08/19/2022
Parvovirus has won. With the exception of one tough girl who is hanging on by a thread, our Philly pups have lost their fight. Over the weekend, Dauphin watched her five siblings die, one by one, from canine parvovirus infection – aka parvo – a highly contagious and clearly fatal viral illness. The virus manifests itself in two different forms, intestinal (the most common) and cardiac. Our team has seen an alarming number of parvovirus cases recently. We receive daily pleas to help both shelter dogs - like Dauphin and her siblings who were from ACCT Philly - and owned dogs suffering. But why? Because these puppies are not receiving a crucial vaccine. A simple $15 vaccination could have saved their lives.
We need your help: spread the word about the importance of the distemper/DHPP vaccine. Tell your neighbor, your coworker, anyone you know who is planning on acquiring a puppy. Not only is parvovirus a threat to an unvaccinated puppy or dog, it’s also a threat to neighborhood dogs - because infected dogs shed the disease when they walk outside. Until 16 weeks of age, puppies should receive 3 vaccines. At PAC, we provide vaccines in our Wellness Clinic as well as weekly and monthly in our pop-up shot clinics. We’re working to expand our reach even further, to help even more. But we need dog owners to realize the importance of a simple vaccine, and we need them to know we can help provide that. Visit ProvidenceAC.org/Vet to learn more.
We are grateful for your support of Dauphin and her siblings, which helped us cover a portion of the very large bill. This morning, Dauphin’s emergency vet told us that she wagged her tail and gave a tiny bark to say hello. Her diagnostics show very mild signs of improvement. We remain extremely nervous for her … But we would do it all over again, just to give them a chance.