Dog Owners Warned to Vaccinate

Fri, 01 May 2009

Pet owners in Sussex are being warned that their pets may be in danger of a potentially fatal animal disease in the county. The canine parvovirus can kill animals within days and cases have been discovered in Eastbourne. This latest case was found in a nine week old yellow Labrador called Fudge. Fudge’s owner, Tammy Richardson, saw the early signs of the sickness and took her dog to the vets at Companion Care Surgery. Although initially only given a 50-50 chance of survival, the puppy lived thanks to her owner’s swift actions.

The virus can be carried on human clothes or on the coats and paws of dogs. Symptoms include bloody diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration, acute pain and lethargy. Owners are being advised to have their pets vaccinated against the disease in order to ensure there is no repeat of the 1970s when the virus spread before an effective vaccination became available.

It is just one in a series of cases of canine parvovirus, a disease which kills 20,000 dogs a year. Three dogs died in Littlehampton in December of the virus, whilst at last six dogs died in Chichester of the disease in August 2007.

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