A Decade of Treatment of Canine Parvovirus in an Animal Shelter: A Retrospective Study.

Here, we present 11.5 years of monthly treatment statistics showing an overall intake of 5127 infected dogs between June 2008 and December 2019, as well as more detailed datasets from more recent, less protracted time periods for the examination of mortality risk, seasonality, and resource requirements in the mass treatment of canine parvovirus (CPV) in a private animal shelter. The total survival rate of animals during the study period was 86.6% ( n = 4438/5127 dogs survived) with the probability of survival increasing to 96.7% after five days of treatment (with 80% of fatalities occurring in that period). A distinct parvovirus season peaking in May and June and troughing in August, September, December, and January was observed, which could have contributed as much as 41 animals peak-to-trough in the monthly population (with a potential, smaller season occurring in October). Low-weight and male animals were at higher risk for death, whereas age was not a significant contributing factor. Treatment time averaged 9.03 h of total care during a seven-day median treatment duration. These findings, taken together, demonstrate that canine parvovirus can be successfully treated in a sustainable manner within a shelter setting using a largely volunteer workforce.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders of the treatments and operations of Austin Pets Alive! had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. Other components of this research were self-funded by volunteer researchers. Austin Pets Alive! and American Pets Alive! offers dogs who have survived parvovirus for adoption to the general public, but, as a nonprofit organization, are not financially incentivized to preferentially adopt these animals over others.