Canine Parvovirus, from a vet who treats it.

drferox:

The early years of my career were spent in a rural Australian practice. I saw a lot of canine parvovirus from poorer socioeconomic areas, and by ‘a lot’ I mean up to 5 per week in Summer. 

There’s no way to sugarcoat parvo. It’s a nasty, highly infectious, highly durable virus with a near 100% mortality rate if not treated. Conventional hospitalization and treatment in early to mid cases can provide up to 98% survival though, which is why I laugh at ‘alternative treatment’ spruikers who want to prey on your vulnerability and make you buy their book with new ‘magic cures’. The difficulty is that treating it is expensive.

Canine parvovirus attacks stem cells in the dog. For most dogs, their must abundant stem cells are in their gut lining. This means their gut lining stops replenishing, producing foul, copious, watery and bloody diarrhea as their intestinal lining falls away. This is as horrendous and painful as it sounds. There are also stem cells in bone marrow and severely affected dogs will find those attacked as well, worsening anemia from blood loss and causing immunosuppression. In very young pups it will attack stem cells of the heart also, as though these pups didn’t have enough to worry about.

The virus itself is highly contagious. It’s also very durable, and by that I mean the virus survives in soil very well, potentially up to 20 years. This means that if there has ever been a parvo dog in your backyard, your soil is probably contaminated. It can also be spread by foxes and cats, so good luck keeping those off your property too.

It takes 3-7 days from infection to first clinical signs. People would often buy a healthy looking puppy only to have it come down with parvo a few days after it arrived home. Usually it was not vaccinated.

I want to make it very clear that vaccines do not cause parvovirus. The actual, live virus causes parvovirus. It’s common for an infected puppy to be brought to the vet on the first day with its new family, before it starts showing clinical signs, only to then become sick 3-5 days later. When you’re a vet in this situation, vaccinating the puppy becomes a race against time. You want to vaccinate them before they get a chance to be infected, but not before their mother’s immunity has faded. Generally the risks of having a parvovirus vaccination are less than not having it. This is especially frustrating when the pup has already been out in highly contaminated areas, like dog parks or the beach.

And when the poor little pup, or the young adult dog, does come down with parvo, hopefully its owners brought it in early instead of wasting two days researching ‘cures’ on the internet before coming in.

Treatment is expensive. Parvovirus dogs need to be in isolation to stop every other pup that comes into the clinic from potentially becoming sick as well. They need lots of fluid therapy, pain relief (those guts hurt), gut protectants, antibiotics (bacteria cross the damaged gut into the bloodstream too easily) and anti-nausea medication. Sometimes they need intravenous nutrition, and you know its bad at that point.

There’s no cheap miracle cure for canine parvovirus. A canine plasma transfusion is the closest I’ve found, because it contains antibodies from a vaccinated donor, as well as proteins the patient needs. A plasma transfusion can have a pup going home 48 hours later. The trouble is, it costs about $300 wholesale for only 200ml.

Vaccination is the only way to prevent canine parvovirus. Vaccinate the mother before she gets pregnant. Vaccinate every dog that comes onto your property. Vaccinate adult dogs to keep them from shedding. Keep pups away from likely contaminated areas until after their 16 week vaccine, especially in known parvovirus hotspots. Vaccinate pups as per your veterinarian’s directions. Don’t buy them if they’ve not had at least their first vaccine, no matter how cute they are. 

Parvovirus absolutely sucks and I would happily never see it again, despite the enormous vet bills it generates. I now work in a higher socioeconomic area where people have generally listened to their veterinarian’s advice and vaccinated their pups and adult dogs as recommended. I haven’t seen a parvovirus case in 18 months in general practice, and only two in emergency. Vaccination makes a huge difference. 

I’m not trying to sell you anything, unlike every other ‘miracle cure for parvo’ and ‘what-your-vet-wont-tell-you’ salesman. This is just free advice, and my sincere condolences if you’ve ever found yourself with a parvo puppy.