Parvo Handbook (1)

1

Parvo

Program

Handbook

2

What is parvo? The Caninie Parvovirus infects rapidly dividing cells such as: the intestinal cells, bone

marrow cells, lymph system cells, and fetal cells. The virus is also extremely hardy, and can

survive in organic material (feces, soil, etc) for over a year. While the original CPV only

affected dogs, since the virus can rapidly mutate there are variants that also effect Raccoons.

Because of this we recommend later on in the trash section that you not leave your trash

from the parvo ward out for very long.

Symptoms of an infected dog as: lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea. If you notice any of these

symptoms it is highly recommend you test the dog as quickly as possible so that you can

isolate the dog if the results come back positive. You will also want to disinfect their kennel

thoroughly. A Parvocidal cleaner (Bleach, Roccal-D, Oxivir) needs to be used to disinfect the

area to prevent other dogs from getting infected.

About the Austin Pets Alive parvo ward

How we got started

The Austin Pets Alive! parvo ward started in November 2008 when Dr. Jefferson took home

some very sick puppies that had parvo. She used one

of the bathrooms in her house as the 'official' parvo

ward, and treated over 300 dogs in it for 2 years.

During that time she was able to assess the dogs and

treat them around the clock.

You will see a bit later in this document that her

success rate increased every year. When she first

started she did not vaccinate on intake of parvo dogs

and as a result had some losses to distemper. Since IV

pumps are costly, she started out with IV drips & also utilized IV bolus treatment, both of

which are discussed later in this manual under the Advanced treatment section.

In August 2010 Austin Pets Alive! found a building to rent as a dedicate place for a lot of the

programs, and built a dedicated parvo ward. Shortly after that we began building up a

volunteer team to treat the dogs under the supervision of our Veterinarians & Vet Techs.

Our numbers throughout the years

Tracking overall numbers can be a good measure to see how many dogs you are treating

and roughly how effective you are being at saving lives, setting a goal of 80% survival rate is

ideal and anything higher than that is amazing! As mentioned above, APA!‟s parvo ward

started in Dr. Jefferson‟s house, so between 2008 and 2010 the dogs being treated would

receive around the clock check-ups and care. As she improved her treatment methods over

the months her survival rate increased quite a bit.

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In late 2010 APA! got a dedicated building and with that we built a parvo ward. As we have

built up our parvo ward team, while our survival rate is still quite high we think we will see a

steady improvement over the years as our volunteers gain more knowledge and

understanding of assessing and treating the dogs.

Date Dogs Tested Positive Dogs Survived Treatment Survival Rate

2008 14 10 71.43%

2009 161 135 83.85%

2010 224 200 89.29%

2011 167 137 82.04%

Total: 566 482 85.16%

0

50

100

150

200

250

2008 2009 2010 2011

Yearly Parvo data

Series1 Series2

4

Date Dogs Tested Positive Dogs Survived Treatment Survival Rate

January 31 26 83.87%

February 22 19 86.36%

March 13 10 76.92%

April 21 16 76.19%

May 30 22 73.33%

June 31 29 93.55%

July 13 11 84.62%

August 6 4 66.67%

Total: 167 137 82.04%

Cost breakdown

Minor Treatment

Supply Quantity

Frequenc

y per day

# of

day

s

Total

Used

Price of

Containe

r

Amount

in

Containe

r

Price for

15lb

dog

18ga needles 1 2 3 6 $4.44 100 $0.27

3cc syringe w/needle 3 2 3 18 $51.42 600 $1.54

Baytril Injectable 1.5cc 1 3 4.5cc $163.00 250 $2.93

Lactated Ringers Solution 150.0cc 2 3

900.0c

c $19.24 12000 $1.44

Metochlopramide 1.0cc 2 3 6.0cc $5.60 30 $1.12

Metronidazole tablets

250mg 1 1 3 3 $66.62 250 $0.80

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

January February March April May June July August

2011 Parvo data

Dogs Tested Positive Dogs Survived Treatment

5

Polyflex 1.0cc 2 3 6.0cc $35.64 150 $1.43

Fluid administration drip

set 1 1 1 1 $1.99 1 $1.99

Canned Puppy Food 1 2 3 6 $1.50 1 $9.00

Total $20.52

Moderate Treatment

Supply

Quantit

y

Frequenc

y per day

# of

day

s

Total

Used

Price of

Containe

r

Amount

in

Containe

r

Price for

15lb

dog

IV Catheter 3 1 1 3 $0.83 1 $2.49

Zonas Tape roll for cath 0.02 1 1 0.02 $12.35 12 $0.02

Vet Wrap for cath 0.5 1 1 0.5 $30.13 36 $0.42

Heparin (to flush catheter)

