# Parvo in Adult Dogs



## Jennifer Marshall (Dec 13, 2007)

I have a friend in Wisconsin who just lost 2 adult dogs to parvo. They were both gsd/rott mixes, 6 and 7 years old in good health prior to suddenly becoming ill. He the younger one got sick first and survived 11 days in intensive care at the vet. Now the other dog has it and is at the vet.

I don't know many details other than the dogs were well cared for, on a decent (diamond naturals) food, regularly exercised, and had received their distemper, and rabies boosters 4 and 5 months ago.

I was under the impression that parvo was rarely serious in a healthy adult dog.... but apparently several other people he knows have had adults die from parvo in the last 6 months. 3 or 4 other dogs I believe, all mixed breeds between 3 and 6 years old.

Anyone else had/heard of adult dogs getting and dying from parvo?


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

Sure, we have the occassional epidemic. A couple of summers ago more than a 100 dogs came down with parvo, a mix of all ages. Some made it and some died. Most had never been vaccinated. A friend of mine was one of the vets whose clinic was swamped with parvo cases.


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## Jaimie Van Orden (Dec 3, 2008)

I know of three dogs that were at a hunt test out west, maybe Indiana or there abouts, in October that all contracted and were lost to parvo. One was a Brittany age 11, the other two shorthairs ages 3 and 7.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Yes, it's uncommon, but not unheard of. The most common reason in adults is some sort of immunocompromised state or non-vaccinated state.


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## Jennifer Marshall (Dec 13, 2007)

Whoops! Lost 1 of his 2 adult dogs, I hope he does not lose the other  But it doesn't look good.


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## Jennifer Marshall (Dec 13, 2007)

Ok just asked him if they had been vaccinated for anything other than distemper and rabies, he said the "distemper" shot given 4 months ago was a 5-way including parvo and they had been vaccinated with it every year, the rabies was a 3 year.

I have not heard of adults with parvo around here, just pups. It isn't a huge problem but is definitely around. Guess I was blissfully ignorant, I knew it could happen but thought it was much more rare than it is.


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## Melissa Thom (Jun 21, 2011)

When I was a kid (early to mid 80's) between our house and my grandfather's kennel we lost 14 dogs ages 6 months - 8 years old. The parvo vaccine was fairly new at the time and didn't cover all the strains developing-my family got a golden retriever from the humane society and brought in the disease. Within a month it devastated my grandfather's kennel. It's possible he's dealing with a new nasty strain, or it's possible for whatever reason the dogs were already immune compromised. I would be looking at the latter with a serious eye because I've known people where the dogs were the first sign that something very wrong is going on in the environment.

As far as supporting the dogs through this - good luck. I'm sure the vet has some ideas.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I know of adults who have gotten it and died, and others who got it and survived. I had an 11 month old dog get it, she survived. She was fully vaccinated I was told, but the vaccines were done by her original owner, I got her at 5 months, so I can't swear to it. It didn't hit her that hard though, almost more like a nasty flu bug, she was vomiting for a few days but was never 100% out of it, and after a couple of days was already on the mend.

It's my understanding Rotts are also more susceptible to Parvo than many other breeds, considering the dogs mix I wonder if that's playing into this. My vet said he sees vaccinated, adult Rotts come down with it on a semi-regular basis, and it's not uncommon for them to not survive. But I've also heard that Parvo can mutate, or whatever it is these viruses do, and vaccines become less effective or even ineffective until they come up with new ones for the new strain.


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