Damn Parvovirus!

Bloody computer, I almost finished writing my blog entry and then it suddenly turned off without warning! And when I clicked on 'recover post', there was nothing there to recover! Dammit! Now I gotta rewrite the whole entry again... and I don't know whether I can be bothered doing it.

I just wanted to talk about my day at work, where I had two cases of Parvovirus! I know that my non-vet friends probably don't know what Parvovirus is... it's a very contagious virus that causes vomiting, severe bloody diarrhoea, anorexia, dehydration and could be fatal if not treated promptly. Everything that comes into contact with the dog needs to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected with bleach.

The first case was a Mastiff cross that came in late morning. He had his puppy vaccinations but since then hasn't had any booster vaccinations. He was really depressed and lethargic and had some blood in his faeces. It was lucky that I asked about the vaccinations 'cos that's what caused us to think that it might be Parvo, as he isn't fully vaccinated. We didn't do the Parvo test until about 2 hours since he'd been in hospital.... so if any puppies came in after the case, I hope they're okay and haven't caught the Parvo. When he was positive on the test, we had to quickly bleach the waiting room, consult room, the hallway... basically anywhere that the dog had been!!

He had to go on fluids, and a lot of injections... I quoted the owner about $1,400 to $1,900! He's a big boy, so that's why it's so expensive.

Then as soon as I'd stabilised the first case, I got a Pug that only had his 8 week vaccination but no boosters a month after and she had been vomiting and had diarrhoea. When I first saw the case, I jokingly thought, 'Oh yes, this is another Parvo!' However when I saw the blood on the thermometer, my heart sank... I thought, 'CRAP! This IS another Parvo....' We quickly did a Parvo test on the Pug which was strongly positive.

We had to put this one on fluids and drugs as well. Because the Pug is only quite small, I only quoted the owner $700 to $1,200, which is a big difference to the large sum of money the Mastiff cross' owner is most likely to spend.

We haven't had Parvo cases in the hospital for a long while and we suddenly get 2 cases in one day. And I did the consults for both cases... I felt like 'Parvo Woman'! One of the nurses joked that I shouldn't do any more consultations in case I bring in more Parvo cases! *LoL*

I think I got aquainted with that disease quite closely today.....! I had to bleach my labcoat and pants when I got home. Lucky I don't have any dogs at home (although I guess they'd be fully vaccinated if I did have any, so it wouldn't be a problem!) That's one thing I've always been afraid of, that I'd bring home diseases and infect my cats with it!

Anyway, it's getting quite late and I need to go to bed!

I guess the moral of the story is:

MAKE SURE YOU VACCINATE YOUR NEW PUPPIES & KITTENS AND THEN GET THEM VACCINATED YEARLY!