0.01ccs 0.02cc 1 3 0.06cc $13.09 10 $0.08

Clear IV Ampicillin 0.6cc 0.6cc 3 3 5.4cc $3.00 10 $1.62

Polyflex SQ 1.0cc 2 6 12.0cc $35.64 150 $2.85

Anzemet 0.14cc 0.14cc 1 3 0.42cc $46.05 5 $3.87

Zantac 0.3cc 0.3cc 1 3 0.9cc $33.33 40 $0.75

Lactated Ringers Solution

Boluses 150cc 3 3 1350cc $19.24 12000 $2.16


SQ 150cc 2 6 1800cc $19.24 12000 $2.89

Potassium Chloride

1.3

bottle 1 1

1.3

bottle $0.65 1 $0.85

Vitamin B

1.3

bottle 1 1

1.3

bottle $2.82 1 $3.67

Dextrose 50% Solution 5cc 2 3 30cc $1.65 50 $0.99

Hetastarch 15cc 1 3 45cc $24.96 500 $2.25

18ga needles 1 2 6 12 $4.44 100 $0.53




250mg 1 1 3 3 $66.62 250 $0.80

Fluid administration drip set 3 1 1 3 $1.99 1 $5.97




Total $68.77

Severe Treatment

Supply

Quantit

y

Frequenc

y per day

# of

day

s

Total

Used

Price of

Containe

r

Amount

in

Containe

r

Price for

15lb

dog

IV Catheter 3 1 1 3 $0.83 1 $2.49

Zonas Tape roll for cath 0.02 1 1 0.02 $12.35 12 $0.02

Vet Wrap for cath 0.5 1 1 0.5 $30.13 36 $0.42

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Heparin (to flush catheter)

0.01ccs 0.02cc 1 6 0.12cc $13.09 10 $0.16

Clear IV Ampicillin 0.6cc 0.6cc 3 6 10.8cc $3.00 10 $3.24

Polyflex 1.0cc 2 10 20.0cc $35.64 150 $4.75

Anzemet 0.14cc 0.14cc 1 6 0.84cc $46.05 5 $7.74

Zantac 0.3cc 0.3cc 1 6 1.8cc $33.33 40 $1.50


Boluses IV 150cc 3 6 2700cc $19.24 12000 $4.33


SQ 150.0cc 2 10 3000cc $19.24 12000 $4.81

Dextrose 50% Solution 5cc 2 3 30cc $1.65 50 $0.99

Potassium Chloride

2.7

bottle 1 1

2.7

bottle $0.65 1 $1.76

Vitamin B

2.7

bottle 1 1

2.7

bottle $2.82 1 $7.61

Hetastarch 15cc 1 6 90 $24.96 500 $4.49

18ga needles 1 2 10 20 $4.44 100 $0.89




250mg 1 1 3 3 $66.62 250 $0.80

Fluid administration drip set 5 1 1 5 $1.99 1 $9.95



Nutrical 1 1 1 1 $5.00 1 $5.00

Take Home Oral Baytril

22.7mg tabs 1.5 1 10 15 $0.69 1 $10.35

Panacur Oral 3 1 3 9 $100.53 1000 $0.90


Total

$133.1

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Every dog gets the following no matter severity of treatment

Parvosal Cleaner 0.2 1 1 0.2 $7.35 1 $1.47

Bleach 0.2 1 1 0.2 $0.99 1 $0.20

Laundry Soap 0.2 1 1 0.2 $2.99 1 $0.60

Paper Towels 1 1 1 1 $0.99 1 $0.99

Sharps container 0.01 1 1 0.01 $9.61 1 $0.10

Parvo Test 2 1 1 2 $57.60 5 $23.04

Hand Soap 0.2 1 1 0.2 $1.99 1 $0.40

Rawhides 1 1 3 3 $7.99 30 $0.80

Dog Shampoo 0.1 1 1 0.1 $3.99 1 $0.40

Total $27.99

Average Total $100.80

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Why we know you can be successful

Austin Pets Alive!‟s parvo ward is operated by a medium sized volunteer team that comes

from various backgrounds. We have a few people that are in college and are working

toward being in the medical field, but we also have a few people that also have no previous

medical background are just as effective at treating the dogs in our care.

While Austin Pets Alive! is lucky to have two great veterinarians on staff, you should be able

to find a veterinarian and/or vet tech that can come and recommend treatments and help

you with some of the more advanced treatments such as IV catheters. We highly

recommend having a veterinarian or vet tech oversight for your parvo program. You will

also want to check your local laws on what is required when treating animals, for example in

Texas pets are property and the owner of said property can do whatever they want to it as

long as it‟s not cruel.

Preparing to open a parvo ward

Required items for a parvo ward

Before you start you parvo ward and save your first puppy there are a few essential items

you will need to get started, including: cleaning supplies to help contain the parvo virus to

your designated “parvo ward” area and also to help prevent the spread of other diseases

between patients, general dog care supplies to take care of the dogs while they are fighting

the parvo virus, and then medical supplies to treat the dog patients with. All these supplies

should be restricted to the parvo ward to help prevent the spread of the parvo virus to other

areas.

General supplies

General supplies you need for the parvo ward.

Clothes

You should get a couple sets of scrubs & old shoes that can be used in the parvo ward.

Instead of scrubs you could use old shirts and pajama pants.

Toilet paper

Used to pick-up poop from the dogs and then flush down the toilet.

Mini-fridge

Some medications need to be stored cold, so you will need something to keep them in.

Cleaning Supplies

This is a list of cleaning supplies you will want to get for the parvo ward. These are

important to ensure you don‟t spread the parvo virus outside the ward and that you don‟t

spread other diseases between dogs if you are taking care of multiple patients.

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Parvocidal Cleaner

Disinfectant that kills multiple bacteria and viruses (including the parvovirus). Roccal-D or

Oxivir are both great as they kill parvo and other bacteria . This is used to disinfect yourself

between dogs and before leaving the parvo ward, along with cleaning up rooms after the

dogs.

