Before you check out dog parvo symptoms, you must first know what it is, what it does and how it is spread. This virus was initially found in’78 and within a two year time span it spread worldwide. Over the years the parvovirus has mutated into two different strains and a third may be evident in Vietnam, Italy and Spain. Each case of canine parvovirus Or CPV comes from the first two strains. At first it was felt that this virus would develop into feline panleukopenia, a feline parvovirus, but there is no evidence of this. All species have their own unique parvovirus that cannot be spread outside of the species.
Even though the virus cannot be spread from a cat to a dog or from a bird to a cat, they can spread the virus through contact. For instance, your cat wanders through the neighbor’s yard and picks up the virus on her feet she can then bring it into your home potentially infecting any canines on the property.
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.
Dog parvo symptoms usually present themselves within 3 to 10 days of contact. They include the following: lethargy, vomiting, fever and diarrhea. The diarrhea can cause severe dehydration and secondary infections. The dog will not usually die from the virus but from a secondary infection.
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!
For more information on parvo symptoms and ideas on treating dog parvo symptoms without the need for needles and potentially harmful chemicals, think about treating parvo symptoms naturally.
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