My dog may get ill and her insurance is invalid because of my stupidity (please get your dogs boosters)

[ParvoNightmare]

I know I will get my arse dragged for being so stupid, I've told myself that I'm an idiot 100 times today already.

My dog was exposed to parvovirus last Thursday and I am waiting to see if she becomes symptomatic.

I am terrified. I'm sleeping with her on the couch and haven't left her side since yesterday.

She had her vaccines as a pup but has never had boosters.
I won't make excuses, I am just an idiot. I misunderstood what they were for and assumed we didn't need them.
I never refused them or avoided them specifically. I just didn't know to book them and unfortunately never recieved any reminders or promts from vets (I am saying that not because I think its the vets responsibility but because I absolutely would have said yes to them if it was brought up at a routine appointment that she needed them, I am just pointing out this isn't an anti vaxx thing or a 'waste of money' thing'. I would have gotten them.
Just a genuine fuck up by not doing my due diligence with knowing what she needed.

And now because she has not had her boosters, her very expensive, top tier insurance will be completely invalid for parvo as it is in their T&Cs that any illness that is preventable via vaccines will not be covered if vaccines and boosters are not upto date.
So not only am I worrying that she will get ill but also that she could end up in dog ICU which can run into ££thousands and we are not covered for a penny.

I just wanted to put my situation out there incase someone else wasn't aware of this, so they don't potentially end up in this preventable situation both emotionally and financially.

I'm here through ignorance rather than willfull avoidance and sharing my fuck up might help someone else avoid the same thing.

You may not need to worry. As I mentioned on your other thread, my old dog had only his puppy vaccinations. When he was 7, he had a titre test.

Despite only having had those puppy vaccinations, his blood work showed evidence of full immunity to the core diseases, and that included parvo.

Thankyou so much for sharing that. It's very reassuring that she may still be covered.

She is very chipper this morning. Has eaten her food. Tail wagging.

Did her temp and its 38 degrees again so no increase (she does NOT like that thermometer)

I really just want to get the test done now, get a negative and get her vaccinated.

Am feeling slightly more optimistic this morning, why does everything seem so dire in the middle of the night?!

Also am I right in thinking I should not be taking her for a public walk until she gets the all clear?

Given the negligence of the nurse I'd expect the vet to cover the costs, you might need to fight a bit and threaten to the local paper, but you might well get what you need. Good chance it's ok anyway.

Yes it's just the boosters.
So i think its puppy vaccines.
1st booster after 1 year
Then a booster every 3 years.

Tbh I'm not actually completely sure what it is. I think it might be a multi vaccine booster so covers multiple things? I've read about a 3 in 1 and a 5 in 1.

I thought that boosters were just for dogs traveling abroad or that lived in 'swampy areas' I have no idea where I got that from but we don't do holidays with the dogs or go anywhere wet so I honestly thought they didn't apply to us.

Makes no sense at all to me now why I would think that 🙄

You're probably unnerved given the horrific consequence you saw, in first person, for dogs that are affected by this horrible disease.

Personally, from what I read from your experience, I would have been traumatised and equally disturbed.

For your own peace of mind, I'd just keep her in the house, get the test results and titre or vaccinate.

I'm very sorry you've gone through so much turmoil! ❤

I have been thinking that too. Hopefully won't have to, but if she does end up ill I think I will push for that as it does seem like a massive breach of protocol.

I can't imagine their guidelines state that a wet mop is sufficient for cleaning rectal blood in the reception area.

I never got my dog her boosters in her 13 years so it's not just you (she died of old age)
The lady I got our cat from who was 6 had never had boosters. Your not a bad person x

Just jumping on to say I’m keeping everything crossed for your dog. Being cautiously optimistic, it sounds like she’s reaching the end of the incubation stage 🤞🤞

Yes, I think this is it.

Because the poor dog (was a wee corgi) was in a pram and the whole bottom of the basinet was filled with blood.

