An Introduction to Canine Parvovirus

I have 6 dogs. Sir Browie, Precious, Patches, Gabby, Baby G, Bear (The handsome one) and Tinkerbell the runt.  Sir Browie is a Long Hair Chihuahua, Precious is Pekingese and Chihuahua. Precious is the mother of Patches, Gabby, Baby G, Bear, and Tinkerbell. Gabby and Baby G are Twins as is Bear and Tinkerbell. The puppies are mixed breed as well. They are Pekingese, Chihuahua and Jack Russell. By the way, Sir Browie is not the father. Gangster is the father. Gangster was a full blood Jack Russell who was killed on an early Sunday morning by a driver who I believe did not get up that morning looking for someone or something to kill. I just believe at that moment he spotted Gangster standing next to a parked car, he then made the decision to speed up his car and turn it just enough to hit  Gangster without hitting the park car. Why do I believe this, because I witness the incident  Rest in Peace Gangster because you are truly missed.


I decided to write this blog on Canine Parvovirus to introduce to my readers who are dog lovers the signs and symptoms of this very unforgiving and deadly disease. I want to take you on a journey where I had to find the courage to save my five puppies lives who were afflicted by this disease.


Canine parvovirus was originally discovered in the 1960s. Since then, several variations of the current strain of canine parvovirus began to emerge; in the late 1970s. At the time, it was known as canine parvovirus 2, or CPV2.


Intestinal Parvo:
Most common of the Dog Parvovirus. 


Dogs are infected through oral contact with Canine Parvovirus in feces or soil which is infected with the virus. Once the dog has contacted the virus, it replicates in the lymphoid tissue in the throat followed by a move to the bloodstream. It then attacks cells in the intestines, lymph nodes and bone marrow. The resulting effect on the dog can include fever, lethargy, vomiting and bloody diarrhea.


Cardiac Parvo:
Less common of the Dog Parvo virus, and affects mainly very young puppies, infected either in the womb, or within the first 8 weeks of life. The cardiac form of parvo damages the heart muscle, and can lead to breathing difficulties, and death.


Before a vaccine could be developed, thousands of dogs were afflicted with parvo leading to thousands of dog deaths. In 1980, another very similar strain developed replacing CPV-2, which was labelled CPV-2. In the mid 1980, a further strain developed, labelled CPV-2b, which emerged as the most prominent of the parvovirus strains. This is the most common form of the parvovirus which puppies and dogs today. Whilst a great deal has been learned about the parvovirus since its discovery, there is much which is still unknown. However, vaccines do exist for parvo and although they are not 100% effective in preventing an infection, they do prevent an enormous amount of parvovirus and in turn, further spreading of the virus. To learn more about this swift killing disease please read my blog to learn the early waring signs of this very deadly disease.


Or visit this URL http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=canine+parvovirus&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 to read some of the man articles on the disease.