Bleach

A general household cleaner that can kill the parvovirus. It is used when washing the

laundry in the parvo ward. It can also be used in a spray bottle, diluted with water (1 part

bleach, 32 parts water) to clean rooms after the dogs.

Laundry Detergent

Any type of detergent is fine, you just need something to be able to clean the laundry used

in the parvo ward.

Hand soap

You will want an anti-bacterial hand soap so you can wash your hands between dogs to

prevent spreading other germs and diseases.

Dish soap

Any type of dish soap so you can wash the dishes the dogs use for water & food.

General supplies for dog care

While you probably have a lot of this already, these will be used solely for the parvo ward.

It‟s best not to take items out of the parvo ward once they have been used to prevent the

spread of the virus to other areas of your shelter.

Bedding (towels, sheets)

Old sheets and towlels work great for dog bedding. You can normally find some inexpensive

items at Goodwill or any other thrift store.

Bowls

To give water & food to the dogs.

Food (dry & wet)

You will want a few different types of food so that you can try out a variety of foods when

trying to get the dog to eat. The reason you want a few different varieties, is that if a dog is

eating and still vomiting with a certain type of food we have noticed they are less prone to

continue eating if we keep giving them the same type of food since they are associating the

sickness to that food smell/taste.

Toys

Things to keep the dogs occupied when they are feeling better but not quite free of the parvo

virus yet.

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Dog Shampoo

Needed for cleaning the dog after the are parvo free.

Nail Clipper

Needed for clipping their nails after they are parvo free

ToothBrush

Used to scrub their nails and paws after they are parvo free to remove any dirt, fecal matter,

etc.

Warmth

A lot of the dogs will need things to provide extra warmth. Sweaters for

smaller dogs are a good thing to have on hand since smaller dogs tend to

need the extra warmth the most. Heating pads are also a good thing

(always make sure you put a towel on top of the pad so it doesn‟t get too

hot for the dog). Also fleece blankets are another good thing to have on

hand to wrap up the dogs with if they are cool.

Medical supplies

Thermometer

To take the dogs temperatures.

Lubricant

To make taking the dogs temperature & also doing the parvo tests less uncomfortable for

them.

SNAP parvo testing kits

Testing kits used for checking dogs for the parvo virus when they are showing symptoms at

your shelter, and also when you think they are cured from your ward‟s treatment. These are

stored cold.

Syringes

1cc, 3cc, and 10cc syringes.

18 Gauge needles

Used for giving subcutaneous (SQ) injections of Lactated Ringers.

Plain Lactated Ringer bags

Solutions used for giving dogs fluids: Plain Lactated Ringer Solutions (LRS) or .9% Sodium

Chloride Solution.

IV Lines

Lines used to connect to the Lactated Ringer bags.

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DHLPP vaccines

Used to provide in-take vaccinations to the puppies. A series of vaccinations to project

against Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parvo, and Parainfluenza.

Frontline

A medication used on in-take to fight fleas and ticks. You can choose another flea/tick

medication for this if you choose.

Bordatella

A vaccination used on in-take to fight against Kennel cough.

Sterile Water

Used to reconstitute dry-filled medication vials such as Polyflex and Ampicilin.

Baytril

An antibiotic that is clear (somewhat yellow) in color. It is one of the main medications used

during treatment.

Polyflex

An antibiotic that is white, viscous, and opaque. It needs to be stored cold. It is another one

of the main medications used during treatment

Metoclopromide (Reglan)

A anti-emetic (reduces vomiting) that is clear in color. It is one of the main medications used

for our parvo treatment.

Strongid

A de-wormer that is yellow, viscous, and opaque.

Metronidazole

An anti-infective that comes in pill form 250mg and 500mg.

Where and how to purchase medical supplies

Online purchases

MWI Veterinary Supply: https://www.mwivet.com

Through a vet office

You can go to a local Veterinarian to order medical supplies as well.

Saving your first parvo puppy

Now that you have all your supplies you are ready to start saving lives!

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Pre-Treatment

In-Take

Containment

If a dog came from your program you will want to make sure to thoroughly clean the area

they were in using a parvocidal cleaner. Roccal-D needs to sit 10 minutes to be fully

effective. Oxivir also needs to sit if you are using that. We will generally do a spray down

and wipe up everything that can be, followed by another spray down that you let air dry.

If dogs come in crates from another shelter, before taking the crate out of the parvo ward

you will want to thoroughly clean that.

Any laundry that is inside the parvo ward should not leave unless you have cleaned it three

times with soap/bleach (as outlined in the laundry section).

Testing

You should verify there was a test done on the dog and it came back positive before you

bring them into the parvo ward.

Companionship

If dogs come in the same litter, we normally keep them in the same

room to give each other some company. You can also do this with non-

litter mates. There are a few things you need to be careful with though.

If there is a chance a dog has distemper don‟t put them in a room with

other dogs. Also you don‟t want to room dogs with each other if they

are on an IV drip/pump so that you don‟t get IV lines tangled up.

Vaccinations

Some shelters vaccinate on in-take so you will want to check what vaccinations the dog has

received recently. Make sure they are updated on the following vaccinations:

DHLPP

It comes with 2 vials: a sterile diluent and dry powder vial. You mix the sterile diluent into

the dry vial. Then draw the well mixed medication into your syringe and administer SQ into

the right shoulder.

