Question: My neighbor got a new puppy and the puppy came over and played with our dog. It was a very cute puppy but it soon got sick and was sneezing. They brought it to a vet and it was given antibiotics for kennel cough. A couple weeks later it started to have seizures and the vet said it had distemper. They had to put it to sleep! My dog has been around this puppy a lot. Is my dog going to get sick? –Naomi
Answer: I am sorry to hear about your friend?s puppy. Distemper is a viral infection that can result in severe symptoms including death. The virus first attacks the respiratory cells and the dog has a runny nose with sneezing and coughing.
It is often impossible to tell the difference between distemper and the many other viruses and bacteria that can cause ?kennel cough?. Many dogs will seem to improve but the distemper virus is marching deeper. It attacks all the epithelial cells in the body. The dog may then get pneumonia. The nose and feet may grow thick hard calluses. The dog may have trouble swallowing or eating and can spike a high fever.
As the virus continues to replicate it will reach the brain and nervous tissue. The dog may develop seizures. Seizures may become almost constant and severe.
Dogs can shed virus for weeks to months. The distemper virus in an enveloped virus and is easily killed in the environment. It dies rapidly once outside of the body. Droplets or ?nose to nose? contact generally transmits it. Simple cleaning will kill the virus.
Vaccination is extremely effective at preventing infection. If your dog is up to date on his vaccinations, he should stay healthy. If he has not been vaccinated, he is in great danger of getting distemper infection. It is best to get a distemper vaccine booster as soon as possible. Since your dog was exposed to distemper, it may be best to have him vaccinated with a recombinant distemper vaccine. The advantage of this vaccine is that it will not interfere with testing for an active distemper infection.
While most puppies die from distemper virus, adult dogs have a chance at survival.
Adult dogs have a better immune system and can sometimes rally enough antibodies to fight off the infection in time.
It is always best to quarantine a new dog or puppy for two weeks before introducing them to other dogs. New puppies can be incubating a number of bacterial and viral illnesses. Make sure all puppies and dogs are up to date on vaccines. Many of the worst infections are preventable by vaccination.
Dr. Baker
Dr. Susan Baker
Baker Veterinary Clinic
1801 S. Congress Ave.
West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Read more articles by Dr. Baker | Ask her a question
Source: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/pawshere/2013/02/19/distemper-extremely-contagious-worse-for-puppies/
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