Fighting Parvo

[JaneyA]

Sadly, we have had puppies with parvo already this soring in Wagga, as have some others. Two of my fosters became several weeks after arriving, despite 2-week quarantine period. One survived after a week in hospital but his brother didn't. But because they had gone through quarantine, they'd socialised with some others of our foster puppies. So, I started researching ways to assess the risk to the other puppies rather than putting them all back into a long quarantine.

Turns out, Parvo antibody testing in-clinic is actually affordable in Aus. I asked our vet, who was under the impression that it's several hundred dollars each, but it's not.

Lake Road Vet in Wagga is using these kitshttps://www.zoetis.c...-cdvcpvreg.aspx. They are a well test, the kit test both CPV and distemper concurrently and up to 6 samples at a time. Works out to about $100 per pup if all 6 sets of wells are used at the same time. Another kit looks simpler to usehttp://vaccicheck.co...us/aboutus.html and she's looking into pricing.

Through the "parvo season", we are going to do both antibody and ELISA (snap) tests on incoming puppies. The plasma can be stored for a few days until there's 6 samples to run, to use the entire kit in one go and reduce waste/cost.

The testing protocol for puppies who may have been exposed to parvo has 4 possible result combinations:

• High antibody titre and negative parvo ELISA test, can be moved into foster care (and fast-track to adoption) immediately after getting a good bath to wash contamination off their coats.
• High antibody titre and positive parvo test, they're fighting off parvo and need to be quarantined until no longer shedding virus.
• Low antibodies and negative parvo test get bathed, vaccinated and then quarantined as usual, but if they've been exposed they will probably get sick. We monitor these pups very closely, taking temps, etc to identify onset asap.
• Low antibodies and positive parvo test go straight onto vet treatment.

With the Riverina and so many other areas of the country being known parvo hotspots and distemper coming back as well, maybe this will help other groups to assess risks and make decisions if your vet will offer the test kits.

Reference- UC Davis Shelter Medicine Program. http://www.sheltermedicine.com/node/34

JaneyEdited to fix typos

Edited September 2, 2014 by JaneyA

[*kirty*]

Parvo isn't the only thing you need to worry about, and parvo testing should not replace quarantine.

[Aphra]

Thanks for that Janie - that's really useful.

This makes interesting reading.

http://www.diseasewatchdog.org/public/documents/published_research/Risk%20factors%20for%20death%20from%20canine%20parvoviral-related%20disease%20in%20Australia.pdf

[JaneyA]

Very good paper, thanks Aphra! The virulence of the parvo we've been dealing with over the past 2 years is shocking.