Bordatella

It comes with 2 vials: a sterile diluent and dry powder vial. You mix the sterile diluent into

the dry vial. Pull the mixed solution into your syringe and remove the needle. Apply a nasal

applicator to the syringe and administer to both nostrils.

Frontline

This medication dose depends on the dogs weight, they receive 0.3cc for every 10lbs of body

weight. It is applied to the neck skin.

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Filling out patient chart information

See (Parvo Intake Paperwork) and (Parvo Dog Treatment Sheet). You will want to make sure

you note the date of any vaccinations you did on the Intake Paperwork and all other relevant

information.

Treatment

Each time you go to treat the parvo dogs you will want to look through all the patients and

see if there are any that need to be taken care of sooner than others based on their

appearance, the amount & type of feces & vomit present in their room. ALWAYS wash your

hands between patients. This section will only discuss SQ treatment, later on we have a

section that will discuss IV treatment and the medications associated with that.

Checking patients status

Before medicating any dogs you will want to assess how they are doing & note all observed

information on their Treatment Sheet:

Weight

You don‟t have to weigh the dogs every time. You should weigh them upon in-take, and if

they are doing very poorly you may weigh them occasionally to determine exactly how much

weight they are losing.

Temperature

It is not necessary to take their exact temperature every time, though we do on the very sick

dogs. Another method of determining their approximate temperature is feeling their paws to

see if they are cool or warm. This doesn‟t always work if they have been standing on cool

tile floors their paws will be cool.

Circulation

Check the color of their gums, they should be pink. If they are gray or white their circulation

is really low. You can also do a capillary refill test by pressing your finger again their gum

for a second and lift off to see how quickly color returns. Color should return immediately

for healthy circulation, if it doesn‟t that means they are very dehydrated

Attitude

We generally measure lethargy by a few states: Semi-comatose, Lethargic, Quite and

Reactive(QAR), & Bright and Reactive(BAR). This is done just by observing the dog and their

reaction to you entering their room.

Feces & vomit

Look for feces and vomit, and note what they look like. Feces of concern are: runny, bloody,

dark. Vomit is never good, but be on the lookout for: syrupy vomit. See the below sections

on types of feces and vomit for more information.

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Signs to watch out for & how to react

Types of Feces

Bloody – This is normal for dogs with parvo, generally you want to look at how much is there

during assessment. Between the feces, vomit and urine you can get a good idea of how

many fluids have left the dog since you last saw them. You react through normal treatment.

Serumy (looks like Karol Syrup) - This means their intestines are leaking proteins. You react

to this by giving hetastarch (discussed below in the advanced treatment section).

Black – This is digested blood, and you will normally see this when the dog is getting over

parvo and their system is cleaning out.

Types of vomit

Bloody – This means there are ulcerations in their stomach. You should give them some sort

of antacid, such as Pepcid or zantac.

Bright yellow/green – This means there is too much acid in their stomach. Again you can

give them an antacid, such as Pepcid or zantac.

Watery/clear – This means you are letting them drink too much water. While it may seem

like drinking water is a good thing to rehydrate them, the dog doesn‟t know how much water

is enough so will over drink and vomit. Instead of giving plain water, mix with wet or dry

food and then the dog won‟t drink as much plus they will be getting some nutrients from the

food.

Abscess

Caused by Baytril not being absorbed and or diluted enough. If you see this, you will want

to make sure you are giving Baytril with Plain Lactated Ringers and also changing up the

locations that you are giving other medications. If you see an Abscess forming, do not

administer more Baytril to the same location, change to somewhere else.

Preparing & administering medications

Generally speaking, dogs will receive Baytril, Polyflex and Metoclopromide until they are

starting to eat a good amount again. Once they are eating, we swap them over to

Metronidazole. If the dogs are very sick they will get more and that is discussed in the

advanced treatment section.

Plain Lactated Ringer

Dosage amount

100cc for every 10lbs of body weight, 2 to 3 times per day.

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Administering

First check that the dog is absorbing fluids from previous treatments. If they are not, you will

want to lower the amount of fluids given or skip fluids for one treatment. To check that, you

look for a „sack‟ of fluids that is under their skin.

Connect a clean 18 gauge needle to the end of the line on the LRS bag. If you are giving

the dog Baytril with other medications you will want to bring a second clean needle to

change out between the Baytril injection and the others.

Note how much fluid is in the bag currently, and where it will be at once you give the correct

amount of fluids, it can be helpful to make a line with a permanent marker.

Then you will lift up a „tent‟ of skin, basically scruff the dog, between the shoulder blades

and push the needle into the skin.

Open up the line so and check that the bag is flowing, you may need to move the needle

around a bit to get a good flow.

If you need to give Baytril and other medications, then you‟d do the Baytril first then close off

the line after at least 20cc of LRS and replace the needle with a new clean one. Make a

„tent‟ of skin in a different location and inject under the skin, open the line again until the

desired amount of fluids has been given.

When you are giving SQ medications (Baytril, Polyflex, etc) you can inject them into the LRS

line so that they go in with the LRS. See below for recommendations on when to give the

various medications with the LRS.

Baytril

Dosage amount

1cc for every 10lbs of body weight, once per day.

Administering

Baytril is always given SQ (NEVER IV) and must be accompanied by at least 20cc of plain LRS

or it will cause an abscess. If there are other SQ medications, the Baytril must be injected in

a different location than the others. We generally give Baytril first and then set the SQ line

to a different location. Draw up the proper amount of Baytril into a syringe and inject into

the IV line when giving at least 20cc of LRS.

