Protect Your American Bulldog From Parvovirus

By Author: Ricardo Limbardo
Total Articles: 1131
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ParvoVirus, as the name implies, is a viral disease among dogs. It is most common amoung young, unsuspecting puppies. The ParvoVirus is very dangerous because they break down cells in the body that are known to rapidly divide. Thus, ParvoViruses usually go straight to the intestines and break down the rapidly dividing cells in the intestinal lining. Aside from the intestines, ParvoVirus can also affect the heart. In such cases, ParvoVirus becomes a sudden, silent killer, especially amoung puppies. And it is not there to affect just one, or a certain number of puppies. The ParviVirus can be easily transmitted from one puppy to another. ParvoVirus can also survive most disinfectant agents. It can also easily enter a puppy's system by any means. Don't settle with just knowing how to handle ParvoVirus infections. Protect yourself, your home, and your puppy from the viral killer.

How to Detect ParvoVirus Infection

ParvoVirus infections in dogs can be identified through several symptoms. The virus can cause both physical and behavioral disorders in the infected dog, and can start to show after around a week following ...
... the date of infection. A dog with a ParvoVirus may suffer from diarrhea, which can largely diminish a dog's overall energy, and drastically causes changes in the dog's behavior. The ability of the puppy's body to take in nutrients from its food can also be affected, with the breakdown of the intestinal lining. You can also expect an infected puppy to be driven to vomiting, and loss of appetite. Other signs such as a fever, and blood in the puppy's urine or waste are also strong indications of a ParvoVirus infection. Also, because of the diarrhea, your puppy may also suffer from dehydration. Since ParvoVirus is not really targeted toward just one part of the body, it can just as easily attack another part as it attacks the digestive system. In severe cases, the ParvoVirus attacks the puppy's heart, and immediately causes death by heart failure.

Treating ParvoVirus Infections

If your young puppy is infected with ParvoVirus, the available treatment alternatives that can be administered on it include antibiotics, and IV's. These treatment options, however, cannot completely treat the disease. In short, ParvoVirus cannot be treated completely. The best that can be done is to control the symptoms, and counter the effects of dehydration and lack of nutrients. These treatments can keep your puppy alive longer, but a ParvoVirus infection is a lifelong, and also a life-threatening, infection.

Keeping Your Puppy Safe from ParvoVirus

Puppy ParvoVirus is more common than ParvoVirus in adult dogs. There is a vaccine that fights ParvoVirus in young puppies. However, even with the presence of a possible treatment option, puppy ParvoVirus is very dangerous. ParvoVirus infections in young dogs are harder to control, since puppies have a significantly weaker immune system, and they also still have natural protective antibodies that can get in the way of the treatment. However, vaccinations are very much recommended because they are proven effective against ParvoVirus infections. To keep your puppy protected from ParvoVirus, make sure that you take your puppy to regular vaccination visits from when it is around six weeks old, until it is around 5 months old. The anti-ParvoVirus vaccines that protect against ParvoVirus nowadays provide long term protection against the virus. Don't take the anti-ParvoVirus vaccine for granted. ParvoVirus infection usually leaves a mark on your dog, and can weaken a young puppy considerably, and for good.

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