PARVO... The In's and Out's

Parvo is a disease of alot coming 'out' and not very much going 'in'.....  Many people have heard about Parvo, but not many understand what it is and how deadly it can be.  Parvo is a virus that is seen in many species of animals, like dogs, cats, cows and even humans.    Luckily it is very species specific, meaning that it cann't be trasmitted from dogs to humans or vice versa.  It's a virus that attacks rapidly dividing cells which include the intestinal cells and the bone marrow.  This can easily cause death in puppies, BUT has an 80% survival rate in puppies properly treated. 

How Does Your Puppy Get Parvo:

The virus is shed in an infected animals feces(poop).  This virus is super strong in the environment.  It can live through a winter freeze and be infective once the ice melts!!  It can live in your soil for at least 7 months if not more.  It is so common in the environment it is impossible to prevent all exposure. 

The puppy gets exposed by getting the virus in it's mouth(mucous membrane), this can be through direct feces eating or just getting a little infected dirt in the mouth.  It takes a very, very small amount of the virus to cause infection.

Clinical Signs:

The most common clincal signs are vomiting and diarrhea.  The diarrhea is often bloody and stinky.  Most of these animals will refuse to eat or drink, very shortly into the disease.  The puppy is usually very lethargic and inactive.  The signs are very rapidly progressing and if not treated early can cause death.

What is Happening Inside?:

I try to make this complex diease, very simple to understand when I explain it to clients.  The virus attacks 'rapidly dividing cells'.  These cells are the bone marrow and intestinal cells.  It first attacks the bone marrow, this is where the 'defender cells' are made.  They help fight off unwanted disease and infection.  It then moves onto the intestines.  The intestines have these little finger like structures(villi) that absorb nutrients.  The parvo virus goes and 'mows' them down, preventing the puppy from absorbing water and nutrients. 

The puppy can die from two things:  The vomitng and diarrhea can lead to such dehydration that shock occurs.  And/Or the loss of the intestinal barrier allows bacterial to get into the blood stream and spread throughout the body.  Septic toxins from the bacteria lead to death.  This is a horrible disease and an even worse way to die.

Diagnosis:

Deciding if you puppy has Parvo is based upon clinical signs(vomiting/diarrhea) and a very simple stool test.  This is a test specially designed to test for Parvo in the feces.  It takes about 10 minutes to run and have a diagnosis.  Further bloodwork may be needed to check the puppy's organ function and help with prognosis. 

Treatment/Prevention:

Of course the best way to avoid Parvo is vaccination.  Parvo requires several well timed vaccines.  The puppy gets some immunity from its mom, in the form of colostrum.  All puppies get a different amount of immunity from their mom, it depends upon how much colostrum they got and how much immunity their mom has.  This mommy immunity is great but also inactivates the vaccines immunity.  Since there is no easy way to 'quantify' when the mommy immunity wears off the puppy gets a series of vaccines.  Many people think dogs need '3' puppy boosters, there is no magic number for the vaccines.  They need them EVERY 3-4 weeks until they are  AT LEAST 16 WEEKS old!!

If your puppy gets Parvo, then treatment needs to be started immediatlely.  The very best thing to do is hospitalize the puppy and start it on intravenous fluids and injectable medications.  These help support the puppy while it's own immune system fights off the virus.  Be prepared for a 5 to 7 day hospital stay and substantial expense.  Intensive care is needed to treat this infection.

There are people who just cann't afford the hospitalization and injections, and want to take the pet home.  The chances of survival with at home care go down considerably but can be tried if the only other choice is euthanasia.

After Treatment:

Your veternarian will give you instructions for feeding, watering, exercise, repeat vaccination, etc; when the puppy leaves the hospital.  Remember that your yard can be infective for up to 7 months and inside your house(after cleaning) for up to 1 month!!  The treated puppy now has immunity against parvo, but any new puppy could get sick from the environment!!  Make sure to call you veternarian with any questions.  The veternarian and staff are always eager to share information.

Extensive Parvo Information

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1199

AAHA Vaccine Guidelines

http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/VaccineGuidelines06Revised.pdf

Feline Leukemia- Finally a Cat Post!

This is for all the Cat Lovers out there!!  Feline Leukemia is one of the most common cat infections.

Leukemia is a virus that causes a permanent infection.  This can eventually lead to suppression of the cats immune system, problems with the bone marrow(where the red blood cells and white blood cells are made), or the big "C" (cancer).  You notice I put 'eventually' in bold that's because cats can live with the virus for years and have no symptoms.  I often have owners decline testing for leukemia because the cat seems 'fine', just because the cat feels fine doesn't mean it isn't carrying the virus. 

This virus can just 'hang-out' in the blood and bone marrow.  The picture I get in my mind of this virus, is a little kid sitting on a fence just swinging their legs waiting for something to happen.  And that is what this virus does it just 'swings its legs' until the cat gets stressed or sick from something else then it jumps down and starts causing problems!

