Canine infectious hepatitis: symptoms and treatment
Canine infectious hepatitis is a highly contagious viral disease, fortunately this is unusual because there is a vaccine that impedes its development, so the extent of the vaccination schedule has now reduced the number of cases.
- However.
- If you do not know the immune condition of the dog.
- In this article of Animal Expert we will describe what causes this disease.
- In case you suspect that your partner may suffer from it.
- We will also explain the treatments that the veterinarian can perform.
- Recommend.
This viral disease mainly affects unvaccinated dogs, in addition most patients are puppies under one year of age, canine infectious hepatitis is caused by a virus called canine adenovirus type 1.
When the virus comes into contact with the dog, it reproduces in the tissues and is excreted in all body secretions, that is, through the urine, faeces or saliva of sick dogs that infectious hepatitis can infect other dogs.
It is a disease that affects the liver, as the name suggests, but also the kidneys and blood vessels.The clinical picture presented by the dog may be the result of a mild infection, but it usually progresses quickly to a much more serious infection and the consequences can be fatal.
Symptoms of canine infectious hepatitis will depend on the severity of the virus’s attack on the dog.In moderate developments, the only symptoms may be decreased appetite, apathy or decreased normal activity.If the infection is acute, you will notice clinical symptoms such as:
It is also possible to see the abdomen shrunken by the pain caused by inflammation of the liver, spontaneous bleeding in the gums and skin of areas without hair and also jaundice, that is, a yellowish dye in the skin and mucous membranes..
In addition, in dogs that heal there may be what we call blue eye or interstitial keratitis, which is a type of cloud above the cornea, which can touch an eye or both eyes and usually disappears spontaneously within a few days.
There is a clinical picture considered fatal, characterized by sudden symptoms, including bloody diarrhea, collapse and death in hours; if the dog is very young he can die suddenly, without having time to develop symptoms; let us not forget the importance of vaccination, especially in puppies, to prevent this and other serious diseases.
If your dog’s symptoms are consistent with canine infectious hepatitis, the veterinarian can confirm the diagnosis by performing laboratory tests to isolate the virus, i.e. detect it in samples taken from the dog.receive intensive treatment.
This treatment will be primarily supportive because there is no specific drug capable of eliminating the virus, so the treatment aims to keep the dog in the best possible conditions, hoping that its own immune system can defeat the virus.Bacterial infections and medications are used to treat symptoms.The dog is at rest and dog food with hepatitis is controlled.
Unfortunately, many die despite good care. Therefore, once again, the importance of prevention should be emphasized by following the vaccination schedule appropriately.
In addition to vaccinating and revaccinating your dog according to the instructions given by the veterinarian, you should keep the sick dog isolated from others to avoid contagion, it is important to know that when a dog recovers from infectious hepatitis, it remains infected for another 6 at 9 months, since the virus is still excreted in the urine and remains in the environment.It is also advisable to change clothes after handling the sick dog and properly disinfect the environment.
Prevention of this disease should aim to protect dogs because hepatitis in dogs is not contagious to humans.It has nothing to do with the hepatitis that humans can develop.Protection against this infection is usually included in the tetravalent vaccine, the first dose of which is given to puppies around eight weeks of age.
This article is for information only, in Animal Expert.com.br we do not have the ability to prescribe veterinary treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the vet in case you have a condition or discomfort.
If you would like to read articles similar to Infectious Hepatitis Canine: Symptoms and Treatment, we recommend that you visit our Infectious Diseases section.