Parvovirus in dogs (or parvovirus enteritis) is an infectious disease that often leads to the death of the animal. The dogs are infected most often on a walk, sniffing and licking the objects of the environment, feces infected with diseased animals.
Symptoms of parvovirus in dogs differ somewhat depending on the clinical picture that determines the form of the disease: cardiac, intestinal and mixed.
With a heart form that affects most often puppies, the disease occurs suddenly and proceeds very quickly. Puppies stop eating and drinking water, refuse their mother's milk, drastically weaken, begin to choke, and there are manifestations of arrhythmia. The death of a puppy can occur within one or two days.
The most typical and frequent variant of parvovirus is intestinal, which proceeds in an acute form. The main anxiety symptoms are: strong, repeated vomiting, the dog refuses food and drink, the appearance of diarrhea on the second, third day. The fecal mass is initially mucous, then very watery, with an admixture of blood, which has a fetid odor. The animal noticeably weakens, there is exhaustion, there are problems with breathing, the cardiovascular system suffers.
With a mixed form of the disease, the symptoms of the first two forms manifest themselves, and inflammation in the respiratory tract may also begin.
The temperature during the acute form and at the onset of the disease can rise to 40-41 degrees, stay for 3-4 days, with a favorable prognosis it gradually decreases, if it falls sharply and falls below 37 degrees, this is a very negative sign of the course of the disease, capable of leading to a lethal outcome.
Methods of treatment
After parvovirus enters the body, the development of the incubation period begins in the dogs, it takes 3-10 days in an adult animal, in a puppy from one to three days.
The clinical signs of the manifestation of the disease are too diverse, therefore, the treatment of parvovirus in dogs must be carried out individually and in a complex manner,
The most commonly prescribed course of injection, which includes systemic antibiotics, can also be used immunomodulators. In addition, detoxifying agents, neutralizing poisonous substances and contributing to their elimination, general stimulating actions, vitamins and preparations that restore normal metabolism are additionally used.
Duration of treatment and dose of medications, as well as diet therapy, can be prescribed and regulated only by a veterinarian.