Puppy owners are reminded to remain vigilant with their new pets and keep up their vaccines after confirmed cases of the parvovirus were reported in Busselton and Collie.
Geovet veterinarian Brett Edwards said there had been one case in Busselton over the past few weeks and it was the first case he had seen in Busselton for quite some time.
In Collie, there were a dozen dogs infected with parvo in the past fortnight, with three dogs already losing their lives to the infection, two of which were puppies who were too young to be vaccinated.
Veterinary Services manager Nick Edis said it was the worst outbreak they had seen in a decade.
“For over six years we did not have parvovirus in Collie, it’s hit us really hard,” he said.
“This has come from people becoming complacent. Over the last two years we have run numerous campaigns to try and educate people, and they have been largely successful to an extent but unfortunately not completely successful.
“We get a lot of people coming in and saying they don’t vaccinate because their dogs don’t leave the house, it doesn’t matter.
“Essentially, it can be carried by flies, it can be your next door neighbor who comes round to say hello, that can bring parvo onto your property, then that parvo virus can then survive in the ground for a long time.
“It’s really important for people to know that we have got patients in here fighting for their lives that have never even been off their property.”
Mr Edwards said pavovrius was very nasty and quite an episodic disease which manifested when people became complacent about vaccinations and keeping their puppy quarantined.
He said while the puppies were young they received immunisation naturally through their mother, but at six to eight weeks old they relied on their own immunisation.
“Puppies need to be contained to their self environment,” he said.
“Parvovirus is the worst type of gastrovirus, while survival rates are good, treatment is expensive as the puppy needs to be quarantined in a clinic for four to five days and remained infected for a certain period of time after that.”
Some of the symptoms of parvovirus include; bloody diarrhea, fever, lack of energy, loss of appetite and vomiting.
“If your dog is showing any of these symptoms then it is vitally important that you act quickly,” Mr Edis said.
“The earlier your dog receives treatment, the higher the chances are of survival.”
“This isn’t your dog getting sick, this is a matter of survival, a lot of animals do not survive this, our survival rate for treatment is exceptional, compared to the average.”
Mr Edis said there was no way to directly fight or cure the infection, they have to aid the dogs with the elements it needs to fight the infection by itself.
“We provide the various drugs we use in trying to aid the body in its fight against the virus,” he said.
“Unfortunately there is no direct way of fighting the virus itself. It really is a case of trying to put the body in the best condition to do that itself.”
Mr Edis said dogs who are currently fighting the infection had been placed in a separate isolation ward, which they had to extend considerably due to the recent spike in cases.
“Our big message to people is to vaccinate. What we do now will make sure this doesn’t happen again, that’s the really important thing,” he said.
Daisy the Toy Poodle is just seven months old, but already she is facing the biggest fight of her life.
The much loved family pet was this week diagnosed with the potentially deadly parvovirus infection.
Owner, Sheila Clow said it was only last week when Daisy was running around the garden with her fur-siblings, now she was fighting for survival in the care of vets.
“On Friday she was running around like crazy, playing with our other dogs and she just stopped. It seemed to come on fairly quickly,” she said.
“We took her to the vet on Saturday, she was refusing to eat, she was refusing water and just had really sad eyes.
“They thought at that stage she might have just eaten something, because she eats everything.”
The vets tested Daisy for parvo after noticing she was passing blood in her faeces, one of the common symptoms of the virus.
“My first reaction was that it wasn’t possible because she has never been out of our yard, our other dogs are immunised,” Mrs Clow said.
“Just because your dogs are home and you may think they are protected, you still need to vaccinate them.”
Mrs Clow said she was devastated with the prospect of losing Daisy to the infection.
“There’s a big difference in the cost of trying to save your dog and the heartache that goes with it, than the cost of getting your dog immunised,” she said.
Mrs Clow took to Facebook to remind others to vaccinate their dogs, in the hope that others aren’t faced with the heartache they are currently enduring.
“That’s why I put something on Facebook, because I though if we loose her, which I hope we don’t, if it prods other people to do something then it’s worth it,” she said.
“We’ve had a really good response on their with people reminding others to get their dogs vaccinated.
“If we can get even just remind a few owners to get their dogs vaccinated, then it’s worth it.”
