Before checking out dog parvo symptoms, let us take a look at what parvo is, what it can do to your do, and how it is spread. Parvo virus was first identified in’78 and within two years’ it had spread all over the world. Over the years, the parvo virus has mutated into two different strains and there is evidence of a third strain present in Italy, Spain and Vietnam. Every case of canine parvo virus, or CPV, comes from the first two strains. Every different species has its own parvo virus and it cannot be spread outside of the species, so there is a human parvo virus, a canine parvo virus, a feline parvo virus, and so on.

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 often seen in puppies that are infected from the womb or shortly after birth. It is well worth noting that the cardiac form of CPV is not as common since the mother passes immunity on to her puppies from birth. The parvo virus then attacks the heart in the infected pup and death results shortly thereafter.

Dog parvo symptoms are usually present within 3 to 10 days of contact. They include vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea and fever. The diarrhea will cause severe dehydration and secondary infections. Rather than dying from the virus itself, it is usually the secondary infections that kill.

Survival rate depends on how quickly parvo virus is diagnosed and treatment is begun. If it is not caught early enough, the best treatment is an IV through which fluids are pushed to re-hydrate the dog more quickly. In addition to the fluids, antibiotic and anti-nausea shots may be given intramuscularly. With the proper care the prognosis is good, but without it your dog is sentenced to an early death. There has been some evidence that the human antiviral, Tamiflu, can be effective in treating parvovirus, but there are not studies to substantiate this. A veterinarian will recommend that you get your pet vaccinated against parvo approximately eight weeks after the puppy is weaned. With the prevalence of this virus and its ability to kill, some precaution should be taken to protect your dog. Get your puppy vaccinated ? we speak from experience!

Find out more about parvo virus and ideas on how to treat parvo without the need for needles and potentially harmful chemicals, consider treating parvo symptoms naturally.

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Filed under: Dog Health

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