Vet clinic issues parvovirus warning to Katherine dog owners

A RECENT spike in cases of a potentially deadly canine disease has prompted a Top End vet clinic to warn dog owners to get their pets vaccinated according to schedule

A RECENT spike in cases of a potentially deadly canine disease in Katherine has prompted a vet clinic to warn dog owners to get their pets vaccinated according to schedule.

Katherine Vet Care Centre Dr Amanda Dunn said that the clinic had experienced a wave in parvovirus cases just more than a week ago, with about 10 dogs being presented with the disease and the clinic running out of testing kits.

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“We’re finding a lot of people are coming in saying ‘my dog has been vaccinated and it has parvo’, but when you delve into things it turns out the dog had a vaccination at six weeks of age and then at 12 weeks, and it should have been at 10 weeks,” she said.

Puppies and young dogs are especially vulnerable to parvovirus.

“So when people are vaccinating their dogs they’re not doing it according to the schedule, and while doing that is not ineffective, it doesn’t make as much of a difference when they’re so young.”

Parvovirus is a highly contagious virus that can be fatal to dogs, especially small dogs and puppies.

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Dr Dunn said Katherine was a hot spot for the disease, especially in the wet season when heavy rain stirred up the soil the virus lived in.

She said dogs should be vaccinated against it at four week intervals, from 6-8 weeks, 10-12 weeks and 14-16 weeks of age.