On beautiful days like Wednesday, it's so fun to take your furry friends out for a walk. But what isn't so fun is parvovirus. So, how can people keep their dogs safe?
Bonnie Schwartz loves taking her yellow lab, Lucy, to the dog park at Gallatin County Regional Park. She is proud to say that Lucy is vaccinated against parvovirus.
"There are too many dogs from other places, so I think it's important to keep them updated on everything," Schwartz says.
Veterinarian Thomas Jakob at Cottonwood Vet estimates that 90% of Bozeman dog owners vaccinate for parvo.
"People know it can be a deadly disease. What we consider a core vaccine is one of those that should have absolutely been given," Jakob says.
He says the virus is more deadly than kennel cough, but how common is it amongst Bozeman pups?
"We typically see more disease processes on the reservations. So they, I am sure, have more parvo than we typically do around here," Jakob says.
He says 80 to 85% of cases survive with good vet care. He emphasizes moms' antibodies are very helpful for their newborn baby puppies. However, good vet care runs up a pretty large bill.
"The vaccines are a cheap bit of insurance against expensive vet bills," Jakob says.
How does it spread?
"If there is a lot of other dogs and they don't have the history of not being well taken care of and probably maybe not vaccinated. They then have contact with fecal material from those dogs, which could then be contagious," Jakob says.
Schwartz hopes everyone coming to common areas is vaccinating their pets.
"Well, I would think so, especially if they were going to bring them to a place where there are lots of dogs, and that means almost any trail. Especially in this area because there are so many dogs everywhere. Especially if they come to a dog park, I think it's important," Schwartz says.
So what virus is more common in Bozeman?
"We actually here in Bozeman have more of a concern with distemper," Jakob says.
He also says rabies is fairly common in the Montana area.
