Help!!! Our brand new puppy has parvo!

[VickiVM]

My 2 year lab mix is a Parvo survivor. We got her from our Animal Defense League about 3 months after we got another puppy from them that got kennel cough which turned into pneumonia, then died.

Unfortunately, I don't think Parvo is something that can be detected with basic check up. Lilly got sick 1 week after picking her up from the shelter. She had all her shots and check up. It can be passed from the mom.

My husband was unemployed at the time and we took Lilly to the hospital that serves the shelter and they asked if we would keep her if she got better (meaning, were we just going to abandon her because she was sick). We said, "Of course". So they treated her for a week for free. She was a little weak when we picked her up, but she's huge, mischievous and my husband's most cherished baby.

Ask your pet hospital if you can work out a payment plan with them, or if they can reduce your cost.

 

[ryan840]

Lil puppers is still hanging in there, still not sure if he'll come home tomorrow or not. He did eat this morning but hasn't since, but he hasn't had any vomiting or diarrhea since yesterday so that's good.

It looks like I don't have a choice but to finance the remaining balance (we put $350 down and will pay another $250 tomorrow) with Care Credit as my parents have helped all they can right now. I'll just have to make sure to read the fine print and keep on top of it, then pay it off as soon as possible.

I am going to argue the total cost when I pick him up, because the estimate they gave me for 3-7 days was $664 - $1380 and by day seven we were just under $2000. I did ok two plasma transfusions at $125 each that I will add to the total, and somehow figure out the price I should owe for the extra two days according to their original estimate, but to be nearly double the high end of the estimate is just crazy. Any tips for getting them to work with me on that? I do have a copy of the estimate they gave me... Whenever I ask about a payment plan they go straight to the Care Credit so they don't seem to flexible.

 

[daisy2]

One week ago today we got a boxer/lab mix puppy, around 7:00 Monday evening. He seemed fine, had a full little belly and was in great spirits, etc... I did notice while we were there that his stool was a little soft, but not knowing much about puppies I thought it might be normal. By Tuesday morning he had diarrhea and by early Tuesday afternoon he was vomiting. I took him to the vet and he has parvo, and has been in the hospital since. I couldn't just abandon him so we are stuck with the bill now He's still there but is finally doing better and will hopefully make a full recovery, but his bills are getting scary close to the $2,000 mark. I called the lady I bought him from and she claims to have taken all the other puppies to the vet and that none of them have Parvo. I don't see how that is even possible, but it doesn't change anything for us either way. I'm wondering if I have any chance of getting some compensation from her? I don't expect that I will, but I figured I better find out what MI laws are... I did look to see if we have a puppy lemon law and we don't. Since I'm not counting on seeing a dime from that and we were in no way prepared for this, I need ideas to raise some money to cover this bill! Do people do fundraisers for their pets? I feel a little weird about that... Vet bills, shots and neutering we can handle, but $2k in the first week alone: Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

(I also didn't know he was too young to leave his mama until after we got him. I hadn't done my research because I didn't plan on buying a dog, but when I saw the for sale sign I knew I was supposed to go get him. I even knew him right away out of all the other pups. I've been doing all the research after the fact, while he is in the hospital. I truly feel I was meant to find him and save him, so please don't flame me for not being prepared!)

6 wk old Romeo the night he came home- his only night with us!

Did your vet ask you where you go the puppy from because they usually want to report the breeder or owner so this doesn't happen again. She should be in trouble for this. I would ask for a bill of sale on the vet she took the puppies to and she is she can prove that she took the puppies in. I don't think you were unprepared I would of probably done the same thing Romeo is just adorable. I hope he makes a full recovery.

 

[ryan840]

They did ask but didn't go any further once I told them. I'm guessing there isn't much they can do in situations like that- I'm fairly certain she's not a breeder.

 

[IDoDis]

What a cutie! I would take the seller to small claims court. Now she may only be liable to take the puppy back and not reimburse you, but it would be worth a shot to try and see what happens.

The puppy does not look anything like a boxer, either. He really looks like a pit bull and maybe a lab mix due to the floppy ears.

Why not have a friend call the lady and act like an interested buyer. See if she still has any puppies for sale. By now their symptoms would be showing, too. Parvo is highly contagious. The incubation period is 4 to 14 days, so if the other pups haven't shown symptoms yet, they will be soon.

