Vaccinate against parvo?

Dr. Marie replied:

I'm sorry to hear that Chester has Parvo, but also glad to hear that he is recovering.

The question that you've asked about whether or not to vaccinate the adult dogs that have been exposed to parvo is one that can be a little controversial. You may even find different vets that have different answers to this question.

If this were my case, then yes, I would vaccinate the adults right away. However, if the dogs have already been exposed to parvo the vaccine may not be protective. But, because parvo can persist in the environment for some time, vaccinating now could protect from future infection.

The argument against vaccinating now is usually that the vaccine could stress the immune system further and actually cause the dogs to be more susceptible. I do not believe that this is true. In my opinion, if they've already got parvo, then vaccinating won't make it any worse.

The good news is that adult dogs are less susceptible to parvo than puppies are. Also, even though the vaccines are overdue, the previous vaccines may still have some effect.

I hope everyone does ok!

Dr. Marie.

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Dr. Marie replied:

That's a tough call. It's probably not a bad idea to keep them separated for a few weeks as the puppy could have virus particles sticking to him. But in reality, the majority of the virus is in vomit and diarrhea which means that the biggest concern is any vomit or diarrhea that was already in the environment. Where possible, clean everything with bleach.