What to look for:

The symptoms of Feline Leukemia are often very vague.  The symptoms can be fever, lethargy, enlarged lymph nodes, and/or weakness.  Some cats can have stomach and intestinal problems such as weight loss and diarrhea.   They can also develop cancer of the lymph nodes or bone marrow. 

Testing:
I encourage all new cat owners to have a simple blood test performed to rule out feline leukemia.   This will make sure that the new cat isn't a carrier of the virus and therefore spreading the disease to other cats in the household.  If you cat tests negative, it can be vaccinated against feline leukemia.  I only vaccinate 'at risk' cats, this includes any cat that goes outside or lives with other cats that go outside.  If your cat comes up Leukemia positive, this doesn't mean the cat has to be euthanized.  It just means the cat needs to be strictly indoors and isolated from other non-infected cats (I usually recommend a single cat household- dogs are fine).



Feline Leukemia Test



Treatment:
There is not a treatment to get rid of the virus.  If your cat develops symptoms of feline leukemia, supportive care or chemotherapy are the treatment options.  The prognosis is usually very poor once the cat starts developing symptoms.  Your veterinarian can help decide what treatment is needed.  
The vaccine is only helpful in preventing the disease; it has no benefit for positive cats.

Prevention:
The first way to prevent feline leukemia is by keeping cats indoors and away from other cats that may carry the virus.  The second way is to vaccinate at risk cats, your veterinarian can advise you on a vaccine schedule.   

Dr. Mason's Tidbit
-Feline Leukemia used to be a disease that we saw very frequently, but with aggressive testing and vaccination we have been able to really decrease the incidence.  Any new cat or kitten needs to be tested and all at risk cats need to be vaccinated.  I hope one day Feline Leukemia will just be something we read about in textbooks…. 

Links:
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1482

Ebony - The Man Hater

I hope everyone is having a very Happy New Year!!!  I had a wonderful holiday filled with family and friends.  I was kindof stumped as to what to write about this week.  It's kindof hard to follow such a wonderful subject as poop eating!!  I decided to write about what I know and that is my wonderful pets at my home.  As I have told you before I would like to pretend that all my animals are just the picture of perfection!  This unfortunately is not the case....  They do things that make me want to pull out my hair but then do something so funny/cute I decide they can stay!

I wanted to start with Ebony, since I have had her the longest.  Ebby came to me when I worked at a vet clinic in Oklahoma.  She was 8 months old and a repeat escapee from her former home.  The former owner brought her in for euthanasia because she got fined every time the dog got out.  I was coerced into taking this curly haired and frightened dog home.  Ebby was supposed to be a pet shared by my brother and me, 'two independent college students'.  Weeeellll, Ebby had other ideas, she took one look at my brother and decided she would rather not.  I believe that Ebby had a rough start in life and either was treated badly by men or maybe just never saw one?  It took her a good 2-3 years to develop any kind of fondness for anyone of the male gender.  If given the choice back then Ebby would have stayed at my side 24/7.  During that time she escaped from my brother during the night and he 'reports' he was running down the street barefoot chasing the dog!  LOL!  He had to call my friend who lived down the street to come catch her!!  That was terrifying at the time but now I get a pretty good chuckle out of it!  Ebby has slowly worked out of her man-aversion, but will still pick a lady to sit with first. 

Ebby also had separation anxiety when I first got her.  If left out to roam the house she would destroy pretty much anything she could get her mouth on.  Flip flops and toilet paper were her favorite.  I immediately started crate training and we enrolled in obedience classes.  The obedience class was the best idea; I recommend it to anyone that has a dog.  I really learned more than Ebby did.  This is something I have been able to use as a veterinarian and with my other animals.  The classes helped Ebby develop more confidence and helped me teach her reasonable rules and guidelines.

Ebby made it through vet school with me and is now living the life of a queen.  I now have more time to spend at home and taking her to the P-A-R-K (you gotta spell it or she goes crazy).  She comes to work with me a lot and she has a bed in my office and a kennel up front where her and June can monitor the clinic activity.  When she arrives at work she has to make the rounds to see all the staff and make sure they all tell her she's beautiful!  She also occasionally sneaks up to the reception area and visits with the clients.  With Ebby this is all most likely treat motivated...   

Ebony has turned into a great little dog.  It took time and a lot of patience but she has paid me back twice over, with her unconditional devotion.  I think that most dogs can be 'great' dogs with some patience and work on the part of 'us' the humans.  The thing I tell clients all the time is that dogs are dogs, no matter what; they are going to do dog things on occasion.  This maybe chewing you cell phone, or peeing on the floor, even digging up your prize rose bush!  But you know what, you just gotta roll your eyes and smile, because what else are you going to do...