I have been doing extensive research the past several weeks regarding the
canine Parvovirus. I wanted to post some of that here for you as I know
that there are many people struggling with this virus across the country
with various breeds. I also want to preface this by saying don't
trust what
other people tell you, find out for yourself.

The nurse in me has helped me in this regard. When a sales rep pitches a
medication or wound dressing to me, the FIRST thing I ask are "Where are
your randomized, controlled studies?" as I want proof that it will
benefit
my patients. If they cannot produce this, they don't come into my
office...end of discussion.

Parvo DOES have something to do with vaccines....because vaccines trigger
antibody production (by the immune system) and antibodies destroy
viruses.
Read below and you will see why, don't fool yourself and think that
vaccination does no good as some have suggested. There is a wide body of
evidence to support this and I will be glad to provide link to proven
research studies if you are interested. The key here is your
pups/dogs must
have been immunized against the strain that they are exposed to... in
other
words, if you vaccinate for CPV-2, and your pup is exposed to CPV-2b,
they
may very well contract the virus.

The Canine Parvovirus first appeared clinically in the US in 1978, and
the
disease spread rapidly creating an epidemic in the canine population
and it
affected dogs of all ages. This occured because no dogs had been
exposed or
vaccinated because there was no vaccine at the time. Now parvo, like
many
viruses (like influenza in humans) has mutated over time to produce
what we
call different strains. It is thought my many researchers that the
canine
parvovirus originally seen in 1978 was actually a mutation of the feline
panleukopenia.

The early cases of Parvo were referred to as (strain) CPV-2. Then in
1980
the mutated strain CPV-2a was seen, followed in 1986 by strain CPV-2b.
It
is reported today that the most prevalent strain in isolates obtained
from
dogs/pups is CPV-2b. There is some growing evidence that suggests that
there are indeed other mutated strains out there but these take a long
time
to accurately identify and then develop a vaccine. The first parvo
vaccination released for use was developed by Dr. Bob Page and
released in
1980.

Now, here is the interesting part. Pay attention here:::::::Current
vaccines have helped control the disease, but some pups contract the
disease
inspite of being vaccinated. Why is that? And.... some pups in the
litter
are affected by the virus, but other pups in the same litter are not.
Now,
Why is that? I'll try to keep this in regular english, not nurse speak!

Puppies do not have have any antibodies(these chemicals are the
"soldiers"
that attack foreign material in the body) at birth except in VERY SMALL
amounts that they receive from the mother while still in the uterus.
This
very small amount is insufficient to provide immunity. Antibodies are
passed after birth from the mother to the pups via colostrum, which is
the
first milk produced. Puppies are able to get antibodies (the
chemicals in
our bodies and dogs that attack and destroy foreign materials) for the
first
24 to 36 hours of life, via colostrum. This system has to work
perfectly in
order for the pup to receive the antibodies from the mother. There are a
number of reasons why this may not happen for a pup.

1) The pup may not nurse in the first 24 to 36 hours of life.
2) The mother may self nurse or leak colostrum prior to whelping
3) The pup may be the last pup to nurse and the colostrum has already
been
used up by the other pups
4) Mom was not vaccinated, or she wasn't vaccinated against the
strain that
the pup is exposed to

The above reasons are some possible (though not every reason) that a
pup may
not get the needed colostrum or antibody that offers protection from
disease
during the first 4-6 weeks of life. Now keep in mind in order for the
mom
to confer antibodies to her pup, she has to have been vaccinated or
otherwise exposed to that particular type/strain of virus. The dam
can only
make antibodies when exposed to a foreign material, ie a virus. So
mom has
to have been vaccinated or exposed to a virus in order to produce
antiobodies to that same virus.

What happens over time is the antibodies that pups get in colostrum
are used
up or are chemically broken down. This process is the reason that
vaccinations are typically recommended to be given in a series. At
around 6
weeks of age when the first vaccine is usually given, only about 1/4
of the
pups have lost the maternal antibodies from colostrum. At this time,
these
pups are the only ones that will gain any benefit from the vaccine. The
other 3/4 will still have mom's antibodies and will inactivate the
vaccine
when given. Since we do not know who has lost mom's antibodies and who
hasn't, we vaccinate all of them so that we catch the 1/4 that don't have
mom's antibodies protecting them. Another round of vaccinations is then
given to catch the other pups who have lost mom's antibodies. The time
varies from pup to pup as to when they lose antibodies, but research has
shown that it happens anywhere between 4-12 weeks of age but sometimes
up to
20 weeks of age in some breeds. So we vaccinate in stages in hopes of
catching all of the pups when they no longer have mom's antibodies.
Sometimes, even when vaccinated and appropriate intervals, the pup
doesn't
produce antibodies. There are several reasons that the pups immune
system
fails to produce antibodies, with the most common being heavy parasite
loads
or other viral illnesses.

I'm currently doing more research regarding testing for parvo, and
methods
used to confirm parvo as the cause of death in pups. I'll post more
on that
when I have completed my research. I will also address in that post, the
symptoms of parvo (if any) and why they occur. And of course, I am also
gathering data on prevention/treatment. I have not yet experienced parvo
and I pray that I never do. I didn't jump right into
prevention/treatment
first, because for me I have to fully understand what I'm dealing with in
order to learn how to treat/prevent it.

Robin G.
TyTan's Standard Poodles
www.standardparti-poodle.com