The Newsy Neighbour Magazine
June Issue 104
All Rights Reserved
www.thenewsyneighbour.com
Recently in the media, there have been
reports of an increased incidence of parvovirus illnesses in Calgary and
Okotoks. We wanted to take this opportunity to provide everyone some additional
information regarding parvo and how you can prevent your dog from contracting
the disease.
Parvovirus is a life-threatening illness
that effects the gastrointestinal tract of dogs. Unvaccinated puppies are the
most at risk for contracting this disease. The younger the dog, the more it is
susceptible to infection. Although the infection of older dogs is somewhat
uncommon, it is important to keep them vaccinated as this life-threatening
disease is expensive to treat and why risk their health when it can be easily
prevented by vaccinating.
Parvovirus can be contracted from any
environment. The virus is extremely hardy and can sustain freezing and living
in a shaded area for up to 7 months. In the first 2 weeks of infection, a dog
sheds an enormous amount of the virus in its stool; this also means that the
rectal area is contaminated so anywhere a dogs sits or spends time will be
contaminated. This includes grass, couches, carpets, floors, bedding, sidewalks
etc.
The symptoms of parvo are lethargy, loss of
appetite, vomiting, and foul smelling and possibly blood tainted diarrhea. The
vomiting and diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration. If you suspect your dog
has parvo, call your veterinarian immediately as a simple test can be performed
and diagnosis confirmed in approximately 15 minutes.
The best way to prevent contraction is to
vaccinate puppies between 6 and 8 weeks of age, again at 10 to 12 weeks and a
third set of vaccines at 14 to 16 weeks. After the three sets of vaccines they
can continue to come annually on their birthday for updated vaccinations.
Puppies need all three sets of vaccines to become immune. We recommend that
puppies be restricted from public areas until a week after the final set of
vaccinations at about 16 weeks.
With proper intensive hospitalization, 80%
of parvo cases can be resolved, but it is a costly and risky venture.
If you have any additional questions we’d
be happy to answer them. www.animalcarecentre.ca
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