Metoclopromide (Reglan)

Dosage amount

0.5cc for every 10lbs of body weight, 2 to 3 times per day depending on amount of vomit.

15

Administering

Draw up the proper amount of Metoclopromide and when giving LRS, inject into the IV line.

You can give this as quickly as you want when giving with LRS.

Polyflex

Dosage amount

0.5cc for every 10lbs of body weight, 2 to 3 times per day depending on how sick they are.

Administering

Polyflex is always given SQ (NEVER IV)! Prior to drawing up the Polyflex, you will want to

shake the bottle vigorously to ensure it is well mixed. Polyflex also stings, so we recommend

this is one of the last medications you give to the dog. Draw up the proper amount of

Polyflex and when giving the LRS inject into the IV line.

Strongid

Dosage amount

1.0cc for every 10lbs of body weight, once after they are eating again.

Administering

Without a needle on a syringe, draw up the proper amount of Strongid and give to the dog

orally. It is best to give it in smaller amounts, 1-2cc at a time, if they are getting a larger

dose so they have time to swallow it.

Metronidazole

Dosage amount

125mg for every 10lbs of body weight, once per day for 3 days after they are eating again.

Administering

If required break the pill in half or forth so that it is the right amount of medication for the

dogs size. If the dog isn‟t too squirmy you can pinch your forefinger and thumb on either

side of the dogs mouth to get them to open and then drop the pill into the back of their

throat. Hold the dogs mouth shut, with their nose in the air and massage the dogs throat.

You can also gently blow on the dogs nose. Wait to see that the dog swallows. You can

also put the pill into a treat or wet food and get the dog to eat it that way.

Cleaning up their room

You‟ll want to make sure to pickup any solid poop with toilet paper and flush it down the

toilet. Using a towel and a parvocidal cleaner to wipe up any diarrhea from the floor and

wipe up any diarrhea from the sheets. Replace all their dirty sheets with fresh ones. If they

have any toys that are dirty you will want to replace those too. Place all their dirty laundry &

toys in the washer (or dirty laundry hamper to wash later).

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Post-Treatment

When to test & testing

When a dog has been active and responsive for treatments, eating solid food, drinking

water, has had solid formed feces, and no vomit for two consecutive shifts then the dog is ok

to test.

The SNAP tests have instructions on them so you should review them in case they change

between when this document was written and when you are testing.

Cleaning the puppy and their room

After your dog is parvo free you are ready to remove them from the parvo ward and get

them ready to be adopted. When removing a dog from the parvo ward you have to be very

mindful of not contaminating areas outside. Our washtub for the dogs is outside of our

parvo ward so we follow a few procedures that can be helpful depending on how your area

is setup:

Setup a clean crate with some bedding/towels (non-parvo ward ones) inside.

Get a clean towel (non-parvo ward one) to dry the dog after he is bathed. Also get a

clean hospital gown (non-parvo ward one).

Roll up scrub pants to your knees so they are not dragging on the ground and take

off parvo shoes.

Have a tub filled with a parvocidal cleaner to disinfect your feet.

Have the shampoo, nailclippers, and toothbrush ready at the wash tub, and make

sure the water is warm.

Remove any collar from the dog

o You can soak it in a bowl of 30parts water: 1part bleach if it is not too dirty

while you bathe the dog.

o I the collar is soiled, place in the parvo dirty laundry. (make sure to keep any

tags that belong to the dog with their paperwork)

Pickup the puppy from the parvo ward and carry him/her to the washtub. Make sure

to step completely into the footbath on your way outside of the ward. Set the puppy

in the washtub. We have a leash in the tub that we put around them to prevent them

from jumping out.

Thoroughly wash the dog with shampoo from head to toe including anal area, ear

tips, mouth, and feet.

Use toe clipper to clip off the very tips of the toe nails

Use toothbrush to scrub the pads, tops of each nail, and underneath each nail.

Rinse and re-wash the dog from head to toe again with shampoo.

Put on the clean hospital gown so that when you pickup the puppy he/she isn‟t

touching your parvo clothes.

Dry off the puppy with the clean towel you have set aside.

17

Place them in their crate after they are dried off, you may need to give them extra

towels to keep them warm if they are particularly small or young.

Spray off all their paperwork & any collar tags that were removed from dirty collar

with a parvocidal cleaner and place on top of crate.

Your puppy is now ready to be picked up and processed into your adoption program!

Next is cleaning up their room so it is ready for your next patient:

Much like you do during your regular treatment days, you will pick up all solid poop

with a paper towel and flush in the toilet.

Wipe up all liquids with a towel and place the towel in the wash.

Sweep up all food, lint, hair, etc into a dustpan and place in trash.

Fill a bucket/sink with 1in of warm water and soap, and use a mop to put soapy

water all over the floor in the room.

Mop up sections at a time and squeeze into the sink.

Caked on poop you will need a scrapper to scrape it off (clean the scrapper

afterward).

Once everything has been cleaned, spray Rocall on every surface and let it sit & air

dry.

Use 409 on windows inside/out.

How to deal with deceased dogs

This will be one of the toughest parts of having a parvo ward. Losing a puppy is never

pleasant, but unfortunately it will happen. The one piece of advice we can give you is that

while you may lose some, your parvo ward is saving a lot of lives and giving so many dogs a

second chance. Our protocol for deceased dogs is the following:

Ensure the dog is deceased.

