By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
A puppy in Hutchinson had to fight for its life recently because a young family trusted what they were told before consulting with a veterinarian.
"We got to contend with a Parvo case recently," said Jon Austin, DVM with Hutchinson Small Animal Hospital. "It's one of those things that definitely the old ounce of prevention pound to cure scenario for sure. I just wanted to restate to people how important it is to have a relationship with your veterinarian and to consult and trust their judgment and their recommendations for what's best medically for your pet, especially a new puppy. You know, this young family listened to the breeder you know and I can't tell you how many times in 33 years I've heard this you know that the dogs all current on his shots you know that's the line that comes from the breeder."
Fortunately, in this case, the puppy survived, but that doesn't always happen.
"Part of the sales technique or whatever is that they've been vetted and they've got all their shots," Austin said. "That's never true because if you're buying a puppy at eight or nine weeks, it's just now beginning to be old enough that it needs vaccinations. This young family kind of listened to that and didn't think and they had a puppy home for you know, five weeks and took it out in the community with them and exposed it accidentally, you know, to a virus that's out here and really prevalent in Hutchinson and Reno County called parvo virus. Parvo virus takes a happy bouncy puppy to depressed and just laying around and then you begin to vomit and have diarrhea and it becomes bloody vomit and bloody diarrhea dehydrates and becomes toxic and the animal can be dead in as few as three days."
Parvo virus is easily preventable.
"Ask your veterinarian," Austin said. "Most of us will do a series of vaccinations starting around seven and a half to eight weeks of age and should have a little three-week gap between vaccines and and that keeps your puppy healthy and prevents this disease from happening or if they do encounter it it makes the the process much less severe and they can survive you know even with the very best medicine and treatment we still lose upwards of 35-40% of the dogs. It's just a savage virus."
When you first get a puppy, take them to a vet and have the vet check them out and vaccinate them. It's the best and least expensive way to be sure they get a good start.