My Pup Has Parvovirus

[raz]

ahh right I didnt realise they required a blood transfusion. I havent had any experience with the disease.

I'll be keeping an eye on your thread and hoping for positive updates. She's a gorgeous little dog.

[Kirislin]

Best wishes for Zoey, I'm hoping she is hanging in there and fighting this bloody awful disease off.

[megan_]

A little OT but $2000 - $4000 for treatment of parvo sounds completely ridiculous and I am gobsmacked that a vet would charge so much for it. If she pulls through I would search for another vet to use in the future who is more reasonably priced.

I must say I'm pretty gobsmacked at that price and variation as well. What's the breakdown of costs out of curiosity?

All the best for your little pup.

If it is a 24/7 hospital (the only type I'd let my dog stay at overnight) then that price is very reasonable.

When my boy was sick with extreme gastro I landed up paying just shy of $4000. Running a 24/7 facility with the right equipment and vets present all the time is very expensice.

[raz]

If it is a 24/7 hospital (the only type I'd let my dog stay at overnight) then that price is very reasonable.

When my boy was sick with extreme gastro I landed up paying just shy of $4000. Running a 24/7 facility with the right equipment and vets present all the time is very expensice.

Yep sure. I've had three of mine in intensive care (eta not for parvo) and I know how exy it is but didnt know anything about parvo treatment. How long does it usually take for recovery while on full treatment?

Edited March 30, 2011 by raz

[Baileys mum]

Sending prayers & best wishes that Zoey beats this horrible disease.

She looks like a beautiful puppy.

[Fordogs]

Prayers and good wishes for Joey's recovery.

[W Sibs]

sending healing vibes for your gorgeous pup, Zoey.

to you too

[Lollipup]

Hoping and praying for little Zoey. She is beautiful. Hugs to you

[huga]

Fingers crossed.

Parvo is such a devastating disease.

[OSoSwift]

I really hope your puppy pulls through for you.

I have nursed parvo dogs/puppies and whilst some haven't made it, many have. Do not give up on your little girl just yet.

Goodluck Zoey.

[Remarkabull]

A little OT but $2000 - $4000 for treatment of parvo sounds completely ridiculous and I am gobsmacked that a vet would charge so much for it. If she pulls through I would search for another vet to use in the future who is more reasonably priced.

I must say I'm pretty gobsmacked at that price and variation as well. What's the breakdown of costs out of curiosity?

All the best for your little pup.

If it is a 24/7 hospital (the only type I'd let my dog stay at overnight) then that price is very reasonable.

When my boy was sick with extreme gastro I landed up paying just shy of $4000. Running a 24/7 facility with the right equipment and vets present all the time is very expensice.

When my dog had parvo she was in hospital for 6 days, no blood transfusion needed (have not ever heard of that one) and it cost me $600. I have worked for a number of vets over the years and have never heard of parvo treatment going over $1000. I have also never seen a case that required a blood transfusion . Treatment is IV fluids and not much else (or was in the places I worked). Nearly all dogs\pups survived and those that didn't were either too far gone when they were brought in or were not very healthy pups to begin with.

[megan_]

When my dog had parvo she was in hospital for 6 days, no blood transfusion needed (have not ever heard of that one) and it cost me $600. I have worked for a number of vets over the years and have never heard of parvo treatment going over $1000. I have also never seen a case that required a blood transfusion . Treatment is IV fluids and not much else (or was in the places I worked). Nearly all dogs\pups survived and those that didn't were either too far gone when they were brought in or were not very healthy pups to begin with.

was the dog at a 24/7 facility with a vet always present though? Did the dog stay overnight?

By your prices, they charged $100/day, including all treatment. I have never heard of a hospital charging that little these days (not questioning the truth, just saying I don't think a place could operate these days and charge so little). When my boy went to hospital, it was over $300 per night before ANY treatment. That was covering his boarding and staffing fees.

[Trisven13]

When my dog had parvo she was in hospital for 6 days, no blood transfusion needed (have not ever heard of that one) and it cost me $600. I have worked for a number of vets over the years and have never heard of parvo treatment going over $1000. I have also never seen a case that required a blood transfusion . Treatment is IV fluids and not much else (or was in the places I worked). Nearly all dogs\pups survived and those that didn't were either too far gone when they were brought in or were not very healthy pups to begin with.

