What is Parvo and How Your Dog can get it

What is Parvo and How Your Dog can get it

Parvo is a deadly viral disease that can affect any dog that is not vaccinated even if treatment is eventually given. The only way to protect your puppies from contracting this disease is to vaccinate them against the disease. Parvovirus is a very serious disease that attacks dividing cells. The lining of the digestive system or intestinal lining of the puppy is the most prominent location for dividing cells in your puppy’s body. And this location is the very target of this virus. When it attacks and kills these cells, it makes the puppy or dog unable to absorb nutrients. This disease is more dominant in puppies than in adult dogs, but both are prone to the disease. This is because puppies are more prone to parvo than the adult dogs because of the weak immune system.

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Parvo can be transmitted from the feces of one infected dog to another. Parvo can stay inactive in the feces for up to nine months if the conditions are favorable until it finds a host. Parvo can also be present in the stool of an adult dog which shows no symptoms of the disease. This disease is not airborne, but can usually be spread from one location to another by humans with their shoes sole and birds when they come in contact with the infected feces.

When parvo has been spread to your home or yard, it will remain there until your take adequate measures to get rid of the disease from your home. Then the possibility of your next dog not contacting the disease will be low. To eliminate the disease from your home or yard and clothing, you will need to use bleach. Using common soap and water or any other household cleaners for your home or clothing will not eliminate parvo. Instead, use a mixture of one-third (1/3) bleach to two-third (2/3) water to disinfect everything the infected dog has come in contact with, including your clothing, its food, water bowl and the bedding materials that it has used. Also soak the whole area it has come in contact with in your home with the bleach solution. You can also ask your vet for recommended parvo disinfectant products for treating areas that have been exposed to parvo.

A dog that has been affected by parvo will show symptoms like diarrhea, lethargy and vomiting. Most dogs that have been infected with parvo will stop eating or have a loss of appetite, high fever, diarrhea and depression. Their stool will become very watery and stinking, with yellowish coloration and contain blood. Other symptoms include vomiting and bloody diarrhea as a result of intestinal distress. In the advanced stage, parvo dehydration may set in, followed by shock and finally resulting in death. In some cases, parvo may cause heart failure to a dog. This can occur several months, or even years after an infected dog has recovered from the intestinal form of the disease.

If your dog have contacted parvo, it has a 50/50 chance to survive. The disease will make the dog weak and susceptible to other kinds of diseases. The best preventive measure is to vaccinate your puppy at its early age, and ensure to restrict your puppy from other dogs until it has received its last vaccine. Your best bet is not to over expose your puppy and also vaccinate it against this deadly disease. You can also contact your vet for a professional advice.

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