SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — Concho Valley PAWS has asked for the public's help in funding treatment for Daphne, a puppy suffering from canine parvovirus.

According to CVPAWS, Daphne currently resides in the organization's Parvo Intensive Care Unit, where she battles the highly infectious disease. Canine parvovirus, commonly called "parvo," is a virus that "attacks white blood cells and the gastrointestinal tract of dogs," according to the AVMA. In the case of puppies, the disease can also cause damage to the heart muscle. Parvo comes with a slow of symptoms that can greatly diminish the pup's quality of life, including the following:

• Lethargy
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting
• Severe, often bloody, diarrhea
• Abdominal pain and bloating
• Fever or low body temperature (hypothermia)

She'll need all the treatment she can get if she has any chance of besting the disease, too — the American Veterinary Medical Association states that severely infected dogs will often need days of hospitalization to combat the virus and its symptoms, and survival is not guaranteed.

"This can all be very expensive, and the dog may die despite treatment," the AMVA said. "Prompt, intensive treatment improves the chance of survival."

However, just like the AMVA suggests, Daphne's treatment comes with a steep cost. In order to help cover the costs, CVPAWS asked for the public's help in an announcement made on its Facebook page in the morning hours of March 28.

"WE NEED YOUR HELP!" CVPAWS said. "The treatment is very expensive so we are reaching out to our community to help support these puppies through their journey!"

Though the road to recovery is long for all of the puppies in the Parvo ICU, CVPAWS staff are doing what they can to help the furry friends during each step of the journey.

"This illness can be deadly and is a long and hard recovery," CVPAWS said. "Daphne has a long road ahead but thanks to our dedicated staff she is in amazing hands!"

The organization's fundraising efforts have gathered $128 on Facebook as of the time of publication. If you would like to donate to help Daphne or support any of CVPAWS' other causes, visit https://cvpaws.org/donate/ or the nonprofit's Facebook post regarding Daphne to give.

News Source : https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/local-news/cvpaws-asks-for-help-funding-puppys-parvo-treatment/