Parvovirus still a puppy killer

Read more here.

This is a very informative post all about parvo, what it is and what to watch for. You can see from this why the advice on this board always is, if you see upset tummy/the runs/listlessness/behaviour change in a puppy -- get the puppy to a vet right away and do not wait to see if it gets better!! Pete says his practice is seeing more and more puppies already sick/dying from this.

People not vaccinating either due to economic times or 'they don't believe in vaccines'...? Parvo is deadly and kills puppies in a horrible way. Please be sure your puppies are protected. AND REMEMBER: DO NOT WALK PUPPIES OUTSIDE THE HOME UNTIL 10 DAYS AFTER THE VAX COURSE FINISHES!!!

Thanks for this timely reminder Karlin.

I've just come from Pets at Home and have met a gorgeous little Staffy puppy being led round the store while his owner was getting some things for him. I asked her how old he was, and the answer was 9 weeks I very much doubt he is fully vaccinated at such a young age, but didn't get a chance to ask, and give (unsolicited) advice as she paid and left.

Our little lodger Brandy's owner did get a second puppy when she was about 1 yr old, but he died of Parvo only about 10 days after being brought home. Very sad.

I think people who don't believe in vaccines have never seen the diseases.

Want to make sure to clarify --

Dr. Jean Dodds, Dr. Ron Schultz - all the duration of immunity researchers, all of the US vet schools, the website that I often mention - critteradvocacy.org -

ALL OF THESE sources absolutely recommend puppy vaccinations for the major illnesses, including parvo, distemper, rabies (and perhaps others depending on location/situation) AND at the very minimum, a one year booster for all of these diseases. The "people that don't believe in vaccines" are concerned with YEARLY boosters in an adult dog for the duration of the dog's life (13, 14, 15 years.....EVERY year). These are not only not necessary, but they can be detrimental.

I took a friend to my vet's yesterday - she had adopted a 3 year old and had no vaccination history at all on the dog. I recommended getting all of the core vaccines and reminded her that she must get boosters in one year since the history of this dog is completely unknown.

Anyone who concludes that vaccines are "bad" and should not be given AT ALL has not thoroughly read and understood the new vaccination protocols. In the long threads here recently there were several people who were questioning whether to give one year boosters, which is why I posted to clarify this important point and to give links that clarified protocol.

Pat

I foster for another dog rescue and have found out the hard way how quickly pups get this and die from this. Every once in a while there is an outbreak and pups drop like flies, it's very sad. So much vet care and money is spent on these poor little babies but sometimes it's just not to be. As an onlooker, it is so frustrating to think that quite a bit of the time it is an adult dog that carries it into the pound, the pups come into contact with it and die from it, even if the rescue gets them out within the day. And all because people don't vaccinate

Parvo is lethal to pups, if they survive they may not thrive for some time afterwards because their little bodies have been weakened so much by it. Adult dogs do die of it too, but not as much as pups. Adults immune systems are so much more developed than little puppies, which can often be the difference between life and death when dealing with Parvo. The rescue I foster for vax all dogs and pups before going to their new homes (at least first vax, if not second). I had someone ask me if it is bad to overvax dogs (esp. older dogs that we don't know the history of... "what if they have already been vaccinated?"), but it is certainly better than not doing it at all.

Good article!

I think probably no pet-related advice is more incorrectly understood and interpreted than Dr Jean Dodds' advice on vaccinations. Because she questions the need for annual boosters there is an assumption that she opposes all vaccines. On the contrary her own recommendation is for core puppy vax followed by the one year booster. t is very well established that the lack of the one year booster may mean a dog has insufficient immunity for some or even all strains of parvo and distemper. There have been posts in the recent past on the main cavalier breeder discussion list regarding young adult dogs that succumbed to parvo due to either not having had the booster or not having a sufficiently strong version of the booster.

The one year booster is a critical part of the base layer the immunization process and it is really important that people understand this is NOT a booster that Dr Dodds or any of the vet schools question!

It is the annual boosters AFTER that, starting at age 2, that are questioned. There is such strong evidence that dogs get about three years coverage at least from a single booster that the vet school recommendations across the US are now for THREE year boosters. If only vest themselves, and boarding kennels etc, would recognise this!

People who rely on titers beyond a three year framework need to do so with extreme caution. As Pat noted elsewhere, there is good, recent evidence now that titers are unreliable about the degree of immunity a dog has.

There is a good study underway --still in need of further funding and supported by Dr Dodds -- to determine the length of immunity conferred by rabies vaccines. Right now there's a likelihood that a single vaccination lasts at least three years and probably longer, yet this is still legally required as an annual vaccine in many places, even though there's also evidence that this vaccine can cause other health problems in some dogs when given so frequently and also, is one of the ones that causes more frequent reactions, too.

The 3 year recommendation is again ONLY for CORE vaccine -- the one with parvo and distemper. Other vaccines, such as for lepto or kennel cough, have a much shorter lifespan and need to be given every year, generally. Depending on where you live and the lifestyle of your dog, you may not need to give these or other vaccinations (but keep in mind someone has posted here about a friend's dog dying from lepto picked up in a suburban area, which is supposed to be lower risk according to some, in some regions).

Many including Dr Dodds feel vaccines after dogs are around 7 are also probably unnecessary as they will have plenty of immunity.

The "people that don't believe in vaccines" are concerned with YEARLY boosters in an adult dog for the duration of the dog's life (13, 14, 15 years.....EVERY year). These are not only not necessary, but they can be detrimental.

Anyone who concludes that vaccines are "bad" and should not be given AT ALL has not thoroughly read and understood the new vaccination protocols

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Thanks Pat and Karlin for clarifying this. This is why I always so careful to clarify that I DO believe in vaccinating but DO NOT believe in boosters.

It always worries me when people come out against all vaccinations.
What I can't stand is when a vet will see a dog that is ill and decide this is the time to update the shots:rabies, dhlppc, lymes and bordetella. I've seen it done and it makes me cringe.

We had a cavalier come into rescue and the poor dog had MVD-- grade 6 -- I think the dog was 13 or 14 and the vet decided that NOW the dog needed shots. What the heck are they thinking?

One other thing about Dr. Jean Dodds -- she is extremely approachable and surprisingly easy to speak with. I live in Kansas (Dr. Dodds in California), but when I had a question about vaccine protocol I picked up the phone and actually spoke with Dr. Dodds herself. She answered the phone herself and graciously gave me a few minutes of her time.