I was so shocked, I didn't even consider it may be a virus or something contagious.

With the amount of blood I thought she may have been run over and had internal bleeding that was escaping.

I'm not a vet though. You'd think the vet, the nurses or the receptionist would have the forethought to consider parvo as now I can see its a classic presentation.

The vet told her something and said she would have to be transfered to an overnight emergency vets and i think he mentioned parvo at that point, but cannot be sure.

Op I hope your dog is ok.

I read your post early this morning, called vets when they opened and booked my dog in for his vaccs this afternoon.

They were overdue (I didn’t realise how much) and he’s due to stay with another dog from tomorrow for a week.

So thank you for the post x

Yes, I did think it was annoying that they knew the blood had gone everywhere and announced exposure to all, but then told you to pay for a test if you were worried. I'd be finding another vet after that but that's just me.

My dogs are 100% up to date with parvo vax but when my little one was ill (long story), they still suggested it could be parvo, because the vaccination isn't 100%.

I didn't believe them when they said this, but I looked it up, and apparently it's true.

I've mentioned this because this means all dogs, vaccinated or not, would need to be tested due to known exposure.

So, we do our best!

You have learned a lesson and I don't think you need to keep beating yourself up about it. I admire you for sharing your story and trying to spare others from heartbreak.

Thanks, I don't think any of our childhood dogs did either.

I have several friends with dogs who I have told about this and non seem to have up to date boosters and are shocked, a couple are booking them in after hearing this.

Again I know its not the vets responsibility but I find it odd that everytime I go they push flea and worming treatment but have never, in 5 years, mentioned a booster.

This is 2 separate vets because she has her regular cheapie vet for routine things then a fancier one we got referered to once for elective surgery and stayed registered as they do a lot of in house testing and are more modern (but they are the ones it happened at)

DH isn't happy about being charged for the exposure test either but its only £40 and I would rather wait and see if she is infected and battle them for that much larger bill if necessary.

OP it sounds like your pup will be fine but if you need to fight the vets for free treatment then AI is fab at writing letters to make ppl realise their obligations, if you’re not confident doing it yourself

We only have OPs words on what happened, and the receptionist will not just use water to wipe things away (as people very knowledgable have said on the other thread). So jumping in and suggesting OP goes to the press...what nonsense.

I'm not a vet though. You'd think the vet, the nurses or the receptionist would have the forethought to consider parvo.

And no, the receptionists will not be trained to detect Parvo. This happened in the waiting room, and all they will have seen is a blood - which can happen for a variety of reasons including a complex parasite infection (such as excess worms) or indeed even poisoning from ingesting rat poison or even a dog ingesting a foreign body.

'I can see its classic presentation.'
Parvo presents similarly to a lot of other things. Your googling does not make you an expert.

Again I know its not the vets responsibility but I find it odd that everytime I go they push flea and worming treatment but have never, in 5 years, mentioned a booster.

You had an answer to this on your other thread. And what it boils down to is; lots of anti-vaxer dog owners get incredibly aggressive with vets who try and advocate for vaccines when they do not for worming or flea treatment.

You also did not know your insurance might be invalidated. Another poster had to tell you that. So whilst you might be doing a public service announcement in telling people...ultimately you're only telling them because someone told you to check.

That will all sound very harsh, but you had answers to most of these questions from the knowledgable people in the 'Pets' area of MN. Yet you continue to ask the same questions here.

It wasn't water. I said it was a wet mop. Read what I said, that it was a 'strong disinfectant' on my previous post.
But research says that is not at all effective against parvo and a bleach solution is need to sit on the floor for 10 minutes.

I don't know their policies for infection control but I do know that there was blood, that there was a mop bucket with a mop behind the desk and that was used to swirl the blood around and that the next day the receptionist confirmed it was disinfectant. Not bleach.

If i spill vimto on my kitchen floor I wouldn't ring out a mop that had been sat in disinfectant and just swirl it around.

