parvo question
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| When I was a kid we had a pup that contracted parvo and basically when we went into the vets they put us immediately into a isolated room and not in the waiting room with the others. When the vet finally came back in with the positive results and he and my parents talked... I remember them starting to scrub down the room like mad as we left without our little Jack. |
| Parvo lives in feces. Parvo causes horrible bloody diarrhea and therefore can be on the paws and fur of the dog. If the pet leaves even the tiniest spec on the floor and another dog comes by and sniffs there or licks the floor, that dog may get it if its' immune system isnt up to par. The other problem with parvo is that only bleach and direct sunlight for a very long time will kill it. |
Quote: Parvo causes horrible bloody diarrhea and therefore can be on the paws and fur of the dog.
It can be tracked in on people's shoes too. This is a good question... How does a vet's office handle this? I imagine vets have the required disinfectants and strict procedures in place to kill the virus so it doesn't spread. When we had a pup and went to the vet, they stayed in the car until we were called into a room or we held them on our lap in the waiting area. We never put them down to allow them to investigate. The breeder gave us these instructions so we followed them. If we went to Petsmart, they stayed in the cart... we did this up until a few weeks after their last puppy shots. BUT pups need socialization and training so there's a compromise involved. |
| Veterinary practices do use the right disinfectant and for parvo cases they generally have an isolation ward for infectious hospitalized pets and an isolation room where they meet with the vet. No other dogs would be allowed in that room for the day and only until it was properly disinfected several times. The people who handle the sick pups have to wear garments over their own scrubs in order to be able to keep working throughout the day and also wear gloves.
If the mother of the pup with parvo was vaccination on schedule when she was a pup, the pup has a much greater chance of resisting the parvo virus. Moms anitbodies protect the newborn until about 8 week, if she was properly vaccinated herself. then at 8 weeks that pup gets its first vax and those anitbodies start to take over for the mothers although the first shot in itself has to combat with moms antibodies in the pup, after the second shot is when they are really protected so technicially, and this is what the vets dont tell you, is that after their second set of shots you can freely socialize them. Before that you should socialize the pup with other dogs you know are healthy and vaccinated, like family pets or friends pets. The pups who usually get parvo are the pound pups, poor backyard breeder pups and street pups. There are the occasional unlucky well bred pups. It also seems that chihuahua's and smaller breed pups and pit bulls tend to be more susceptible to the virus although I guess that really depends on the environment that they are/were brought up in. Also if you are a rescuer and have or had a pup with parvo and it went potty in the back yard on grass, that grass will be infected with parvo for a really really long time. Most people would have to dig up their yard and put new dirt and everything in or a friend of mine had to concrete her yard. |
| A friend of mine took her puppy to the vet and was seen in a room where, after they were taken into that room, it was discovered the previous pup was diagnosed with parvo. The office immediately moved them to another room, but her pup did contract Parvo. The vet's office did treat her pup at no charge and he did recover. But...it is that contagious! |
| It most definitely is that contagious. It is one of those things that we, as professionals, hope to not see in the clinics but it is unavoidable. It is also a lot of hard work to treat and difficult to watch the pets go through. |
| It is such a scary illness because it's so easily transmitted and the length of time it can live in the environment. Thanks for the behind the scenes look at how this is handled.
