Dog Parvo Symptoms and Prevention
Parvovirus is a very serious disease that affects puppies as well as full-grown dogs. This disease can be deadly if the symptoms are not detected right away. It is also very contagious, so infected dogs need to be identified right away and separated from any other dogs. Here is how to know if a dog has contracted parvo and how to prevent infection and spread of the disease.
What is Parvo
Parvo is short for parvovirus. This virus grows in the rapidly dividing cells of the intestinal lining, killing them. Because of this, the dog’s body is not able to absorb calories and nutrition.
The parvo virus also suppresses the growth of white blood cells. Parvo can affect the heart of young puppies and cause them to die quite quickly.
Parvo is spread through contact with an infected dog or its feces. The symptoms will typically start showing up after 7-10 days from the time of exposure to an infected dog. A parvo test will not be able to show a reliable result until the week to two week period is over.
The most common time for a puppy to contract parvo is at 14-20 weeks of age. Doberman Pinschers, Rottweiler’s and Pit Bull Terriers are particularly susceptible to parvo.
A dog with no symptoms can transmit the disease and infect another dog. Even if the dog has been vaccinated, it can still give another dog parvo.
While there is no cure for parvo, the dog can be treated to combat the symptoms, and sometimes the dog’s body is able to combat the disease. If a dog makes it after eight days of battling the disease, they have a better rate of survival. After two weeks the dog should make a full recovery.
Early Symptoms of Parvo
The early symptoms of Parvo are sometimes hard to detect. The dog may seem unusually tired and quiet with a high fever. They may refuse to eat. This can be followed by vomiting and diarrhea. Most of the time, parvo infected dogs will have bloody diarrhea, which is a good sign that they should be taken to the vet.
Advanced Symptoms
If left unchecked, dogs infected with parvo can become increasingly sick in a short period of time. The vomiting and diarrhea may become severe. This leads dehydration and malnutrition. Most dogs will soon go into shock and their bodies will seize up. The muscles will become stiff and hard and the dog will not respond to voices.
Some dogs may have seizures by this point. Within hours the dog will die without medical help.
Parvo Prevention
Parvo is a very hardy disease that can be transmitted very easily through touch. Even if a dog never comes in contact with another diseased dog it can still contract it through other animals, people, bugs, and objects that have come in contact with the diseased dog or feces.
The virus can be killed with a strong concentration (a ration of 1 part water to 20 parts bleach) of bleach scrubbed on contaminated objects. If left without cleaning, the parvo virus can live on objects for as long as nine months or longer.
The only guaranteed way to prevent a dog from contracting parvo is to get it vaccinated with a distemper vaccine as soon as possible. Puppies are particularly susceptible to parvo, since they have underdeveloped immune systems. A puppy can be immunized as soon as 12 weeks of age and will need two more injection several weeks later.
Watch your new puppy for the symptoms of parvo and you will have a better chance of saving its life. Vaccinate your puppy and know pet will be safe from this horrible disease.