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Parvovirus is a common disease in dogs, so that veterinarians are more than accustomed to treating it. It is very serious, since the possibilities of surviving the animal are around 50%. You have to prevent it by all means and for that nothing better than knowing it thoroughly, knowing what it is, how it is spread, what symptoms it gives, etc., with the aim of being able to go to the veterinarian as soon as we suspect that our dog has it. What is canine parvovirus? The parvo, as is known in a colloquial way, is a infectious disease produced by a virus that is spread with extreme ease.  In addition, it is very lethal, which is a problem with which they have to deal with veterinarians worldwide. It affects puppies from four weeks of life, hence the importance of vaccinating when it touches, and also adult dogs that are immunosuppressed by some health problem, so you don't have to put reinforcement dose every year. There are breeds that are more prone than others to suffer it, such as ROTTWEILER, he German shepherd or the doberman, so that prevention efforts must be redoubled if we have one of these animals at home. How is parvovirus spread? One of the parvovirus problems is that it is very contagious. In fact, he has several ways to infect our pets, the first being intrauterine, so it is possible that if the mother houses this virus, it is transmitted to the puppies. Another of the tracks is the mouth and nose. If a dog has oral or nasal contact with an infected animal, it will be infected and the same happens if it smells or licks the bearer dog feces, that also infect objects and surfaces. In this way, if we think of an infected dog in a park, it is easy to imagine the amount of animals that can infect, because the dogs smell, they do the same with the feces of their peers, they lick each other, etc. Between five and ten days after contagion, parvovirus begins to act. It focuses, above all, on the stomach And in the heart, although it also generates inflammation and infection of other organs. What are your symptoms? It can produce a variety of huge symptoms, and hence the importance of going to our trusted veterinarian when we notice that the puppy is apathetic and does not want to eat. The most typical are blood diarrhea and vomiting. Due to both there is a dehydration that is very dangerous in the puppies, and sometimes a hypovolemic shock For blood loss, so that the heart is not able to pump a lot of blood and the death of the animal occurs. You can also give pain when palpating the abdomen and fever, although the most common symptom is the diarrhea dotted with blood. This diarrhea and blood are due to parvovirus attacking the intestine, generating injuries that are those that give such characteristic symptoms and favoring the appearance of infections to be treated. It is possible that the symptomatology is very variable, since they depend a lot on the age of the animal, if it has any vaccine, the viral load to which it has been exposed and even the race, because as we have seen, some are more prone than others. Diagnosis In most occasions, experienced veterinarians do not need to do any diagnostic test to know that they are before the parrio, but to confirm their suspicions they can do a blood test. The results will give an alteration of leukocytes and lymphocytes, which are the defenses of our body that fight against viruses and bacteria. There is another simplest test that works by taking a stool sample and that it is quite accurate from the eighth day of the infection, since before it can give false positives. In addition, while the animal is admitted, you have to do more tests, in order to see how the body is reacting and to verify that the virus has not passed to the lungs, the heart or the marrow. Treatment There is no treatment that can kill the virus right now, so veterinarians treat the animal so that their body can overcome it, palling the symptoms and making the dog as strong as possible when facing the parvio. The first thing is to stop dehydration, which is very dangerous and kill the dog in a few hours. To this end, drops are put with serum, through which the medications can be dosed without having to bother the puppy. At the back of this catheter, antibiotics are supplied, as we have already seen due to the wounds of the intestine bacteria are released that can end in the blood, causing a generalized infection and death. A dog in this state does not eat and the fight against the virus lasts several days, so that part of the treatment is food through a probe, which can go directly to the stomach or a vein, depending on what the professional value. With the most serious cases, blood transfusions are also used, thus palling the loss given by diarrhea with blood. This technique has been speaking in dogs for a while, so it is completely safe and veterinarians know very well how to proceed. Finally, a nasogastric probe, in addition to serving to feed the dog, also controls stomach pain, facilitating the animal starting to eat on its own as soon as possible, which is key to recovery. Can parvovirus be prevented? Yes, it can be prevented, although not 100% as it happens with any infection. Anyway, if we take prevention measures and the animal is spread, what we can expect is that the disease will pass without so many symptoms and with a possibility of surviving much higher. The best way to prevent this disease is with vaccination. We will ask our trusted veterinarian and pay attention to the deadlines regardless of what we read on the Internet. The veterinarians of each town are the ones who know best when this disease attacks in their area, so they are the ones who must mark the deadlines to put the vaccines at the right time. Another measure is to prevent the puppy from going to the street until it has the complete vaccination pattern, or at least do it where there are no other adult dogs that are immune to the disease, but that they can have the virus in the body. Many times we have heard that you have to get the puppies in your arms, preventing them from touching the ground, and the reason is parvovirus, which can wait in the feces that an animal has left in any corner. With these measures it is very complicated for our puppy to become infected, avoiding enormous suffering, because it is a complicated disease that can kill him, and that if he does not do it he will have several days in the veterinarian fighting and creating enormous anxiety for uncertainty. Other articles about canine health that may interest you: Bullshit Asthma in dogs Dog vaccines What are mandatory and when to put them? Elbow dysplasia Hip dysplasia Gastric torsion Osteoarthritis