Lizzie really was "the [puppy] who lived"

[Missi]

Sorry to take from Harry Potter, or to do 2 blog posts in one morning, but I just wanted to type this out before I forgot to. I just read some news feeds that said that one of Oprah's new puppies (Ivan) has died of parvovirus and the second is being treated for it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0319-oprah-puppy-sadiemar19,0,762624.story

Seriously, OPRAH!??! I'm sure she had every kind of vet, specialist, and money working on this dog, and he still died? They are the same age that Lizzie was when she started showing symptoms.

I know that Oprah had taken Ivan and Sadie to a bunch of outings and had him on a show (not sure if it was her show or not). With her last puppies, they stayed at home and they had cameras come introduce them there; so I don't know why she felt that these puppies needed carting around.

Parvovirus can live on a hard surface for 5 MONTHS! and in soil for up to a year. There is no telling where these puppies picked it up. I hope that Sadie makes it, it sounds like if she is doing okay now. Usually if they survive the first 72 hours, they make it.

And the survival rate is way less than 80% (as mentioned in the article) for puppies this young. When adult dogs who contract parvo are included, then 80% may be correct. My vet said that puppies have a less than 50/50 chance, and it totally depends on how fast they are treated.

Scary, scary, scary. But, Lizzie is alive and doing well; I hope Oprah can say the same thing about Sadie soon.

[Debbie and Thomas]

Hi Missi, i just logged on and the first thing I did was check on how Lizzi was. So happy and relieved to hear she is doing so well. Then I looked at the site re Oprah, how horrible. In your comments, you mentioned that this virus can last for 5 months. Wow-that is unbelievable-and that adult dogs can still get this.Now I am asking you for advice-"Thomas" is six months old and has had all of his shots. He is very social and goes for group dog walks in a conservation area where there is a lot of poop as well as dozens of dogs being walked by owners and dog walkers. It is a wonderful experience for him as he socializes with these dogs and they play with each other. But now I wonder if he is being exposed to germs and viruses from these other dogs. We had this dog vaccinated for every shot available to dogs. Can he still get Parvo??

[fergie11]

Oops sorry - I didn't see that link up there. I'll go to that.

[fergie11]

I had not heard this either. Does anyone have a link to the article. I would imagine Oprah is very upset. She so much loves dogs.

[Beth and Gang]

Oprah was very upset over these puppies. It's a good lesson for peole to learn, parvo is real and it can be anywhere.
One shot does not protect a puppy.
I am glad your Lizzie is well !!

[Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY]

Way to go Lizzy

[Missi]

They were 13 weeks. Regular vaccines don't always work because of maternal antibodies in the puppy's system when they are vaccinated. Also if the amount of parvo ingested was large, then they would have gotten sick anyway. Adult dogs can carry the virus and excrete it in their feces without having any symptoms. There are some new vaccines out that do work even in really young puppies, but I don't know what kind these puppies got.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Do you know old they were? Did the vaccines not work????????????