Quote: Antone Jones

The touching is just general touching when he's laying down. If we're outside walking around the yard, he's fine. I think he's very terrified that I'm gonna poke and prod him like they most likely had to do at the vet, which I'm positive wasn't enjoyable.

In this situation, I would probably honor it. I would never jump back and submit to his warning, but I'd probably avoid eliciting it at all.

While outside walking around, I'd probably do a little very gentle stroking on a safe spot and remind him that your touch is safe.

maybe some rescue remedy would help to calm his nerves if you can get some soon enough.

I also have used chamomile tea to help soothe nerves and tummies or my old girl Nico who has issues.

I have had good luck with Tramadol for Nicos hip injury and for when it flares back up if she over exerts, she cant handle any of the NSAIDs.
Probiotics would be helpful for his tummy to replenish his flora and fauna after the stress and antibiotic, can he tolerate Yogurt or Kefir?

It sounds like he is in an awful lot of pain, an he may also feel very vulnerable. Unfortunately we can't tell dogs that we are only trying to help. He may need a pain patch. This will be absorbed through the skin, and give his stomach a break. Dermaxx is strong stuff. Is he able to sleep at all? If you believe your dog is still in severe pain, then contact the vet at once, and find another pain medication- like a Fentanyl patch. Poor boy- he has got to be hurting.

My Greyound had a nasty gastro-intestinal reaction to his Previcox (he takes this and Tramadol for cancer-related pain/inflamation), and the vet gave us something called 'Gastri-calm' to go along with it. It works really well. The key ingredients are Zinc-Carnosine and vitamin E. I'm not sure HOW it works, but it worked well for my guy.

Antone
You can rub the base of his ears and also his rump just in front of his tail over the spine to relax him. Rubbing both of those spots really relaxes all my dogs. Start when he is outside and easier to handle, and do more inside if he will let you. If he is touchy about the base of the tail spot start with very light touches and work up to slow gentle rubs, do the same with the ears. With the ears I wrap my hand around the base of the ear and use my thumbs and fingers in long, slow, deep strokes. You can do some acupressure by sliding down the ear leather with your forefinger and thumb, repeating until you have covered the whole ear. Make sure that you do both ears. There are pressure points for the whole body in the ears.
TTouch is also very helpful for relieving pain. Start with very light quick flicks with the tips of your fingers over the body, going with the hair direction, not against it. Touchy animals will surprisingly tolerate that touch when they won't allow anything else. You can then go to long strokes or doing small circles (1 1/2 - 2 revolutions) lightly moving just the skin with your fingertips. Do a random pattern over the body for about 10-15 minutes. It's hard to explain it, but if you can do that you help the body release endorphins which will relieve pain and speed healing.
Try to do both sides of his body, not just the right side.
http://www.ambertech.com has a tea recipe that will help settle the stomach (page 30 in the Parvo self help section). For just nausea you could use the peppermint, spearmint and chamomile teas. You could probably use unsalted chicken broth (boil a chicken breast) instead of the pedialyte.

Thanks everyone for the input and comments.

Today was a MUCH better day for him (and me too). I figured out the trick to getting him to eat and keep it down. Basically just giving many small meals throughout the day is all it took. I've also been mixing in a little canned tuna to entice him to the food. Seems to be working well.

His spirits are up and he really wants to play now. Too bad we can't play for another 2 mos...

Thanks again.