That is my experience too. One of the members of ADR had a pup come down with parvo and she opted to treat it - it was less than $1,000.00 and the pup spent about 5-6 days at the vet. The major treatment was IV fluids.

Every dog I've known of that has been treated for parvo has survived - bearing in mind that when I was at the helm of ADR our general plan of attack was to not treat parvo due to the after care required as well as the cost.

If my own dog had parvo I would treat it and expect that it would get quite sick but survive.

[Remarkabull]

When my dog had parvo she was in hospital for 6 days, no blood transfusion needed (have not ever heard of that one) and it cost me $600. I have worked for a number of vets over the years and have never heard of parvo treatment going over $1000. I have also never seen a case that required a blood transfusion . Treatment is IV fluids and not much else (or was in the places I worked). Nearly all dogs\pups survived and those that didn't were either too far gone when they were brought in or were not very healthy pups to begin with.

was the dog at a 24/7 facility with a vet always present though? Did the dog stay overnight?

By your prices, they charged $100/day, including all treatment. I have never heard of a hospital charging that little these days (not questioning the truth, just saying I don't think a place could operate these days and charge so little). When my boy went to hospital, it was over $300 per night before ANY treatment. That was covering his boarding and staffing fees.

She stayed there for 6 days, including overnight. It was the only vet in the whole town, One of the vets lived on the premises, and would check on patients overnight (if any of them were deemed serious enough to warrant it), no boarding fees were charged, she was a patient not a boarder. The only treatment she required for the first few days was the changing of her IV and cleaning of her cage, which is left up to the nurses, vet only looked at her twice a day, as would be the case in most clinics. Once it was clear she had improved and was likely to survive she received a couple of injections and on the second last day a small amount of food. Hardly worth $2000-$4000 IMO. I'm sure the cost of IV fluids has gone up since then but I seriously doubt that a vet needs to charge thousands of dollars to cover the cost of them.

The thing is with Parvo and gastro there is not alot that anyone can do once they are on fluids, so having a vet there 24 hours a day is not going to up the chances of survival.

If it was a different kind of illness or injury then having staff there 24/7 might be a plus worth paying for.

[megan_]

then I think we're talking about completely different places. The hospital that I took my dog to - and I assume is similar to the OP's case - is a proper hospital. It has a x-ray machines, on site pathology (so no need to wait overnight in an emergency), specialists, a few vet nurses and a vet physically present 24/7. Everything you could possibly need to treat a dog is there and many vets refer complex cases to them.

To run this kind of facility is very expensive and I think the costs are justified in light of this.

Does a dog need to go there for parvo? Once it is diagnosed maybe not, but where I am you either have a vet that closes at 6pm on weeknights and leaves your dog unattended at night or you go to a hospital. My boy got sick on a Sunday morning and they were the only facility open at 5.30am.

But this is all OT. To the OP - I hope your dog gets better soon.

[Remarkabull]

then I think we're talking about completely different places. The hospital that I took my dog to - and I assume is similar to the OP's case - is a proper hospital. It has a x-ray machines, on site pathology (so no need to wait overnight in an emergency), specialists, a few vet nurses and a vet physically present 24/7. Everything you could possibly need to treat a dog is there and many vets refer complex cases to them.

To run this kind of facility is very expensive and I think the costs are justified in light of this.

Does a dog need to go there for parvo? Once it is diagnosed maybe not, but where I am you either have a vet that closes at 6pm on weeknights and leaves your dog unattended at night or you go to a hospital. My boy got sick on a Sunday morning and they were the only facility open at 5.30am.

But this is all OT. To the OP - I hope your dog gets better soon.

What is a 'proper' hospital?

The clinic my dog went to also had x-ray machines (I know because I had to develop the films when I worked there), it also had equipment for pathology. I said it was the only clinic in town, not that it was a run down, shoddy second rate clinic.

I don't think that the fact that the so called 'proper' hospital has someone there 24/7 or that it has lot's of equipment is a good enough reason to over charge people for what is essentially fairly basic treatment. They would not need to use any of it to treat the dog in question so why should the owner have to pay for them having it?

