As you may already know, the Parvovirus can be a very serious one to hit your dog. This is especially
true if you have multiple dogs that keep in close contact with one another. The virus will likely
infect all of them if there were no previous vaccinations. After your dog has contracted the virus,
there are different methods of treatment for your pup to undergo.
Since the infection is so hard to battle, it's best to just have your dog vaccinated as soon as
possible. However, if the vaccination was not available to you or too expensive to administer, then
you'll be looking at a trip to the vet. That will be the only way to save your dog’s life.
As soon as you catch on to the symptoms, act immediately. This virus can become quite serious rather
quickly. Unfortunately, unless you are professionally trained to handle animals, and you have all
of the equipment necessary to treat the dog suffering from the Parvovirus, then you will have to
rely on a vet to take care of them and nurse them back to help. There will be no other way around
it.
Though there is a high rate of mortality of infected canines, there is always a chance that a dog
could survive. The treatment will be intensive and aggressive, as the virus won't be leaving without
a grueling fight. So you need to be prepared for that.
With an intestinal infection, the dogs will often need an IV. They will have the inability to keep
water in their systems through continual diarrhea and vomiting. Dehydration is the first thing to
tackle to insure the pup can survive the treatment of the illness. They are administered various
injections of antibiotics and medicines to ease their nausea. If the more mild treatments are showing
little to no effectiveness, they will give the dog a blood transfusion from another dog that has
immunity to the virus. In this way, your dog has a more promising chance to survive.
If the vomiting and diarrhea begin to cease, the IVs will be lessened and removed to have more normal
food substituted. They will continue to treat the dog with antibiotics.
If the disease goes untreated, it can intensely attack the intestines and heart, eventually opening
the way to new infections to sneak in and multiply. The Parvovirus can greatly weaken, or distract,
your dog's immune system. In fact, it is often dehydration or another type of infection that results
in the death of the infected dog.
It is highly advised to just have your pet vaccinated as soon as possible before the virus can even
enter their body.