If your dog has Parvo and you take him the to the vet, the first thing they will do, after confirming that it is, indeed Parvo, is give him some IV fluids, to keep him hydrated.
The second thing most vets will administer is some form of antibiotic, which sounds like a good idea, right?
But there's a problem - well, several, actually, but let's start with the most obvious one.
Parvo is a virus, which means that traditional chemical-based antibiotics will have absolutely no effect whatsoever.
So, why do they give them then?
Well, the problem with Parvo is that the virus not only attacks the dog's intestines, but it also attacks the immune system - and the vast majority of the immune system is actually contained within the digestive tract.
This situation is often not helped because a large number of dogs develop Parvo within a few days, or even a few hours, of being vaccinated - and the chemicals in those vaccinations will also weaken, if not temporarily destroy, the dog's immune system.
Since the immune system is compromised, and also because the virus essentially eats through the intestinal wall (which is why dogs with Parvo have bloody diarrhea), secondary infections can set in (e.g. pneumonia).
So, the vets administer antibiotics to get rid of these secondary infections.
But here's the problem - they don't know exactly what secondary infections a particular dog will get, so they're basically guessing with regard to which of the many available antibiotics they should use.
Different vets seem to have different preferences - some go for the older style antibiotics such as penicillin.
However, many bacteria are, of course, becoming resistant to penicillin, partly because it has been overprescribed over the years.
Amoxicillin is also very popular, as are some very worrying antibiotics, such as Metronidazole (which is often sold under the brand name Flagyl).
If you look at the side-effects of many chemical-based antibiotics, you will see that they include many of the same symptoms as Parvo, e.g. vomiting, diarrhea and fever).
But Metronidazole has a whole slew of other issues associated with it.
For example, the US National Toxicology Program and the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer have both listed this drug as being reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.
As such, we would recommend being careful not to handle or ingest this drug.
Metronidazole is also banned in the EU and the USA for veterinary use in the feed of animals and is banned for use in any food animals in the USA.
In other words, they don't want this drug being in the human food chain!
Now, what does that tell you about this drug?
So, do you really want your vet giving something this bad to your dog - who is already sick, remember?
This is one of several reasons why we are strongly against chemicals and prescription drugs - they often cause problems worse than the ones they were intended to treat.
If there's one important lesson from this for all pet owners, it's this: do your research, ask questions, and remember that it's your pet, not your vet's, and you have the final say in what vets can and cannot give him.
Please don't let your vet make matters worse by giving your dog a truckload of chemicals for his body to deal with when he's already sick with one of the most aggressive canine viruses there is!
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