The Daily Dish from WebVet: Parvo takes Oprah's precious puppy

I was so saddened to hear that Oprah tragically lost yet another of her beloved dogs. Apparently one of her brand new Cocker Spaniel puppies she adopted from a shelter in Chicago developed Parvo and didn't survive the illness. His name was Ivan and he had a sister named Sadie who while also contracting Parvo, managed to survive.

When I heard it was to Parvo, I stopped and asked myself, "what exactly is Parvo and why after having dogs for more than 30 years, do I know absolutely nothing about it other than my dog needs to be vaccinated against it?" Then I began wondering about how much other pet owners really know about Parvo so I did a little research and am here to share what I learned.

Parvo is a virus targeting rapidly dividing cells in a dog’s body. There are certain organs in a dog's body whose cells tend to divide more rapidly than others, most notably the intestines. The most common symptoms of Parvo include bloody diarrhea, dehydration, lethargy and intestinal inflammation which prevents the dog’s digestive system from absorbing much needed nutrients. In rare cases, Parvovirus can also attack a dog’s heart causing sudden heart failure; however, these cases occur most commonly in puppies as their heart cells divide more rapidly as the heart grows.

Parvovirus is most commonly transmitted when a healthy dog comes in contact with the feces of an infected dog. The scary part is this virus can live on a variety of surfaces including toys, bedding, and kennels for as long as six months, which makes dogs highly susceptible to Parvo long after a location is originally contaminated.

So how do we protect our precious puppies from Parvo? First and foremost make sure your dog has been properly vaccinated. When you get a new puppy, most vets recommend vaccinating him or her within the first six to eight weeks and then following up with booster shots every three to four weeks until the puppy is about four months old.

Even when vaccinated, there are no guarantees that your dog won't contract Parvo, especially if you rescued it from a shelter. Parvo tends to be more common in places where a large number of dogs come into close contact with each other including shelters, kennels and possibly even dog runs.

So the next time someone pokes fun at you for being an over-protective pet parent, simply ignore them. When it comes to our beloved pets, I say it's way better to be safe than sorry.

Our deepest sympathies to Oprah and Ivan's sister Sadie. Losing a pet is one of life's greatest tragedies but in this case we're thankful Oprah and Sadie are there to comfort each other .