A LIMERICK vet has urged dog owners to vaccinate their pets after reports of clustered outbreaks of a potentially fatal virus.
Donal Ryan, of City Vet Limerick, warned local pet owners about the effects of canine parvovirus, or ‘parvo’ which is a serious disease in dogs, particularly young dogs, if they’re not vaccinated against it.
He referred to a 2018 outbreak of canine parvovirus in the county, saying that “it killed a lot of dogs”.
‘Parvo’ is a disease that mostly (though not exclusively) affects young dogs, causing enteritis, an infection in the bowel.
According to Donal, the infection causes canines to lose a lot of fluid from their bodies from “bloody and profuse diarrhoea”.
“Sadly, even with treatment, some puppies will die from secondary infections. If they’re very young, they’ll die from dehydration and possibly toxic effects of the disease.”
The disease, Donal explains, is commonly spread by dog-to-dog contact, as well as through contaminated environments and faeces.
Given the virus’ ability to survive and remain active in its environment, the Limerick vet urged dog owners to vaccinate their pets, explaining that the more dogs that are vaccinated in a given area, the less the virus has the ability to spread.
He emphasised that dogs should be vaccinated against parvovirus, even if their owner is resistant to vaccination.
“In the dog world, as well as the human world, there are people who have a kind of dislike for vaccines, but a poor understanding of the diseases, could lead to the dogs not being vaccinated.”
“I’m just always disappointed when that comes into animals, I suppose, I’ve seen first-hand how many animals can die,” he added.
