Parvovirus

Parvovirus is a viral disease of dogs. It affects puppies much more frequently than it affects adult dogs. The virus likes to grow in rapidly dividing cells. The intestinal lining has the biggest concentration of rapidly dividing cells in a puppy's body. The virus attacks and kills these cells, causing diarrhea (often bloody), depression and often vomiting.

Symptoms

Symptoms usually begin with a fever, lethargy, depression, and loss of appetite. Secondary symptoms appear as severe gastrointestinal distress, such as vomiting and bloody diarrhea. In many cases, dehydration, shock, and death may follow.

Transmission

The virus is shed in the feces. Parvovirus is extremely hardy and can remain infectious in the ground for five months or more if conditions are favorable. Therefore, people or animals who walk on the infected soil can transmit it to unvaccinated dogs. Generally, it takes 7-10 days from the time of exposure for dogs and puppies to start showing symptoms and to test positive

Rest assured that parvovirus is specific to dogs alone and cannot be transmitted to humans or other pets of a different species, such as cats.

Treatment

Supportive care with IV fluids, antibiotics and GI protectants are the mainstay of treatment. There is no cure. Veterinarians try to prevent dehydration, protein loss, and secondary bacterial infections.

Breed predisposition

For some reason, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, and other black and tan breeds are especially prone to parvoviral infection. If you have one of these breeds, it's even more important to make certain your puppy or dog gets immunized properly. But these breeds are not alone -- the Parvovirus can affect all breeds.

Prevention

Strict adherence to the recommended vaccination schedule which begins when puppies are 6-8 weeks of age and ends when they are 12-20 weeks of age. Puppies should not be allowed to socialize with other dogs or frequent areas where other dogs have been until 2 weeks after they have had their last vaccination. Immunization for parvovirus is usually included in your dog's distemper vaccine. This shot gives protection against several potentially fatal canine diseases all at the same time.

If your pet becomes infected, please keep in mind that dogs with parvovirus shed the virus in their feces and are extremely contagious to other dogs. Follow these recommendations to help prevent the spread of this disease.

• Keep the infected dog isolated from all other dogs for at least one month after full recovery.
• Clean up all the dog's stools in your yard.
• Use a 1:30 ratio of chlorine bleach and water to clean food and water bowls (4 oz. in 1 gallon of water). Wash any bedding the dog has been in contact with in this same bleach solution and hot water. You should also try to disinfect any other areas that the dog has been, like linoleum, concrete kennels, crates, etc.
• If you have any other dogs that are two years old or younger, or who have never been vaccinated for parvo, please bring them in for a booster as soon as possible.
• Be sure to feed your dog a bland diet until he is fully recovered. When switching back to his normal diet, mix the regular food with the bland for 2-3 days to help your pet gradually adjust to the change.

Home Cleaning

If you have had parvovirus in your home, use a strong bleach/water solution to kill it. Soak the yard with it -- better to kill the grass than your next dog! Be careful using it on carpets and fabrics, though. Parvovirus can live up to 6 months or so in your home or yard. Before you bring home another dog, be sure it has a strong immunity to parvovirus. You can have a veterinarian draw blood and run a titer to find out how well your prospective dog will fare in a parvo-infected environment. Adult dogs generally have a higher resistance than puppies do, but they need to be kept current on their vaccines. If in doubt, have your vet do the titer.