CANINE PARVOVIRUS

FOCAL POINT
-Aggressive treatment can dramatically increase survival of patients with canine parvovirus enteritis.
KEY FACTS
-In-house ELISAs allow for rapid diagnosis, but false-positives can result when dogs have been recently vaccinated with attenuated virus vaccins, and false-negatives can result when antibodies from blood in the feces bind to antigen.
-If serum albumin drops below 1.5 g/dl or total protein decreases below 3.5 g/dl, an untravenous colloid should be given.
-Intravenous bactericidal antibiotics are indicated for puppies with neutropenia and hemorrhagic diarrhea.
-Antiendoroxin should be given before antibiotics because endotoxins are released as bacteria are killed.