| Parvo in Puppies |
| Written by Geraldine Dimarco | ||||||||
| Thursday, 02 October 2008 | ||||||||
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Before we look at the symptoms of parvovirus in your dog lets take a look at what it is, what it does and how it is spread. Parvovirus is a virus first identified in 1978 that spread worldwide in just two years. Over the years, the virus has mutated into two distinct strains and there is evidence of a third strain in Spain, Italy and Vietnam. All cases of canine parvovirus or CPV come from the first two strains. It was originally thought that the virus would mutate into the feline panleukopenia, a feline parvovirus but this was found to be untrue. All species have their own parvovirus but it is not spread outside the species.
Before we look at the symptoms of parvovirus in your dog lets take a look at what it is, what it does and how it is spread. Parvovirus is a virus first identified in 1978 that spread worldwide in just two years. Over the years, the virus has mutated into two distinct strains and there is evidence of a third strain in Spain, Italy and Vietnam. All cases of canine parvovirus or CPV come from the first two strains. It was originally thought that the virus would mutate into the feline panleukopenia, a feline parvovirus but this was found to be untrue. All species have their own parvovirus but it is not spread outside the species. It is evident that parvovirus cannot be spread from a cat to a dog or from a bird to a cat. However, it can be spread by contact. For instance, if your cat would wander through your neighbor's yard and would pick up the virus on her feet, she can track it inside of your house and infect your dog. Sadly enough, my neighbour's puppy contracted parvo virus. The puppy had all of the classic dog parvo symptoms, yet my neighbour really did not know what was wrong until he took the puppy to the vet. Once he did that, treatment began immediately. After several days of intensive treatment, the puppy was free to come home. The parvo virus works in one of two ways ? through the heart or the intestines. The intestinal infection is picked up by an animal through oral contact with contaminated feces. In other words, a dog has to come into contaminated feces from another dog. The intestinal dog parvo symptoms happen when the virus attacks rapidly dividing cells in the intestinal crypts, lymph nodes and bone marrow. This allows normally occurring bacteria from the intestine to enter the blood stream make the animal contagious. The virus is shed in the stool for up to three weeks making this disease very contagious to non-vaccinated pets. The cardio form of this infection is usually seen in puppies that are infected before birth or shortly thereafter. It is noteworthy that the cardiac form of CPV is not as common since the mother passes immunity on to her pups from birth. The parvo virus will then attack the heart in the infected puppy and death will occur shortly afterwards. Symptoms of CPV usually present within 3-10 days of contact and they include lethargy, vomiting, fever and diarrhea. The diarrhea then causes severe dehydration and secondary infections. These are the actual causes of death rather than the virus itself. Survival rate depends on how quickly CPV is diagnosed and treatment is begun. When the case is not caught early the best treatment option is an IV through which fluids are pushed to re-hydrate the animal more quickly, in addition anti-nausea and antibiotic shots may be given intramuscular. The prognosis is good with proper care but an absolute death sentence without it. There have been a few reports that the human antiviral, Tamiflu, can be effective in treating CPV but there are no studies to substantiate this. A veterinarian will advise you to give your pet a parvo shot about eight weeks after they are weaned. With the prevalence of the virus and its ability to kill some precaution should be taken to protect your canine. About the Author: For more information on parvo virus and ideas on how to treat dog symptoms of parvo without needles and potentially harmful chemicals, think about treating symptoms of parvo naturally. Views: 319
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