Get a clean towel and place the dog on it.

With clean hands get a clean bag (we normally have a few of those thicker black

garbage bags), place the dog in the bag being careful not to let the outside of the

bag touch any poopy areas on the floor.

Seal the bag and place the bag in a cleaner area of the parvo ward (we use our

kitchen area)

With clean hands get a second bag, bring the dog in the first bag to a clean area and

place inside the second bag.

Wash hands and seal second bag

Spray outside of bag with parvocidal cleaner and set bag outside of parvo ward in a

tub or in a crate.

Label the bag with any sort of shelter identification number and its name.

Write died on patient paperwork, and put paperwork in whichever bin you use for

processing dogs into your pet database.

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We drop our deceased dogs to the local city shelter and let the know their shelter#,

and make sure they are aware the dog was parvo positive so they are extra careful to

not contaminate their shelter.

General Parvo ward best practices

This section is best practices to use on a daily basis to avoid spreading parvo outside of your

designated ward area. You should ready through all of these and incorporate them in your

own ward, along with putting up any friendly reminder signs for your parvo team to

remember.

Clean room for entering & exiting the ward

Our parvo ward has an entrance with a footwash tub that we keep filled with about an inch

of parvocidal cleaner, along with some clothes hooks to hang our street clothes up when

changing into scrubs.

Entrance:

o Step inside door and no further.

o Take off street clothes including socks.

o Step across tape line and put on scrub top and bottom.

o Put on clogs/parvo shoes.

o Do not step near door/sink again in these clothes.

Exit:

o Remove scrub tops and bottoms and shoes BEFORE crossing tape line into

door/sink area.

o Step into door/sink area and wash hands in sink by door.

o Put on street clothes.

o Use bottle of disinfectant to pour a little in the foot bath then walk out through

foot bath

o Make sure both feet step firmly in foot bath disinfectant then lock door and

leave.

Parvo ward specific clothes & shoes

It is recommended you have clothes that stay in your parvo ward to be used in there. We

have a lot of scrubs in ours which can be purchased at thrift stores for not very much. We

also have a couple pairs of shoes. We find the rubber clogs (like crocs) are good as they

clean easily if they end up getting messy. You will want to wash these fairly regularly, or if

they get visible poop on them you should also wash them.

Washing hands between patients

Always wash your hands thoroughly between each patient. This will prevent other diseases

from passing between patients. If you have any ringworm or mange pups it is also a good

idea to spray off your clothes with Roccal or Oxivir after handling those dogs.

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Daily inventory

Depending on if you have a medical clinic you may or may not have access to additional

medications. At Austin Pets Alive we keep a majority of our medications in our medical clinic

and when we run low on certain medications in the parvo ward we let the clinic know. We

take an inventory of all our medications every shift (twice a day) to make sure the following

shift will have enough medications to treat all the patients, it also lets us know when we are

getting low on certain medications and can let the medical clinic know. If they end up

needing to order meds to restore our stock, the daily inventory helps them know in advance.

Laundry

Keeping on top of laundry is very important in the parvo ward. Since a lot of the sheets and

towels are soiled with fecal matter you want to make sure those gets washed ASAP to

attracting flys. Unless we have very critical patients, we try to start a load of laundry at the

begging of each shift. We also make sure the dryer and washer are off before leaving to

avoid any fires. Here are our washing and drying check lists:

Washer:

o Do not overload washing machine

o Make sure towels are evenly distributed to avoid washer stopping.

o Use ¼ cup detergent and ¼ cup bleach

o Set cycle to 4 minutes.

Dryer:

o Clean lint filter each time

o Push on to start and open door to stop

o Dryer will not stop on its own so make sure stopped before leaving for the

shift.

General Cleaning

Dishes

You‟ll want to keep dishes clean between dogs. Wash them well with a sponge and liquid

soap. If a dog‟s dish has poop or pee on it you should wash it off.

Hallways & kitchen area

It is a good idea to clean the common area where you prepare medications, do laundry,

wash dishes, etc on a regular basis (once per week). We do the following:

Sweep and collect in dustbin then put in trash.

Mop with warm soapy water to decrease spread of virus starting near door and

working inward towards dryer then into kitchen/storage area (start in cleanest area

first and move to dirtiest).

Spray all floor surfaces with a parvocidal cleaner and let dry.

Spray the dryer, fridge, washer, and toilet with a parvocidal cleaner (in that order)

and wipe with rag, then wash rag used to clean these surfaces in washer.

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Trash & Recycling

You‟ll inevitably get a lot of trash and recycling inside your parvo ward. You will always

want to be extra careful when removing both from the parvo ward to avoid contaminating

any outside areas. Here are our disposal procedures:

Trash:

o When bag is full, remove from can and set on clean floor area. Continue to

fill bag until truly full. Replace bag in can (if out, there are more in other

bathroom).

o Tie up full bag of trash and spray entire outside with a parvocidal cleaner

including bottom of bag and ties. Then set in clean area of entrance.

o When finished with parvo care, take bag to trash can being careful not to set

down on any surfaces or rub up against things on way out. Trash should be

taken out right before trash pickup to prevent raccoons from getting into the

trash. (reminder: some forms of the canine parvovirus can infect raccoons).

Recycling:

o When box is full, spray outside of box with a parvocidal cleaner and set near

entrance so it can be put out in recycling area on Wednesday night for pick up

on Thursday (our recycling pickup day).

