First case: On April 16th 2004 we experienced parvo. What is parvo? Parvo is a virus that is transmitted by direct contact with an infected dog. Indirect transmission by fecal contamination (shoes, hands) is also possible eg. carrying the virus home from dog shows on your shoes. Incubation period is 3-8 days. Signs and symptoms inclued lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea (sometimes bloody) and anorexia. Young puppies under 20 weeks are more susceptable to the virus than older dogs. Once a dog has parvo, its body produces natural immunities preventing reinfection. We will follow our case study of the stages, treatment and recovery from the virus. Second case: Puppy A went home on 2/8/05 (age 12 weeks). On 2/9/05 appeared lethargic, ate small amount of dinner. On 2/10/05 had diarrhea, vomitting, lethargic. I picked him up on 2/11/05, took him to our Vet and was diagnosed with Parvo via stool specimen. We spoke with our Vets in detail of the pro's vs. con's of having puppy #1 in with 3 siblings, 4- 10 week olds and 1- 15 week old puppy. It was decided that if puppy #1 had it, the virus had already been shed in the area all the puppies play in. Puppy #1 was placed with everyone. ALL the puppies got varying symptoms of parvo. The hardest hit were the 12 week olds, whose immunity from the dam was probably gone. The 10 week olds and the 15 week old had diarrhea, some vomitting, lack of appetite but were the least affected. The 10 week olds most likely still had anitbiodies from the dam and the 15 week olds immune system was mature enough to deal with the virus. No puppies had to be hospitalized. The same treatment was applied to the above puppies as the first group and all responded without issues. Of note is Ollie, the 10 week old in the first study. He was an orphan puppy, hence did not receive maternal antibiodies from the dam which would be a good indication as to why he was more ill than the second group of 10 week olds. Autumn had titers run over 1 year after having parvo and she registers very high for parvo antibiodies which shows she would not get parvo again. Age is a factor and it is interesting to see how each puppy was affected differently. Parvo needs to be caught and treated at the earliest signs for a speedy recovery.
Parvo itself will not cause death in puppies, the dehydration from vomiting/diarrhea and secondary infections will if not treated.
We noticed Ollie (10 weeks of age) appeared skinny on 4/14/04, eating, drinking, but lethargic. Vomitted dinner. On 4/15/04 did not eat breakfast, lethargic, more thin, first sign of parvo bloody diarrhea. Taken into vet and started on IV fluids, reglan, ampicillin and baytril. On 4/16/04 given albumin due to severe protein loss. Continued on IV fluids and supportive therapy until brought home on 4/19/04. We continued therapy at home with zofran, amoxicillin and baytril sub-q injections and infused 300 ml fluids sub-q BID (twice a day). Rhino (at 4/12 months of age) developed symptoms on 4/18/04. Lethargy, anorexia, vomiting, bloody diarrhea. Was placed on home therapy with the same. Cinco (4 months of age) developed symptoms on 4/20/04 without the diarrhea. Was placed on the same protocol as Rhino at home. Autumn (18 months of age) developed only lethargy and anorexia on 4/20/04 and has fully recovered on 4/24/04. It is interesting to note that Rhino was the most likely suspect and "caught" parvo at a show on April 10th. Since Ollie is so young, he came down with symptoms much earlier than Rhino, who's immune system is much more mature. Cinco finally came in contact with it after Rhino began to shed the virus. Autumn's symptoms were self limiting due to her age. We began the puppies with goats milk and cottage cheese on 4/21/04. All began eating chicken breast, liver, gizzards, hearts, and turkey breast pieces on 4/22/04. Rhino fully recovered on 4/24/04. Cinco fully recovered on 4/27/04. Ollie had the slow recovery of gaining back his weight from protein loss, and 3 weeks after the first signs of parvo was fully recovered.
Parvo can be a very debilitating disease, and take a large chunk out of your pocketbook and personal time. There are pro's and con's regarding immunizations, we chose the "no immunization" route over 8 years ago and have never lost a puppy to parvo. We have a case study on vaccinosis on our
Immunization
page and also our rational as to why we do not immunize our dogs.