First-of-its-kind treatment for parvo in dogs revolutionizes care

Cookie, a pitbull mix, was just eight weeks old when she became ill. Still small enough to fit in the cupped palms of her open hands, she began exhibiting symptoms no pet parent would want to see: lethargy, loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Her owner immediately took her to see a clinician at The Fix Project, a nonprofit clinic that specializes in parvovirus. Fix Long Beach Pets Facility located in Long Beach, California.

Tests there confirmed the diagnosis feared by owners, veterinarians and animal rights activists alike. Cookie was infected with parvovirus.

She was immediately admitted to the clinic, looking frail and ill, with a historically poor prognosis. Little did Cookie know that she would make a little history that day.

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History of the lethality of canine parvovirus

Canine parvovirus is one of the most deadly and highly contagious viruses affecting dogs. It is especially prevalent in young puppies who are not old enough to receive a full range of preventative vaccines. The mortality rate from canine parvovirus is as high as 91% if left untreated, with an estimated 900 cases per day and a total of 330,000 cases diagnosed annually in the United States.

The progression of the virus has been unpleasant to witness, to say the least. Suffering owners often see their beloved pets suffer from symptoms such as lethargy, gastrointestinal bleeding, bloody diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, shock, and sepsis.

Additionally, even with intervention, survival is not guaranteed. All treatments so far are only supportive, aimed at alleviating symptoms, but cannot fight or cure the virus itself.

In fact, in the 30 years since parvo, many owners first appeared in Europe They are faced with incredibly difficult decisions after arriving at the veterinarian, where they are faced with a low survival prognosis and the extremely high cost of the 24-hour care required to stabilize a dog suffering from parvo. ing.

In many cases, these cases ended in euthanasia or death from disease progression.

Veterinarians, rescues, shelters, activists, and animal rights groups have been battling this unpredictable, complex, and difficult-to-tame disease for years, fighting to prevent the spread of infection in shelters or simply He has fought to keep patients alive.

Despite the best efforts of many, caregivers have often felt helpless due to the lack of targeted treatments, but recent developments have brought the situation into sharp relief. Ta.

Elanco unveils first-ever targeted parvo treatment

Elanco Animal HealthPharmaceutical companies that make veterinary drugs and vaccines will receive the long-awaited Announcement earlier this year The company announced that it has developed the first-ever targeted treatment for canine parvovirus.

Elanco’s canine parvovirus monoclonal antibody treatment is the first and only treatment of its kind to directly target canine parvovirus and is conditionally approved by the USDA. In clinical trials, no dogs treated with Elanco’s monoclonal antibody died, the company told USA TODAY. This treatment has also been shown to shorten the course of the disease, resolve some of the worst symptoms more quickly, reduce hospitalizations, and increase survival rates.

This treatment is administered in a single dose intravenously and works by directly binding to the virus and blocking it from entering host cells. By resolving symptoms faster, patients can feel symptoms sooner, recover faster, and go home to their families after a much shorter (and hopefully cheaper) veterinary stay.

“Up until now, we’ve only done symptomatic and supportive care to help these puppies,” Dr. Jennifer Miller, Elanco’s in-house veterinarian, told USA TODAY. “Now we have something that directly fights the virus and stops it from progressing, so it doesn’t get into the host cells and cause destruction in the pup’s gut.”

Miller said the company expects to receive full USDA approval in 2024, but the drug will be available to veterinarians until then. A recent Elanco survey found that only 44% of dog owners actually know what parvo is, and 20% have no idea, so there’s no need to worry about parvo, how serious it is, and what new dogs are available. She feels it is important to raise awareness about treatments.

“Parvovirus really affects every area of veterinary medicine: shelters, general practices, ERs, rescues, everything. All puppies are susceptible to parvovirus,” she says. “At this point, any veterinarian who wants it can order it, even with conditional approval.”

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Treatment at The Fix Project clinic

Fortunately for Cookie and the other dogs cared for by The Fix Project, the project was one of the first clinics to actually use Elanco’s monoclonal antibodies. According to Dr. Alex Cabrera, veterinarian and medical director of The Fix Project, seeing new treatments in action will benefit not only puppies and their owners, but also the teams caring for them. It is said that it had an influence.

“These puppies have been tough to treat lately, especially with COVID-19,” he told USA TODAY. We want to save our pet, but when we are about to lose our pet, it’s not the first day or the second day, it’s usually the first 3 days of treatment, holding the pet and taking care of it… the worst. is. ”

Dr. Cabrera said the clinic recently incorporated new drugs into its parvo ICU protocols, which have improved treatment success rates, especially for smaller and more vulnerable patients.

“It made a big difference,” he said. “And we also noticed that they were coming out of the treatment ward earlier and spending less time in the hospital.”

This is great for the animals and the people who love them, of course, but it’s also great for the mental health of the team, who can enjoy more positive outcomes and avoid intensive treatment that may or may not work. You can spend less time. .

Cabrera said the clinic has been able to essentially cut treatment time in half and change the way puppies and dogs look while they are in their care.

Traditionally, dogs come to the clinic complaining of symptoms such as vomiting, loss of appetite, and sometimes lethargy and diarrhea. Clinicians will test the animal and if the result is positive, it will be hospitalized immediately. Patients will receive fluids into their veins, have catheters placed, and take antibiotics and supplements to support their bodies’ attempts to fight off the virus.

After that, caregivers could only encourage the dog to eat and monitor the dog’s progress, relying on overall symptom relief. Things look different now, Cabrera said.

“If you test positive for parvo, we use (the drug) immediately,” he said. “Our original treatment protocol was to let these dogs out for maybe seven or six days, about that long. And now we’re putting them out around four to five days. So we’ve been able to save money.” We’ve increased our success rate by taking some time off the back end. ”

more happy endings

The first puppies to receive Elanco’s monoclonal antibodies were considered to be at high risk due to their young age and small size. She was brought in on Friday and immediately hospitalized after testing positive in the parking lot. Her treatment took place the same day, and by Saturday her energy began to return.

Like any young, energetic pup, she was wriggling around and trying to chew her lines. By Saturday night, she had already resumed her diet.

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First-of-its-kind treatment for parvo in dogs revolutionizes care

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