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What is Parvo virus?

Posted Oct 18 2008 2:33pm

Vaccination We get all these routine vaccinations for our cats and dogs but do we know what they protect our pets against? I know I really don't know much about the diseases since I don't ever expect to come across them for real.

I was checking the web for some enlightenment on parvo virus and came across this excellent Parvo FAQ put together by Moc Klinkam at www.workingdogs.com.

Parvo is an intestinal virus that dogs get, particularly younger dogs.

The virus attacks and kills these cells, causing diarrhea (often bloody), depression and suppression of white blood cells -- which come from another group of rapidly dividing cells. In very young puppies it can infect the heart muscle and lead to "sudden" death.

For some reason, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, and other black and tan breeds are especially prone to Parvo, and seem to succumb to parvo faster and with less chance of recovery than any other breed.

There's more where that came from.

Photo credit: PenelopeB

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