Symptoms Of Parvovirus In Older Dogs

Young puppies and unvaccinated dogs including those who have not had their booster injections are most at risk from becoming victims of parvo.

Symptoms of parvovirus in older dogs. Sadly parvovirus symptoms progress rapidly and the disease can be fatal. Bloody diarrhea caused by parvo will have a strong foul odor. Most commonly parvovirus causes gastroenteritis or inflammation of the stomach and intestines. While the skin will lose elasticity the mouth and gums will appear dry and without moist.

Dehydration can be easily noticed in a dog s skin mouth and gums. Parvo in old dogs can be extremely dangerous because it can be slightly harder to detect. The wet tissue of the mouth and eyes may become noticeably red and the heart may beat too rapidly. Symptoms of parvo include foul smelling diarrhoea with blood in it vomiting loss of appetite collapse depression fever and sudden death.

If our older dog is not having symptoms of vomiting or diarrhea it s easy to associate lethargy and lack of appetite simply to our dogs being older. Parvovirus affects any gender size age or breed of dog or puppy. Parvo often causes puppies to get dehydrated from excessive diarrhea and vomiting. The cardiac form of the virus is typically seen in young unvaccinated puppies but older dogs can become infected too.

When your veterinarian examines your dog s abdominal area your dog may respond due to pain or discomfort. Usually the first symptoms are rapid dehydration brought on by the vomiting and bloody diarrhea both of which are common symptoms of the disease. At the earliest signs of parvo fever diarrhea vomiting lethargy shivering no eating or no drinking your dog has the best chances of surviving when you seek immediate attention. The most common symptoms to look for are diarrhea bloody stool and dehydration.

There is no cure for parvo so your vet will treat the symptoms your dog is suffering from during the illness. Symptoms of the gastrointestinal form of parvovirus in dogs include severe vomiting blood in the stools lethargy and loss of appetite. Vomiting and diarrhea often containing blood are the most common reasons that dogs with parvovirus are taken to the veterinarian. Treating parvo in older dogs dogs infected with the parvo virus will show signs of malnutrition and weight loss in most cases.

For this particular symptom pet owners can inject fluids that contain sugar minerals vitamins and potassium into their pet s body for a quick treatment before visiting the veterinarian s office. Who is at risk. How do you know if your dog has parvovirus. The dog s health and age will determine the severity of the disease.