Coronavirus in Dogs | Causes, Symptoms & Treatment | Mylilpaw
It is when there is coronavirus combined with parvovirus or another intestinal infection that it is a significant risk to the health of a dog.
CCV is second only to parvo in dogs, as a viral source of diarrhea. It is an intestinal disease to canines, and is present throughout the world in both wild and domestic dogs.
The disease has been around for decades, and most domestic adult dogs have detectable antibody titers for the CCV.
It means they have been exposed to the virus at some stage in their lives, or have been vaccinated against it as children, and from that stage on they bear lifetime protection.
Causes of coronavirus in dogs
The coronavirus is transmitted from dog to dog by exposing contaminated dogs to the feces. Infected dogs upto six months can shed the virus in feces.
CCV lives within the upper two-thirds of the small intestine, where it replicates itself, and in local lymph nodes as well.
Stress enhances the vulnerability to CCV infection, because dogs that are intensively trained live in overcrowded environments or unhealthy conditions, or spend time in areas where other dogs are at higher risk.
Coronavirus in dogs symptoms
For adult dogs, there are sometimes no signs of a coronavirus infection. Sometimes a dog can suffer a single episode of vomiting, or a couple of days of explosive diarrhea.
Temporary loss of appetite or depression may also occur. Quite rarely, fever, or mild respiratory symptoms can also occur.
Puppies, particularly those under the age of 12 weeks, are at substantially greater risk of serious illness than adult dogs, and can suffer from severe diarrhea and dehydration.
When diagnosed with coronavirus only, most puppies recover from moderate to serious diarrhea after several days.
Nevertheless, puppies infected with both coronavirus and parvovirus may experience serious enteritis (inflammation of the small intestine), and unfortunately for many puppies these two simultaneous infections are fatal.
Coronavirus in dogs treatment
As the signs of a coronavirus infection are close to those found in certain forms of gastrointestinal infections, the doctor may need to do different serum or antibody titer tests to diagnose coronavirus.
Luckily most adult dogs recover without the need for medical attention or fluid therapy from a CCV infection.
In certain cases, diarrhea can last up to 12 days, and several weeks of soft stools. Colostrum, homeopathic remedies, and slippery elm bark may all be highly helpful during this period.
Care should be taken to track puppies infected with coronavirus. For a young dog, only a very small amount of diarrhoea or vomiting may be fatal.
This is why keeping CCV patients, particularly puppies, from developing dehydration is very important.
To avoid dehydration, water or specially formulated fluids can be administered under the skin (subcutaneously) and/or intravenous.
Luckily most adult dogs recover without the need for medical attention or fluid therapy from a CCV infection.
In certain cases, diarrhea can last up to 12 days, and several weeks of soft stools. Colostrum, homeopathic remedies, and slippery elm bark may all be highly helpful during this period.
Since CCV is highly contagious, if your dog is symptomatic or has been diagnosed with the virus, he should be isolated from other dogs immediately.
It's also important to keep clean and hygienic your dog's crate or sleeping area, and remember to always pick up after your dog and keep him from coming in contact with other dog's feces.
Coronavirus vaccine exists but I do not recommend it. Dr. Ronald Schultz, vaccine specialist, calls it a "disease-searching vaccine," and thinks it has very little benefit. This is because coronavirus is not a significant infection on its own.
As long as your dog has received a prompt parvovirus vaccine there is always no need to be unnecessarily worried about an infection with coronavirus.
How to prevent coronavirus in dogs?
Parvovirus, as most dog owners know, is a serious disease that is all too often fatal. As coronavirus in conjunction with parvo is lethal, it's another justification to make sure your dog is vaccinated against the latter.
While it's true that over-vaccination is a issue in the veterinary world, that doesn't mean we should give up granting parvo (two puppy vaccines) baseline protection to give dogs lifelong immunity against this deadly disease.
The procedure I follow in parvo vaccination (the vaccine protects against all strains) is a parvo / distemper shot before the age of 11 weeks (ideally at 9 weeks) and a booster at around 14 weeks.
Then, about 2 to 4 weeks after the second shot, I run antibody titer tests to ensure the puppy was vaccinates as-well as immunized.
This is a central vaccination procedure offering the required number of vaccines to protect against life-threatening illnesses, without the risk of over-vaccinating.
Because the role of the vaccinations is to stimulate the development of antibodies, if a puppy is exposed to parvo (or any virus for which he has been vaccinated), he has some sort of safety in circulation.
Vaccines promote the development of antibodies but it takes 10 to 14 days for sufficient protection to occur after the vaccination.
A small number of dogs identified as non-responders won't develop immunity and will remain vulnerable to parvo for their entire lives.
That knowledge is really important for dog owners to have, which makes me titer after the second round of shots.
Additionally, some puppies retain a degree of immunity from their mother's milk which interferes with vaccine efficacy.
Titering gives us the knowledge that we need to be sure that the pup has been successfully immunized, or if he hasn't, to decide why and what more steps to take.
I almost often offer freshly vaccinated animals a homeopathic detoxifier.
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