I didn't know that about immunity after the second shot. Can some dogs immune systems just be different? The reason I'm wondering is that this last summer there was a letter to the editor from a local family that lost their 4 month old Alaskan Malamute to parvo... they had visited a public place during a big area festival. The pup couldn't fight off the disease and died. "A hard-learned lesson..." http://archives.record-eagle.com/2007/jul/27letter.htm Does it depend on whether shots were given on time and the individual dog's immune system? Is there any way to tell who's protected and who isn't at this young age? I've got a 3 year old that had 3 negative or suboptimal titers for distemper this year despite 2 vaccinations. Thank goodness her titer for parvo was normal  At least distemper isn't as prevalent. |
| It is scary, thanks for the input. I remember a lady in town had a pup bull dog, when is was 8 weeks she had him up town to show people. A week later he did have parvo lots of $ and he did not make it. But I do rember she had hime everywhere and he was a cutie lots of touching and all. I always wondered about that. She was in the middle of moving also not sure what really happened. |
| Ok so here is a bit more info about Parvo, a bit of the technical data that we talk to clients about. It is also known as Canine Panleukopenia and it is a gastroenterocolitis, which means affecting the entire GI tract. It can survive up to 1 year in the environment and withstands the majority of common disinfectants. It is a fecal-oral transmission and it happens mostly in pups 6-16 weeks old. They get it the worst and if not treated is fatal. If they get the proper treatment, they still only have a 20% chance of making it. Older animals can also still get it although they get it less severely but it can still be fatal. Those most susceptible are the young and unvaccinated or those with an incomplete vaccination history. It is seen frequently in stressed situations such as kennels, pet shops, shelters, shows and puppy mills and the most common breeds it affects are rotts, pitts, dobes, and chihuahuas but any breed can be affected. It has an incubation period of 3-10 days in which it starts its replication process in the tonsils. It attacks the intestines by wiping out the brush border which is what collects the nutrients. Because there is no more brush border, the animal doesnt get its food intake it needs no matter how much it eats, and therefore causes the diarrhea because no liquids are absorbed. Be cause there is so much diarrhea the intestines are strained and start to blled, hence the bloody color and iron odor of the stool. It also attacks lymphoid tissue, thymus gland, and bone marrow.
Because it disrupts the intestinal barrier, blood loss causes anemia and fluid loss due to diarrhea causes electrolyte imbalances and loss of plasma proteins which in turn cause dehydration, anemia, and other imblanaces. This leaves the animal open to becoming septic because other bacteria can freely enter the body. Treatment is mainly supportive care with lots of IV fluids and electrolytes especially potassium. Need broad spectrum antibiotics also given IV, antidiarrheals and anti emetics. |
| In regards to the way the mother immunity and pups immunity work together, it is a bit of a complicated story but I will try my best to explain. Say that mom has had all her vaccines since she was a pup and has had them on time and has been healthy. Pup is born and pretty much has no immune system. Pup drinks first milk (colostrum) which is an immediate boost to its immune system and pup is protected. This is called a passive antibody because mom gave it to pup through milk. Moms immunity is constant and her antibodies are in her milk which go to the pup. As the days pass on the colostrum levels get lower in the milk and pup needs to start its own immunity. So say at 6 weeks you vax your pup and it is starting to ween off the milk. That first vax is completely blocked by moms antibidies already in pup so it has no effect except that pup s body now has the code for the next same vax so it technically has a tiny level of its own antibodies but not enough to fend off anything and moms antobodies are still dominant. Then in 2 weeks pup is off milk and gets its next vax. This vax is a bit better than the last but moms antibodies are still strongest but are starting to fade. Pup is still protected but much more vulnerable now, this is the scary stage where they can contract distemper, parvo, etc...Then at 10 weeks pup gets another vax and this time that vax kicks moms antibodies butt and is now protecting pup all on its own. Pups antibodies are now rising and taking over so it has an immune system of its own but it is still not at top protection level but better than before. 12 weeks another shot and the pups antibodies build yet stronger and then it gets another shot and its own immune system is up to par and at its strongest. Now in this case pup had all its vax's on time so it is well protected. Say that it hadnt gotten them on time, well then when the next vax did happen its immune system would have fadded a bit more than pup A so it is more vulnerable which leaves it open for a longer period of time to getting parvo, etc...
Say that mom wasnt vaccinated at all, then pup would come out extremely vulnerable becasue it doesnt even have moms antibodies in her milk to help it survive for the first say 16 weeks becasue even if this pup is given its shots on time, its immune system is behind that of pup A because mom didnt give it any help which means that maybe this pups immune system wont be up to par for much later. That is why some are more vulnerable and contract Parvo much easier. I hope that makes a little bit of sense, its the easiest way I can explain it. |
| wow |
| Great information! |
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