My dog had parvo. Why are her puppies dying suddenly after birth?

Puppies can be born with parvo if their mother has parvo or was never vaccinated against the disease. Parvo can be passed to a puppy through the placenta of an infected mother. Unfortunately, the prognosis is not good when puppies are born with parvo. Should any of the puppies not suckle , have bloody diarrhea, and/or vomit and/or be lethargic, they need to be seen by your veterinarian right away.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and I’m sorry to hear Pup isn’t feeling well. I would be very concerned about parvovirus since a littermate died and the virus is extremely contagious and can be fatal. I recommend getting Pup to a vet as soon as possible to have her. tested for the virus. If she is positive, I recommend hospitalization with IV fluid therapy and medications because this virus can cause severe dehydration in a puppy that young. If she is negative, I recommend they test her stool for microscopic parasite eggs. Although she may have been dewormed, not all medications treat all parasites and she may have something that needs to be addressed. Good luck and kisses to Pup!

I'm very sorry to hear that this happened! Unfortunately, there is no way to know why the puppies got sick and died unless an autopsy was done on one or more of them, or some testing was done before they passed away. Parvo is certainly one possibility - the incubation period for this virus is 7-10 days, so this means that they were probably exposed sometime before their vet visit and began showing symptoms a few days later. They also could have had distemper, canine herpesvirus, or a severe intestinal parasite burden - all of these can cause death in young puppies as well. I would not expect the vaccine to have had anything to do with this, since it would be extremely uncommon for all of the puppies in a litter to all have a serious vaccine reaction. Serious reactions are quite rare, and normally affected dogs become extremely sick immediately and die within 24 hours - so the timing doesn't really fit either. It's likely that the timing of the vaccine was a coincidence, and the cause of death was an infectious disease or some other unrelated event. Again, I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend's pups.

Unfortunately, parvo is a serious medical condition and if you suspect one or both dogs had it, you need to seek veterinary care immediately. Parvo can stay in the environment for months, so making sure to keep your puppy separated and to thoroughly clean all environments she has come into contact with is best. This website may help give you some options to make veterinary care more affordable so that Raven can get the care she needs: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/having-trouble-affording-veterinary-care

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry!! It is very hard when puppies are this young. The most common cause of illness and death in puppies are infections and congenital issues. Common infections that can affect the respiratory system and or the neurologic system are: Herpes, distemper, bordatella, influenza. Sadly I recommend doing special testing on the next puppy that dies to find out the cause. I would request PCR swabs to send off for a respiratory panel and biopsy any abnormal tissues on autopsy. Sometime we can not save them when we do not know what the disease is. If you can not get to the Vet in town go to a specialist or local Veterinary school. It is important to know what is going on. I hope this helps and I am very sorry this is happening. I suggest that the 3 currently ill puppies be seen at a more specialized hospital. I wish you the best!

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. If your other dogs are adults (over 2 years old) and current on their vaccinations, it is very unlikely that they would get parvo - this is almost always a disease of unvaccinated puppies. But, if you have other puppies or young dogs in the house, especially if they are not current on vaccines, then I would be concerned that they may catch it. The virus lives in the environment for years, so I would recommend cleaning everything that your puppy came into contact with using a diluted bleach solution.

Those puppies are cute! Unfortunately it is possible for both parvovirus and distemper to infect a puppy at the same time. This is especially more likely if they are in a shelter situation where diseases can be more easily spread. Parvo weakens the immune system leaving the puppy prone to other infections so if exposed to distemper the puppy would likely get sick from it. Both diseases (especially parvo) carry a guarded prognosis. They both generally require intensive medical care and if survived the puppy can end up with life long issues related to the infections. I'm sorry to hear these puppies may be effected. My hope is that if caught early they may have a better chance of survival but will likely require a lot of medical care. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and I'm hoping for a positive outcome for all the puppies!