Before you check out dog parvo symptoms, you must first know what it is, what it does and how it is spread. This virus was initially found in’78 and within a two year time span it spread worldwide. Over the years the parvovirus has mutated into two different strains and a third may be evident in Vietnam, Italy and Spain. Each case of canine parvovirus Or CPV comes from the first two strains. At first it was felt that this virus would develop into feline panleukopenia, a feline parvovirus, but there is no evidence of this. All species have their own unique parvovirus that cannot be spread outside of the species.

It is evident that parvovirus cannot be spread from a cat to a dog or from a bird to a cat. However, it can be spread by contact. For instance, if your cat would wander through your neighbor’s yard and would pick up the virus on her feet, she can track it inside of your house and infect your dog. Sadly enough, my neighbour’s puppy contracted parvo virus. The puppy had all of the classic dog parvo symptoms, yet my neighbour really did not know what was wrong until he took the puppy to the vet. Once he did that, treatment began immediately. After several days of intensive treatment, the puppy was free to come home.

The parvo virus works in two ways either through the intestines or through the heart. When a dog gets an intestinal infection, it is picked up by the animal through oral contact with contaminated feces. Simply put, your dog would have to come into contaminated feces from another dog. The intestinal dog parvo symptoms occur when the virus attacks the bone marrow, rapidly dividing cells in the intestinal crypts and the lymph nodes. This allows normally occurring bacteria from the intestines to enter the blood stream to make the animal septic. The virus can be shed in the stool for up to three weeks thus making this a very contagious disease for pets that have not been inoculated.

The cardio form of this infection is usually seen in puppies that are infected before birth or shortly thereafter. It is noteworthy that the cardiac form of CPV is not as common since the mother passes immunity on to her pups from birth. The parvo virus will then attack the heart in the infected puppy and death will occur shortly afterwards.

Dog parvo symptoms are usually present within 3 to 10 days of contact. They include vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea and fever. The diarrhea will cause severe dehydration and secondary infections. Rather than dying from the virus itself, it is usually the secondary infections that kill.

The survival rate depends upon how swiftly parvo virus is diagnosed and treatment is begun. If the virus is not caught early on, the usual treatment is given through an IV line in which fluids are pushed to re-hydrate the puppy or dog more quickly. In addition to giving fluids, anti-nausea and antibiotic shots may be given intramuscularly. Given the proper care, the prognosis is good, but if care is withheld your dog will die prematurely. Most vets will strongly suggest that your pet be vaccinated against parvo about eight weeks after a puppy is weaned.

For more information on parvo virus and ideas on how to treat parvo without needles and potentially harmful chemicals, consider treating parvo symptoms naturally.