ST. CHARLES, Mo. — It's supposed to be such a happy day, when you make the decision to go to the animal shelter and adopt a new member of the family.
But for one family in St. Charles County, their joy quickly turned to fear just a day after they adopted their little lab puppy.
"They diagnosed her with parvo,” Maggie Helderle said. “They said there was a 50/50 chance she wasn’t going to make it.”
She took her puppy, Qi’ra, to the vet when the dog started acting lethargic, vomiting and having diarrhea.
"My brother started crying and so did I,” Helderle said.
They were able to pick up their dog from the vet Friday, when she was healthy enough to go home, but not after more than $500 in bills.
When 5 On Your Side called the St. Charles County Animal Shelter, where Qi’ra was adopted, they offered to cover all of the family's bills.
They said at least one of her siblings is also being treated for the virus, but other dogs at the shelter are not at greater risk of contracting the virus just because of these cases.
Helderle said she learned an important lesson through the ordeal.
"I think I would ask more questions just to make sure we were taking home a healthy puppy, like she shouldn’t have had to go through the pain she went through” she said.
So, here are the parvo symptoms you should lookout for:
If your dog is lethargic, not eating, in pain, bloated, vomiting or if there is blood when it goes to the bathroom.
They typically won't make it more than two or three days after a parvo infection reaches that point, not without help.