Expanding your Parvo program

Once you get the procedure of caring for parvo puppies down, you may want to look at

expanding your program so you can take in and care for more parvo puppies. Expanding

your program can come in a few different areas:

The first of which would be getting a team together so that you always have someone that

has been trained to cover all the shifts required for caring for your dogs. We also notice in

Austin that there are busy seasons for parvo puppies, so having a team will help to treat

more dogs during that time.

If you have the space and resources, you can also look into building a parvo ward from the

ground up to meet all the requirements.

And finally there are some more advanced treatment methods for parvo puppies that require

more medical knowledge and a vet/vettech to help with. These treatment methods will

increase your survival rate greatly, especially for puppies that are very sick.

Building and training a team of volunteers

APA! has had great success with volunteers with no medical background, so do not limit

yourself when you are looking to increase the size of your team. You will hopefully have a

volunteer recruiting team built up (see other handbook on building a volunteer team for

better details), you should utilize this to get people interested in the team.

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Training

Training should be very hands on, we recommend the embedded learning method of “Watch

one, Do one, Teach one”.

Have your new volunteer watch you perform a specific procedure on one of the dogs, be

sure to explain each step that you are taking and why the step is important:

Assess the dog

Draw up the medications

Give the medications

Make relevant notes and observations on the medical chart.

On the next dog have your new volunteer perform all the procedure. If the other dog ends

up requiring additional medications you should step in to show them those only. Encourage

them to ask clarifying questions and try to let them figure everything out on their own, but

definitely step in if you see them about to make a mistake.

On their second or third training session, have the new volunteer teach the procedure to you

or if you or someone else. This will help them remember not only what they are doing with

each step but why each step is taken.

One thing to note about the Austin Pets Alive volunteer team is that they are not required to

calculate dosage amounts for the animals. All of that is done by the medical team on a daily

basis and dosage amounts required are written on the chart for the volunteer to follow.

Building a dedicated parvo ward

Clean room

When building out a parvo ward, the clean room is a very important part so that you can

properly disinfect before leave the ward and avoid spreading the virus to other parts of your

shelter. Our clean room has a door to the outside and a curtain to the ward so that people

can change out of their street clothes and into the parvo scrubs in privacy. We also have a

sink to wash our hands before changing back into our street clothes. And also have a foot

wash tub that we put a parvocidal cleaner into, and step into the tub before leaving the

ward. The clean room also has a spray bottle of parvocidal cleaner to spray off your feet,

hands, etc so you can be extra careful. Another crucial part of the clean room is having a

designated “street clothes” area and a designated “parvo area. We have a line of tape on

the floor that we never let parvo clothes, shoes, etc cross.

Washer & Dryer

Having a washer and dryer inside of the ward helps immensely with doing laundry regularly

and not having to bring laundry outside of your parvo ward.

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Separate rooms

Having separate rooms with glass doors or at least windows on the doors is another good

thing to consider. Windows or glass doors allow you to do a quick patient check without

having to go into each room. The separate rooms also allow you to prevent the spread of

other various diseases between the dogs.

Sink & Toilet

A sink with a garbage disposal is nice when washing dishes and will help prevent the sink

from getting clogged by food, not to mention a sink also lets you wash your hands between

each patient using anti-bacterial soap. A toilet is good to dispose of toilet paper that you

use to pick up feces with to prevent spreading the virus outside of the ward area.

Advanced treatment methods

For pretty much every one of the advanced treatments you will need someone (a vet or vet

tech) that has been trained in putting in and monitoring IV catheters.

IV catheters

IV catheters are fragile, so when disconnecting the IV line to administer any medications via

IV you will want to be very careful not to pull on the catheter when disconnecting the line.

This can cause the catheter to come out of the vein and then all medications would be going

under the skin (sq) instead. When administering IV medications always keep an eye on the

catheter area for swelling. If swelling occurs, stop IV medications and contact your trained

professional to come look at the catheter and possibly set it again.

IV Medications

Heparin

This is an anticoagulant (blood thinner) that prevents the formation of blood clots. It is used

to flush the IV catheters when there is a clot formed and the pump or IV drip is no longer

flowing properly.

Dosage amount

Never inject straight Heparin into a dog! To create a “flush”, get a 3cc syringe and pull in

about 0.5cc of Heparin from the vial. With the syringe needle pointing upward push all the

air and heparin back into the medicine vial. You only need the amount of Heparin that is

left in the tip of the syringe. After that you fill the syringe with plain Lactated Ringer solution

(we normally have a bag hanging above the sink that is labeled “For Flush only” to create

flushes for the dogs)

Administering

To un-clot an IV, get your 3cc flush syringe and connect it to the IV catheter. See if you can

push the liquid in, if that works then reconnect the IV line and see if the drip/pump starts

flowing again. If simply pushing liquid into the catheter doesn‟t work you can try „plunging‟

which is attempting to push liquid in and also pulling liquid out. You may see some blood

come into the syringe with this. That generally means the clot is gone and you should be

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able to push liquid in easily. Try connecting the IV drip/pump again. We also use the flush

between each IV medication to ensure it doesn‟t drip out of the catheter between

medications.

Ampicillin

This is the IV equivalent of Polyflex (listed above in the normal treatment section). It is clear

instead of the vicious white fluid of Polyflex. Just like Polyflex this comes in a vial with dry

powder that you have to reconstitute with sterile water.