I will add that a few months after I started working at this clinic I brought in a friends dog for treatment of Parvo and told the vet that I would be paying for it as my friend could not afford the $600 and the vet then told me that I could just cover the cost of the bags of fluid used and any drugs given. When said dog was released a few days later and I asked how much I owed them I was told that $100 would more than cover the costs.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

then I think we're talking about completely different places. The hospital that I took my dog to - and I assume is similar to the OP's case - is a proper hospital. It has a x-ray machines, on site pathology (so no need to wait overnight in an emergency), specialists, a few vet nurses and a vet physically present 24/7. Everything you could possibly need to treat a dog is there and many vets refer complex cases to them.

To run this kind of facility is very expensive and I think the costs are justified in light of this.

Does a dog need to go there for parvo? Once it is diagnosed maybe not, but where I am you either have a vet that closes at 6pm on weeknights and leaves your dog unattended at night or you go to a hospital. My boy got sick on a Sunday morning and they were the only facility open at 5.30am.

But this is all OT. To the OP - I hope your dog gets better soon.

What is a 'proper' hospital?

The clinic my dog went to also had x-ray machines (I know because I had to develop the films when I worked there), it also had equipment for pathology. I said it was the only clinic in town, not that it was a run down, shoddy second rate clinic.

I don't think that the fact that the so called 'proper' hospital has someone there 24/7 or that it has lot's of equipment is a good enough reason to over charge people for what is essentially fairly basic treatment. They would not need to use any of it to treat the dog in question so why should the owner have to pay for them having it?

I will add that a few months after I started working at this clinic I brought in a friends dog for treatment of Parvo and told the vet that I would be paying for it as my friend could not afford the $600 and the vet then told me that I could just cover the cost of the bags of fluid used and any drugs given. When said dog was released a few days later and I asked how much I owed them I was told that $100 would more than cover the costs.

Your vet was very generous. The costs did not cover any rent of property, nor use of equipment nor staff time which all adds up to the cost of the bill.

[Kavik]

If it was a specialist/emergency clinic with vets and nurses there 24 hrs a day, it will be more expensive than staying at your local vet for treatment. They are more expensive.

[Remarkabull]

then I think we're talking about completely different places. The hospital that I took my dog to - and I assume is similar to the OP's case - is a proper hospital. It has a x-ray machines, on site pathology (so no need to wait overnight in an emergency), specialists, a few vet nurses and a vet physically present 24/7. Everything you could possibly need to treat a dog is there and many vets refer complex cases to them.

To run this kind of facility is very expensive and I think the costs are justified in light of this.

Does a dog need to go there for parvo? Once it is diagnosed maybe not, but where I am you either have a vet that closes at 6pm on weeknights and leaves your dog unattended at night or you go to a hospital. My boy got sick on a Sunday morning and they were the only facility open at 5.30am.

But this is all OT. To the OP - I hope your dog gets better soon.

What is a 'proper' hospital?

The clinic my dog went to also had x-ray machines (I know because I had to develop the films when I worked there), it also had equipment for pathology. I said it was the only clinic in town, not that it was a run down, shoddy second rate clinic.

I don't think that the fact that the so called 'proper' hospital has someone there 24/7 or that it has lot's of equipment is a good enough reason to over charge people for what is essentially fairly basic treatment. They would not need to use any of it to treat the dog in question so why should the owner have to pay for them having it?

I will add that a few months after I started working at this clinic I brought in a friends dog for treatment of Parvo and told the vet that I would be paying for it as my friend could not afford the $600 and the vet then told me that I could just cover the cost of the bags of fluid used and any drugs given. When said dog was released a few days later and I asked how much I owed them I was told that $100 would more than cover the costs.

Your vet was very generous. The costs did not cover any rent of property, nor use of equipment nor staff time which all adds up to the cost of the bill.

They were generous, they didn't have to do that for me, but there was no real use of equipment, dog spent all day lying in a cage, staff time is fairly minimal, just cleaning of cage when needed.

What I'm getting at is that I understand that some of the larger hospitals and 24 hour emergency clinics have much higher running costs and therefore are always going to charge more than a 'normal' vet clinic but I still think that the amount quoted is so OTT and just seems like pure greediness in comparison to the care and equipment that a dog with Parvo is actually going to require.

I'm letting it go now, I'll just seethe in silence at how unjust I think it is

To the OP, I truly hope you dog gets better and you have many happy years together like I have with my old girl.

[Nadine83]

Poor Zoey I hope she fights this and comes home to you very soon! Hugs to you also. It can't be easy seeing your pup go through this.