 

[ryan840]

Unless we stood a decent chance of recovering the money we don't really have the time to deal with taking her to court. DH is in school and I'm working, we have to take care of my parents, the pets, the kids, etc... Our life is crazy lately. That's why I posted here, just to get a feel for what kind of chance I might have- maybe someone else has been in this situation before or something.

I already asked my husband to use my dad's phone to call her tomorrow when he goes over there to take him to bowling, can't wait to hear the outcome!

 

[CathrynRose]

It looks like I don't have a choice but to finance the remaining balance (we put $350 down and will pay another $250 tomorrow) with Care Credit as my parents have helped all they can right now. I'll just have to make sure to read the fine print and keep on top of it, then pay it off as soon as possible.

I am going to argue the total cost when I pick him up, because the estimate they gave me for 3-7 days was $664 - $1380 and by day seven we were just under $2000. I did ok two plasma transfusions at $125 each that I will add to the total, and somehow figure out the price I should owe for the extra two days according to their original estimate, but to be nearly double the high end of the estimate is just crazy. Any tips for getting them to work with me on that? I do have a copy of the estimate they gave me... Whenever I ask about a payment plan they go straight to the Care Credit so they don't seem to flexible.

Cared Credit - don't be scared. I have used it twice now, granted it was for much smaller purchases (around $230-ish) and haven't had one problem. Just be careful to be sure to pay on time, and pay off before the promotional rate is gone.

And isn't it always like that? Estimate Schmestimate.

If it were me, I'd be really blunt about it. I adopted this guy on a whim, I certainly didn't expect to have to dish out so much money for him, but as animal lovers yourself you should understand what a predicament I was in. We were already in love with him, yada yada yada.... Try a little guilt. I'm not above begging when it involves *thousands* of dollars!

What a cutie! I would take the seller to small claims court. Now she may only be liable to take the puppy back and not reimburse you, but it would be worth a shot to try and see what happens.

The puppy does not look anything like a boxer, either. He really looks like a pit bull and maybe a lab mix due to the floppy ears.

Why not have a friend call the lady and act like an interested buyer. See if she still has any puppies for sale. By now their symptoms would be showing, too. Parvo is highly contagious. The incubation period is 4 to 14 days, so if the other pups haven't shown symptoms yet, they will be soon.

Both great suggestions! I'd call, too. Act like you were just driving by....

And the court thing - it is worth a shot. Small claims court is very cheap to file.

You know, Hazel has webbed feet - which is a lab trait. And her ears are pretty floppy. I wonder if she could be mixed with lab? I've thought about that before. Charley's feet aren't webbed. Random thoughts from Cat....

 

[Jey12]

I'm very sorry for your sick pup and am happy to hear he's doing better. Parvo is difficult to treat and requires around the clock treatment and expensive meds. Especially if the pup takes longer than a few days to fully recover. I wouldn't waste my time with trying to recoup expenses from the person you got him from. Unless you and she both signed a buyer/seller contract that had a health guarentee you are just going to be wasting your time and money. It's very possible that there are other pups in the litter that aren't showing symptoms. Some puppies seem to have enough immunity from mom at this age to protect them, while others do not. As a PP has stated there is a fairly wide incubation period so other pups might have it and won't be showing any symptoms as of yet.

It sure doesn't hurt to ask and be an informed consumer. You can ask for a detailed bill and look over what was done on what day. Talk to the Dr. about your concerns, but I sure wouldn't go in there with the "I'm going to argue this bill" thinking. Be open to explanation and in return often the Dr. is open to help you out a bit if they can. Care Credit is easy to work with and as long as you pay on time every month there shouldn't be much trouble. Veterinary employees do love animals, but like everyone else they do need to be paid at the end of the week. As a veterinary tech. trust me when I say I will give 150% to caring for your animal, but treating your pet as if it were my own doesn't pay my mortage or feed my child. Eventhough it does make my job most days so rewarding those silly bills keep showing up in my mailbox. I'm sure you have every intention to pay, but sadly so many others didn't and wouldn't. Vets have had to change their policies so they can keep their doors open in order to care for your pets. Don't be upset with the vet, be upset with the many others who didn't pay their bills before you had to walk through that door. They can't in all fairness accomodate for one and not others. It just isn't good business. It sounds like the vet did a great job in treating your pet. Parvo often isn't a survivable disease and all too often has a much different outcome. It also doesn't hurt to ask if something can be shaved off here or there.