Dosage amount

100mg (cc amount depends on the fluid amount used when reconstituting the dried powder)

for every 10lbs of body weight, 2-3 times per day.

Administering

IV only.

Anzemet

This is a long acting anti-vomit that is used in addition to the reglan if there is lots of

vomiting occurring.

Dosage amount

0.15cc for every 10lbs of body weight, once per day.

Administering

SQ or IV.

Zantac

An antacide

Dosage amount

0.5 cc for every 10lbs of body weight, once per day.

Administering

Hetastarch

It is a starch derivative that is used as a plasma volume expander. Used to help circulation.

Dosage amount

10 to 20mL per kg per day

Administering

Given IV only!

Dextrose

Sterile sugars for low blood sugar

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Dosage amount

It comes at 50% strength in the bottle. You want to dilute into IV fluids to get the dextrose to

5% strength.

Administering

Given via IV pump or drip.

Nutrical

A high-calorie dietary supplement that is brown and viscous. It‟s used to increase a dog‟s

blood sugar and energy when they have not been eating for a while

Dosage amount

follow bottle instructions - used when they can hold it down & for longer parvo cases to get

their blood sugar and protein levels up

Administering

Without a needle on a syringe, draw up the proper amount of Strongid and give to the dog

orally. It is best to give it in smaller amounts, 1-2cc at a time, if they are getting a larger

dose so they have time to swallow it.

IV Fluid Bags

We generally mix our IV bags of plain lactated ringers, 5% strength dextrose, 3cc per L of

reglan, 20mEq per bag of KCL/Potassium Chloride.

Normal infusion rate is 20mL per hour per 10lbs of body weight, up to 50mL per hour per

10lbs of body weight.

IV Bolus Treatment

This is used for very dehydrated dogs to get them extra fluids into their system. It is just plain

LRS given via an IV drip over about an hour. 100mL per 10lbs of body weight. Since it is

possible to over hydrate a dog, you will want to monitor this to ensure you don‟t give too

many fluids. You can either pay close attention to the IV drip while giving the dog some

extra attention/love. Or if you have to step away make sure the bag only has the amount

you need to administer so no more is given if you don‟t return on time.

Learning from mistakes and overcoming roadblocks

Chester‟s story

He had jugular catheter, and the catheter came out of the vein so IV

medications were going under the skin including Dextrose. This caused

the skin to slough off (as pictured). While seeing this on a jugular

catheter is difficult, it was a reminder that we need to pay attention when

administering IV medications if there is any swelling around that area.

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That means the catheter has come out of the vein. It was also another great reminder on

why you never give Dextrose or Hetastarch SQ. Again if you observe swelling when

administering IV medications, then stop treatment and contact your vet/vettech to come

check out the catheter.

Tina and Pepper‟s story

Tina was hit by parvo pretty bad and ended up passing

away under our care. Her siblings were lucky to not get

hit as bad by parvo and made it out fine. Pepper came

into the parvo ward shortly after Tina, and she was

reacting very similarly to Tina. Our team knew if we

didn‟t act quickly we could lose her too. We were lucky

to have some plasma that had been donated to APA!

when a few of our dogs had heat stroke, so Pepper

received 3 plasma transfusions along with Hetastarch, Dextrose, etc to make sure she had

everything she needed to stay hydrated and fight off parvo. Some of our staff would stay the

night to ensure her IV pump was running and getting her the medications she required.

IV pumps woes

Another lesson that has been learned, our IV pumps have had issues where they clog up

overnight and the dogs were not getting their fluids. This was due to the IV lines being

placed where they normally are, in the middle of the arm. Because the catheter may reach

close to the elbow, when the dogs lies down to sleep it kinks the line and stops the pump.

Instead we place the catheters closer to the dogs wrist area so it isn‟t as likely to kink when

the dog bends its arm.

Forms & Documents used by Austin Pets Alive

This section shows what our typical forms look like. Look in the Parvo directory on your

media CD to get easy to print versions of all of these forms.

Patient in-take form

We fill out this form on in-take so that we can enter him into our pet database (Pet Point)

and once the dog comes out of the ward we update the database with all his medical

information.

Daily patient medical form

Our vet staff comes in to evaluate the dogs on a daily basis, and will fill out which

medications they recommend for them. The volunteer team follows these recommendations,

and if they notice anything odd with the dog during the assessment portion they will notify

the medical team and will sometimes be told to administer additional medications. This is

noted on the chart as well under the notes section.

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IV pump log

We created this since our pumps were getting clogged overnight. Each shift writes down the

rate of infusion, along with what current to be infused number is. Then if someone comes in

one the next shift and the pump is clogged and not running they can determine how long

the pump was running before it was clogged and how long the dog has been without

additional fluids.

Inventory sheet

We fill this out after each shift to ensure that the next shift won‟t be missing any important

supplies or medications. If anything is missing we notify the medical clinic to get stocked up,

or in the case of food & cleaning supplies we can get those from outside of the parvo ward

and set them near the door before we leave.

Volunteer Schedule Sheet

Our volunteer lead sends this sheet out weekly to let people know what their schedule is.

Post Parvo Hand-out

This is given to owners that come to us for treatment of their parvo dogs so that they are well

informed on what they dog had and how to monitor their health and avoid spreading to

other dogs.

Date post:	21-Jan-2016
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