What Would You Do, Rescue Question?

[Kamaria D]

About two months ago, my home was exposed to Parvo from my foster puppy. Since then, he has been adopted and I haven't had another foster in my house. I miss fostering dearly and think about it everyday, but I know any dog that comes on my property runs the risk of catching this deadly virus. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a Facebook page that posts dogs that are in urgent need of rescues, dogs in overcrowded pounds that are facing euthanization. I'm wondering whether it'd be worth it to save one, or worse because of the exposure to Parvo. What would you do in my situation?


P.S. I'm talking about older dogs, not puppies, ideally they'd be around 4 years or older with at least a week of being vaccinated upon entering the pound.

[Lorraine]

Be honest with them and see what they say.

I can totally understand your frustration over this, but you must do what is best for the dogs and not what is best for you.

Speak to as many vets as possible but in general if the dogs coming in are totally vaccinated then it might be ok as a lot of older dogs are exposed to it anyway when out and about.

[kali]

it will be fine if non of your other dogs have gotten sick the virus itself has died. no one is going to catch it.

[colossalcable884]

If this is an older dog that has had all its shots then fostering a dog with all shots poses little risk .
the only risk would be if you had a puppy that was not vaccinated .

[Tee]

With innoculated adult dogs there shouldn't be a problem. Ask a vet.

Thanks for fostering

[Akita Lover]

Make sure there are no feces in your yard. Spray the yard down with a 1:2 bleach and water solution. Clean all food and water bowls out with bleach and water. Make sure all of your clothing and all bedding in the home has been washed. Shampoo your carpet and upholstered furniture. If you do all this, your home and yard should be free from parvovirus. Because parvo vaccines have been shown to cause autism and epilepsy in dogs and puppies, I would stay away from them completely and use homeopathic nosodes, instead.

[Jessica G]

I would go over everything in your house and your whole yard and bleach it all. Also get rid of any of the puppies belongings like cage, bed, food and water bowels. You will be safe then but just to be safe make sure the dog has its shots before you bring it home to foster. If its a middle aged dog with shots and its healthy it shouldn't get parvo either way.

[bluebonnetgranny]

Dogs that have been vaccinated against Parvo are safe from it. Old, Old dogs could possible get it.

"treating yard after parvo virus" a yahoo search

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=treatin...vo%20virus

I know bleach will kill the virus but not sure what it would do to plant life or home furniture. Maybe the color safe bleach would work.

I never dealt with parvo at home, but we would bleach kennels to clean cages that any dog had been in. This was at a Vet Clinic. I always washed my sky kennels I used in my grooming shop. Every one was washed down daily with bleach.

[Kaitlyn]

Here some great tips:
Fill a bucket with warm water. Dip a cloth or sponge into the water and wipe down the walls to remove excess dirt and dust. Dump out the dirty water. Combine one gallon of warm water with 1 cup of bleach in the bucket. Dip a sponge or soft-bristled cleaning brush into the water, while wearing protective gloves. Scrub the walls. The bleach will kill the parvo virus. Dump the water out. Rinse the bucket and sponge or cleaning brush. Allow the bleach to sit on the walls for five minutes.
Fill the bucket with cool water. Use a soft cloth or sponge to wipe down the walls and rinse the bleach from the wall. Allow the walls to air dry. Steam clean the carpets. This can be done by a professional or at home with a carpet steam cleaner. Use your preferred carpet cleaning soap and the hottest heat setting the machine can achieve. Mix a parvovirus disinfectant, or animal disinfectant with specifically states it kills parvovirus, with warm water. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for dilution, as the process widely varies from product to product. Spray the carpet with the disinfectant mixture. Spray an even, generous layer over the entire surface of the carpet. Allow it to work into the carpet for 10-15 minutes. Steam clean the carpets again. This time, instead of using soap with the steamer, use the disinfectant. Follow the manufacturer's dilution instructions. Steam clean the carpets using only hot water if the disinfectant instructions require you to rinse the disinfectant from the surface or carpet. Allow the carpets to air dry.

[PetPhenom]

Parvo is a deadly and contagious disease caused by the canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) virus from an infected dog or feces. The CPV-2 virus can live in the environment ie ground or hard surface, for a really long time. We're talking weeks or even months at a time especially in areas where it's dark, damp and dirty. So, to make a long story short... 1.) The environment is considered safe once the infected dog has stopped shedding the virus. Since the infected puppy is no longer living with you, this isn't so much of a problem. But on the one hand, the CPV-2 virus could still have survived. Keep in mind, this virus is a hardy virus. So, to ensure you killed the virus it's best to disinfect the environment including feeding bowls with diluted bleach solution. Once the environment has been cleaned and disinfected, I think fostering dogs should be just fine. By the way, thanks for fostering. ~PetPhenom.com