnostics done ASAP. If an ultrasound is not available then an exploratory would be acceptable as long as he is monitored well and his supportive care is well managed.If he does have an obstruction then surgery is the only option to correct the problem.

Hope this helps.
Dr. G.