Hi, I am Kara Smith. I empower people to lead their best lives through practical pet care.
Today I will teach you how to keep your puppy safe from parvo. Parvo remains very common despite an effective vaccination. As an emergency veterinarian, I have seen countless cases of parvovirus. Parvo puppies are some of the sickest patients you could ever see. Their sad eyes embody misery, and they always really pull on my heartstrings.
Parvo is considered ubiquitous in the environment. It has been around since the 1970s and is incredibly hard to kill. Sick dogs shed the virus in large quantities. That means that the virus is everywhere. Consider it to be present on every carpet, in every yard, and on your shoes if they’ve ever touched the floor. Unless your dog lives in an actual bubble, exposure is pretty much guaranteed to happen. The good news is, that correct vaccination is so effective it is almost guaranteed to prevent illness. Here are the two rules you need to know to prevent illness:
1) Start at 8 to 9 weeks (or as close to this age as possible depending on your situation). If you adopt an unvaccinated 12-week-old puppy, start vaccines ASAP! Sometimes puppies are started earlier, at 6 weeks of age, but we will cover that below.
2) Vaccinate with a reliable distemper-parvo combination vaccination every 3 weeks until 16 weeks of age or older. If your puppy is older than 13 weeks, it will only need two sets of puppy shots for adequate immunity. The last two vaccines in the set are critical for lasting immunity.
Here is the: WHY?
- The reason we start at 8-9 weeks is because that is when the natural immunity they got from their mother is likely wearing off.
Puppies get colostrum, which is the first milk, from their mother in the first 1-2 days of their life. Colostrum contains the mother’s antibodies (immunity) and serves to protect puppies while their immune system is developing. Not all puppies get the same amount of antibodies. How much colostrum they get depends on the puppies’ birth order and how strong they suckle. After obtaining antibodies, those levels drop by half every 9 days. Infection depends on three things 1) the puppy’s immune system, 2) viral load (how many particles in an exposure) 3) environmental factors (stresses to their bodies like air temperature and whether they obtain adequate nutrition). Vaccines are needed to help booster the immune system as their maternal antibodies wear off. Vaccinating too soon, because maternal antibodies are still in place, will not be effective. Vaccinating too late leaves a window open for infection.
- Vaccinate every 3 weeks because we are trying to increase given immunity with the vaccine, as their natural immunity wears off. The interval window is technically 2-4 weeks but most agree 21 days or 3 weeks is perfect. You don’t want to vaccinate too soon and interfere with immune workings, and you don’t want to vaccinate too late because the puppy will be left open to exposure and possible illness.
Tips: a) Be sure the vaccine is reliable. Vaccines must be kept cold, and mixed appropriately. If left out of the fridge, they are no longer good. I don’t recommend buying anything off of the shelf. You cannot be sure someone didn’t shop for an hour with the vaccine in their cart and then place it on a shelf to be found for re-stock. This is not the time, in my opinion, to take chances.
Common Reasons Parvo is Common: 1) Cost of vaccines 2) Too hard to get into a veterinarian 3) cost of the veterinary exam.
Solutions: 1) Establishing care with a veterinarian is best, but if this is not feasible, visit a vaccination clinic. Many clinics are walk-in or appointments can be easily made on the phone or online. Suggestions for clinics include Tractor Supply, PetCo, local clinics, humane societies, county animal control places, or roving clinics such as VIP Petcare or ShotVet. Be sure you keep your own records and booster the parvo vaccine every 3 weeks until your puppy is 16 weeks of age or older, even if you have to visit multiple clinics.
Questions and Answers:
Question: High-risk situations or vaccines started at 6 weeks of age: Answer: Sometimes in high-risk situations, such as when a litter is born in a shelter, or brought to a place with known viral particles, the distemper-parvo combination is started early. The thing to keep in mind is that your puppy doesn’t need a certain “number” of shots. They still need to be vaccinated every 3 weeks until 16 weeks of age or older. They should never stop early because they were started early. The last two vaccines in the set are the mostimportant. If a breeder starts a puppy early (6 weeks of age) I tend to wait *2 weeks then start boosters.
Question: *I thought you said you have to booster every 3 weeks (not every 2 weeks)? Answer: Technically boostering between 2 and 4 weeks is acceptable. Two-week intervals are sometimes done in really high-risk situations. Occasionally, in low risk situations we spread the boosters out to every 4 weeks. Normally, every 3 weeks is perfect.
Question: What parvo vaccine should my pet get? There are several different including 5-way, 7-way etc. Answer: The CORE vaccines (most important) are parvovirus, adenovirus and distemper virus. Parainfluenza is useful. Corona virus doesn’t seem to matter a whole lot. Other vaccines will be discussed in other blogs.
Reference: See www.veterinarypartner.com and www.aaha.org.
I hope this is helpful! Keep your puppies safe and comment below if you have any questions or suggestions for future posts.