Another thing with parvo is you'll need to disenfect all bedding, toys and bowls your puppy used. Using a diulted bleach cleaner where it's safe. If your pup was ever outside in your yard you will have parvo in your yard. There's no known way to kill it in the ground 100%. It can withstand extreme tempuratures and can live for well over a year in the ground. Do not get another puppy for a few years that is not already fully vaccinated. I would highly discourage friends from bringing over unvaccinated puppies as well. Also once you get this cutie home and he's healthy and doing great, make sure you follow the vet's reccomendations on when to get him vaccinated. He won't be able to get parvo again, but his lowered immune system will make him more likely to pick up the multitude of other preventable diseases like distemper. I personally have 2 parvo survivors who inhabit my couch most of the day. One is going to be 12 here soon and the other 10. Both were abandoned by their original owners due to their parvo bill, and have led a very cushy healthy life since then. Once you get your little guy home, you should hopefully have the next 12 plus years together to get past this little bump at the start. I won't flame you for not being a prepared pet owner. I too have made impulse buys, and although I wouldn't have done what you did. I am sure I have bought things on a whim that you wouldn't have. It's just great that yours seems to be having such a happy ending.

 

[scbelleatheart]

What a cutie! I would take the seller to small claims court. Now she may only be liable to take the puppy back and not reimburse you, but it would be worth a shot to try and see what happens.

The puppy does not look anything like a boxer, either. He really looks like a pit bull and maybe a lab mix due to the floppy ears.

Why not have a friend call the lady and act like an interested buyer. See if she still has any puppies for sale. By now their symptoms would be showing, too. Parvo is highly contagious. The incubation period is 4 to 14 days, so if the other pups haven't shown symptoms yet, they will be soon.

You do realize boxers have their ears cut and put in splints to make them stand up? ( along with the tails cut at the 2nd or 3rd joint) If you saw a boxer without the surgery, they do have floppy ears and longer tails. This pup's jaws and chest are not wide enough and it's eyes are not set wide enough. Not trying to tell you dog standards. If it is a lab/boxer mix, it will probably have some great personality traits and worth saving.
I wish the OP luck and hope she keeps the pup. I'd donate a little because I know my breeds and this is not a pit.
OK, flame away!

 

[kacaju]

Did your vet ask you where you go the puppy from because they usually want to report the breeder or owner so this doesn't happen again. She should be in trouble for this. I would ask for a bill of sale on the vet she took the puppies to and she is she can prove that she took the puppies in. I don't think you were unprepared I would of probably done the same thing Romeo is just adorable. I hope he makes a full recovery.

Who does the Vet *report* Parvo to?? I used to work at a Veterinary Hospital and we never had to report it to anyone. Why should the *former owner* get in trouble for selling this puppy to someone?? If this puppy was perfectly fine the day the op bought it, and no other pup AT THAT TIME was showing signs of Parvo...please tell me how this person is at fault? It sucks, but it happens.
Yes, if the former owner was a good breeder there should have been a sales contract...but there is none. What good will it do to see the bill from her Vet? So you see that either she was telling the truth or she was not.

Bottom line is the pup was purchased from someone who is not a breeder, was not a pet store where you would also get a sales contract. It is a shame the puppy got sick and it is a shame the op was not prepared for a huge Vet bill within 24 hours of buying the pup.

 

[Tampa Mousekeeter]

And the court thing - it is worth a shot. Small claims court is very cheap to file.

If you don't have the time to do small claims court try a Demand Letter..we had an attorney draw one up for us for a nominal fee. We had a contractor in our new house screw up our floor tile big time and had to re-buy quite a bit, the letter stated the amount and the date due...it's a worth a try and good luck with your puppy!!

 

[NikiM20]

I can't believe the bill is that expensive!! One of my dogs had pneumonia and was at the vets for 5 days getting around the clock antibiotic shots and our bill was $400. I need to get my vet a wonderful Christmas gift!!

 

[kacaju]

I can't believe the bill is that expensive!! One of my dogs had pneumonia and was at the vets for 5 days getting around the clock antibiotic shots and our bill was $400. I need to get my vet a wonderful Christmas gift!!

my dog had pneumonia 2 years ago and my bill for about 4 days of hospitalization was just over $2000. I tall depends on where you live and what type of Vet hospital is treating your animal

 

[tlbwriter]

There's no reason to sue the breeder. First, I think a 6 wk old puppy wouldn't have been vaccinated for parvo anyway - at that age, he's relying on immunity from his mother. So there's really nothing the breeder could have done - unless the mother had undiagnosed/untreated parvo, you'd have a hard time proving negligence. And second, the best you would do would be to get your money back, and you'd have to give the dog back. Which I'm sure you don't want to do.

