Parvo

[desertranger]

One of my problems is people are always asking me questions waiting in the hope I'm going to say, "I don't know". I guess that's part of the stock in trade of being an eco-tour guide, having to have an answer for everything.

 

Well "I don't know". Or at least I didn't know about parvo other than it's being a 5 letter word that spells dead puppies. Now I do know and that's the engineer/scientist in me.

 

It is virulent with a 91% mortality rate if not caught within 24-48 hours of the onset of symptoms. The proper name Canine Parvovirus type 2 or CPV2 and is of two distinct types cardiac and intestinal. The cardiac type of parvo is passed from the mother and generally affects puppies <8 weeks old. The intestinal type is the more common of the two and is passed through the feces of other dogs infected with the virus. While puppies are the most likely to get parvo up to 80% of adult dogs can carry the virus with no ill affects and show no symptoms. The parvo virus can then be passed from the feces of the dog where it can lay dormant for up to a year under a wide range of environmental conditions. Additionally it is mutagenic meaning that it can evolve into a more virulent species. This due to a long scientific paper about the DNA of parvo that took me a long time to read. I understood only a little of it.

 

Early symptoms of parvo include a sudden listlessness, collapse, dry mouth, not paying attention to anything, refusing water and food and wanting to sleep. Bleeding gums are an indication of advanced parvo. Check for fever feel the ears and nose, much warmer than normal indicates a fever. Don't forget a dogs ears are also used for cooling when they're hot. Going down the list in severity is vomiting (can also be an early warning sign) and mild to severe bloody diarrhea followed by dehydration. There is no cure per se, just treatment which includes replacing fluids and electrolytes, antibiotics to help stem infection in the intestines, the puppies own immune system and time.

 

The only thing that really kills the parvo virus in it's open environment is household bleach. (science content: never use bleach with hot water). Spray the yard and wherever they go with 30:1 mixture of water/bleach. Wash down hard areas like tile and concrete and spray soft areas like grass and dirt until it's wet.

 

Bear in mind that before Jin collapsed he was chasing a ball and had been doing so for about 20 minutes. He then just sort of sat down tired puppy style. When we left the park I gave him a chance at fresh water from his own bowl and he didn't want it. This is an early sign of dehydration setting in even in people. He also didn't want to get out of the car when we got home and as I said before totally ignored an ice cube his favorite treat.

 

We were told that we caught it early. That I was very observant in the change in Jin's behavior. It wasn't hard to see. We came home and he wasn't Jin. I don't know about other breeds but any BC owner can see any change in their dog.

 

One last note on a third type of Parvo. The The Debrie Parvo was a 35mm motion picture camera developed in France by Joseph Jules Debrie, in 1908. A compact camera for its time the Parvo was woth a built in tachometer to aid the operator in keeping the correct speed of 16 frames per second. The Debrie Parvo was used well into the sound era.

 

Like I said an innate curiosity about everything.

 

If I missed something or you have more to add please do.

[Laurae]

I'm so glad you caught it early with Jin!

I do have a question, desertranger. Did you vaccinate Jin for parvo, and if you did how old was he and how many shots did he get?