When two of his Great Danes stopped taking food all of a sudden, only to fall flat out sick in a few days, Bhavin Manari’s stomach dropped. He has seen this before. It was just about two years ago that his family lost two of their puppies to the deadly parvovirus, a particularly contagious virus that can be fatal to dogs.
The household currently has a whopping 15 dogs in total – all Great Danes. As the alarm bells started to ring, they immediately separated the duo from the rest of the pack. Within a few days, however, two more of them started to show signs of lost appetite.
“We have shifted the remaining 11 to a friend’s place in Kalamassery. They are being closely observed for any symptoms. But luckily, they seem to be fine so far,” Bhavin says.The four others – Olive, Paris, Mishi, and Ivan – are not that lucky however. The virus attacks the canine’s gastrointestinal system, leading to vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration and, if untreated, even death. “The condition of two of them are especially severe. They seem to be in a lot of pain. They have bloody diarrhoea and keep vomiting very frequently. They are even unable to drink water,” he says. “We have been administering a fluid drip to replace the fluids they are losing in their diarrhoea/vomit. Without it, they may become dangerously dehydrated.”
Manari is not entirely sure where the virus came from. “Soon after the lockdown started, one of our dogs, Beatrice, had suffered from severe bloating. Though we took her to a hospital, we ended up losing her eventually. But, when we were at the hospital, another dog infected with parvovirus was admitted there. Realising the danger of the situation, we had taken care to ensure a proper bath and change of clothes after burying her, before we tended to the others. I’m not sure how exactly the transmission happened, but it is most likely that it came from the hospital,” Bhavin says.
‘Vaccination the key’
According to Dr Jerin Francis, a veterinary doctor practising at the Government Veterinary Hospital in Kurumassery, the parvovirus – though primarily transmitted by dog-to-dog contact – is so potent that it is able to be carried and transmitted by unsuspecting third-party carriers via the soles of their shoes or clothing.
“All dogs and puppies are at risk regardless of demographics, and it is necessary that pet owners vaccinate their pets properly to protect their dogs,” he explains. To properly protect the canines, it is necessary to administer the vaccine to them while they are puppies, and then continue to do the same every year, Dr Jerin says. “Though fatal, the disease is preventable this way. But it continues to appear sporadically because many tend to overlook the vaccination process,” he explains.
However, it may be noted that Bhavin’s 10-month-old puppies had gotten their first dose of vaccinations, but was affected despite the same. “Such cases are rare, and they are called vaccine breakdowns. There are many reasons for this and one of them is that the initial three rounds of vaccine may not have been properly completed. But it’s difficult to pinpoint without the details. Though subsequent treatments and immunity booster shots are available, proper vaccination is still the only way out,” he adds.