Parvovirus

Dr Dale talks about Parvovirus in dogs

What is Parvovirus?

Parvovirus is a highly contagious and life threatening virus that affects dogs of all ages, but is most severe in young puppies. It is during the warmer months that we see more outbreaks, commonly these puppies that are affected live in the same or nearby suburbs.

How is it spread?

It is spread through contact with faeces from an infected dog, or by contaminated footwear, floors, carpets etc. People can spread the disease even if their dog does not leave the house, and the virus can live in the environment for months!

What are the symptoms?

Parvovirus attacks the gastrointestinal tract, the cardiovascular system and destroys the immune system. Symptoms include vomiting, bloody foul smelling diarrhoea, severe abdominal pain, depression and even death.

How do we prevent it?

Parvovirus vaccination, like other vaccinations, work better on "herd immunity", which means the more dogs that are vaccinated in an area the less prevalent the virus becomes in that area. Vaccinating your adult dog will help to protect other young puppies in your area.

Puppies need to be vaccinated at 6, 12 and 16 weeks of age, followed up by yearly or 3 yearly boosters for the rest of their life. Vaccinating your breeding dog will also help to protect the pups until they are old enough for vaccination.

How do we treat parvovirus?

Any symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea in puppies are suspected of having parvovirus. We use an in-house test kit to confirm the disease. There is no cure for parvovirus and treatment involves supportive care, including intensive hospitalisation and in some cases blood or plasma transfusions are required. Without prompt treatment most puppies will die. Intensive treatment is often successful. The outcome, in our experience, depends on how sick the puppy is when we first start treatment.

Vaccination is the most important thing we can do for our puppies, breeding dogs, adults and senior dogs. The more vaccinated dogs there are, the less outbreaks we will see.