 

[NikiM20]

my dog had pneumonia 2 years ago and my bill for about 4 days of hospitalization was just over $2000. I tall depends on where you live and what type of Vet hospital is treating your animal

I'm not sure what you mean by what type of vet hospital is treating your animal. My vet is highly respected in our community. I don't think you can judge the quality of care by the price.

 

[MickeyMom2Boys]

I am so sorry you are going through this!! I don't any advise regarding compensation from the breeder, but I do have some advice for the future.

We had a pure bred boxer puppy (this was about 17 years ago). He picked up parvo from another dog in the vet. Mickey (our boxer) made a full recovery from the parvo and lived a very happy life. However, at age 7, he had to be neutered due to an enlarged prostate. The vet gave him a sulfa based drug - Sulfatrim aka bactrim. Mickey had a very bad reaction to it. I won't go into all the details, but the vet didn't know what was going on. We went through test after test. Finally they sent him to an emergency vet near us. They figured out that it was a reaction to the drug. This all started just after Christmas. We ended up having to put him down at the end of February. They said he had less than a 10% chance of coming home at that point and if he did he would have to live on an oxygen tank. We finally decided he had suffered enough and it wasn't fair to make him live like that.

The reason I am telling you this is because I did a lot of research during and after all of this. I wanted to understand what happened and whether or not my vet made a mistake with him. I later found information that listed his symptoms as "very rare but very serious" side effects of the drug. That study also linked the reaction to dogs that had once had Parvo.

I hope your puppy makes a fully recovery. I'm sure you were meant to get him. Many people would not have done what you have already done for this puppy. Please keep our story in mind and keep him away from all sulfa based drugs in the future. I would hate to see another dog/family go through what our Mickey went through. Sending your way!

 

[DMRick]

Why not have a friend call the lady and act like an interested buyer. See if she still has any puppies for sale. By now their symptoms would be showing, too. Parvo is highly contagious. The incubation period is 4 to 14 days, so if the other pups haven't shown symptoms yet, they will be soon.

What would be the point? Say the others are sick, what would you expect to then happen? The time to deal with this was when the pup first got sick. You could have called and asked for your $50 back (prob just what you would get in small claims court, the value of the dog) but you would have given back the dog. You could have decided to put him down (as sad as that thought is, that's what many people did back in the late 70's, early 80's when parvo first exploded), rather than incur the vet bill (and we never had to report cases of parvo, no idea who we would have reported them to, or why).
As for bargaining with the vet, because the bill was over the estimate. That's why it's called an estimate..your vet wouldn't know how your pup would react, so all he could do was guess. You could have said, ok, I have $2000..that's my limit. Once you hit that, we need to bring him home.
I'm sorry you are going through this. I wish your pup didn't go through this. I don't think I'll ever forget the smell of parvo. It got so we could tell a dog had it when brought in by the smell. It's a horrible disease. But you had choices, and I don't think the vet should be blamed for the cost, and I don't think you have a leg to stand on in court against a backyard breeder with no health contract. You choose (as a responsible pet owner) to treat, and that comes with a cost.

 

[CathrynRose]

You do realize boxers have their ears cut and put in splints to make them stand up? ( along with the tails cut at the 2nd or 3rd joint) If you saw a boxer without the surgery, they do have floppy ears and longer tails. This pup's jaws and chest are not wide enough and it's eyes are not set wide enough. Not trying to tell you dog standards. If it is a lab/boxer mix, it will probably have some great personality traits and worth saving.
I wish the OP luck and hope she keeps the pup. I'd donate a little because I know my breeds and this is not a pit.
OK, flame away!

 

[kacaju]

I'm not sure what you mean by what type of vet hospital is treating your animal. My vet is highly respected in our community. I don't think you can judge the quality of care by the price.

I am sure your vet is highly respected... I didn't mean anything negative by my remark.
The Vet I went to is a 24 hour emergency, State of the Art teaching facility which is probably why my bill was so much more... I had no choice...this is where he needed to go.

 

[aaarcher86]

I'm right there with ya!

I thought this pup looked like a pit when I saw it as well... I'd bet my next paycheck it's at least a mix.

OP - I hope you get it all worked out!