Quote:
Originally Posted by WalnutHill  Okay, so my insane cleanliness was just validated.
I was talking with the secretary of our local club (breeds Champion Japanese Chins), here's the story (as best I can remember the details):
She took one of her bitches to the vet for a teeth cleaning, brought her home, everything was fine and dandy. A week TO THE DAY later, her puppies show signs of Parvo. She doesn't start vaccinating until 8 weeks, and every pup in her kennel under 8 weeks died. She didn't say how many.
She called the vet, who told her that he had puppies with parvo in the office that day. (humm, don't you think he should have mentioned that a little earlier?)
Then, a month and a half later, she had 2 bitches deliver - all still born pups.
So, two things -
One) Breeders - Make sure you sanitize everything if your dog leaves their environment! After a trip to the vet, I disinfect myself, my clothes, my car, shoes, and give the dog a thorough bath before letting him/her be around our other dogs.
Two) Can parvo do that to a pregnant female? I have no experience with Parvo what-so-ever. If anyone knows or has a similar experience, please let me know. |
Most vets do get parvo cases on a frequent bases so anytime you go to the vets for any reason you should use extreme caution. The advise you gave was very good. Sick dogs go to vets and you can also pick up kennel cough there and take it home to your dogs.
You said all the ladies dogs showed signs of parvo. Those signs are lethargic, lack of appetite, vomiting with no change in diet (it usually looks clear and foamy), bloody diarrhea and stronger feces odor (it is supposedly unmistakable and you will never forget it). Did she take her dogs to the vet and get a proper diagnosis? You mentioned she just called the vet after all her puppies died. There are other viruses that mimic parvo. If the mothers were properly immunized then the puppies would most likely still have the natural antibiotics from the mom. If the pups were weaned at an extemely young age then I could understand how they were not protected.
As for the pregnant bitches loosing there pups, here is some interesting information on that:
Canine Parvovirus (Parvo) - Overview, Transmission, Incidence - animalhealthchannel Quote:
Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a highly-contagious viral infection that affects domestic dogs and other members of the dog family (e.g., wolves, foxes). There are two forms of disease: intestinal CPV and cardiac CPV (also called myocardial CPV).
In most cases, CPV attacks the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and causes symptoms such as bloody diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and a lack of energy (lethargy). This is intestinal CPV infection. Cardiac CPV is a condition in which the virus damages the heart muscle, resulting in heart failure and death. This form of the disease is rare and usually occurs in unborn puppies and puppies that are less than 8 weeks old. |
I did not know about the cardiac CPV and it says it is rare so it is hard to say if that is what the pups had. If it were my pups dying like that I would have wanted some definite answers as to what was going on.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.