I would wipe up the excess vimto with paper towels or a microfibre. I would spray the area with a cleaner, I would then use a clean mop head and make sure no one walked through whilst it dried.

I don't see how what she did was sufficient for blood and faeces.

The mop is the one I have seen used when a dog has an accident. A wee mop.

Surely cleaning up a piddle and cleaning up a rectal haemorrhage from a sick dog shouldnt be the same procedure?

And no the receptionist isnt a vet either but if she is the one that has been designated to do clean ups then she should do them properly or have someone trained in that area do it.

I'm not an expert but I can do research and I can read that parvo can live for over 6 months on a surface and I can use my common sense and understand that in ANY situation the clean up of blood should be taken seriously, especially in an environment where there are other animals and ones that may already be sick.

Yes her infection risk is higher because of my own mistakes with her vaccines but my dog shouldn't have been walked through an area where there had been a large puddle of rectal blood.

Isnt that what public service announcement are about? Spreading information?

Yes another poster told me my insurance may not be valid. I checked and it isn't. I can't do anything about it now but I can try to inform other people so they don't end up here too.

I'm unsure why you think that is a bad thing? Surely that how all information and knowledge is passed on?

If I would have read this thread a month ago I would have booked her boosters.

I don't feel bad for learning some vital information and trying to spread that?

Im not asking any questions, I am telling people what happened so they can avoid doing the same thing.

Completely agree
Your vets sound negligent
They can pay tour bill

OP, all my dogs have had annual boosters (and kennel cough spray). Do discuss exactly what boosters they recommend with your vet when, fingers crossed, it turns out your dog is fine and it's all over!

Wishing you all the best. xxx

Your vets also sound negligent for not sending reminders for boosters
Mine sends then ,tells me when to book
I'm on a scheme where I pay monthly for worm ,flee and yearly booster .
You could join the scheme,when this is all sorted out xx

Honestly, as I said in my first post on your original thread...this is a very basic part of dog ownership. It's not really a public service announcement when it's something a halfway competent owners should know.

And I highly doubt they said 'oh yes it was only disinfectant'. No one is that foolish or negligent.

Please stop calling it research. It's google. Something you probably should have done when you got a dog...

I think she's feeling bad enough.

I imagine she is. But she's put other dogs at risk by not having her dog vaccinated.

Instead of focusing on that, which really is the main issue, everyone is focussing on her vets alleged negligence (which seems rather unlikely given there are strict procedures for instances like this and we only have OPs word).

If indeed they were as incompetent as OP would have us believe, I am sure word would have actually spread to local press by now given it would be such a huge scandal (as it did earlier this year when one case was reported in the news straight away). Now I think on it...

I’ve got everything crossed for you. One of my daughters dogs is an absolute nightmare at the vets, he’s gone for them many a time. He no longer has his booster as it is truly traumatic. I’m aware of the insurance limitations by doing this, but he very nearly bit the vet last time, and trying to hold onto a 20k powerful Frenchie is so difficult for us. We’ve even tried giving him medication from the vets to chill him out before the appointment, it didn’t work 🤦‍♀️

I hope everything works out well, we adore our dogs, they’re part of the family, 🤗

You don't have to believe me. I have no interest in convincing you of anything. Your opinion is completely irrelevant to my situation.

Actually I think I might submit a SAR for the phone call and CCTV actually as it would probably be very helpful to have that conversation dictated and have the CCTV footage of them using the mop to clean rather than something specialist.

Thankyou so much for the idea :)

You seem like a very silly sausage.

You entertain me.

Say more silly things 😀

Amazing how you know how to do that, but not basic dog care. Quite incredible really. And don't you have multiple unvaccinated dogs (as per your previous thread)?

What are the chances?🙄

I wouldn't be quite so smug or glib if I were you. But then again, I actually love my dogs so I actually do basic pet care...like vaccinations.