[livingwith]

Today I had to put Cleo to sleep. We got her and her brother Brutus at the local pet rescue. Normal procedure is for them to sterilize inoculate and chip the puppies before sending them home. Brutus came home Friday but Nurse Jackie told us Cleo needs to stay a bit longer due to her weakened immune system. She assured us this was normal and some puppies get a bit sick after an operation. I phone everyday to find out how she was doing and was delighted when they told me yesterday I could go an...Read the full article

[HollyFree]

You need to watch Brutus very carefully. It is highly contagious! At the first signs of ANY upper respiratory illness, take your puppy in to your vet for I.V./meds. They should rightfully suspect distemper. And then pray. I am so sorry about your puppy Cleo. I know your sadness. Hang in there. Clean your home with a mixture of bleach & water. I would throw away their toys & start over. Wash all bedding, etc. I cleaned like a crazy person. I am still kind of afraid for any future dogs we might get. But it is all you can do. I am waiting at least a month before going to even look at another dog. It says in most places that the virus lives about 2 weeks outside of the body & cleaning with the bleach solution will kill it. Yeah! Keep Brutus away from other animals as well. Not only could he possibly give them something, but young puppies can catch so many things until they have all of their shots. (It says up to 2 weeks after a shot is given it takes for it to go into full effect.) Take care...

[Daveyo]

First what did the VET do to diagnose distemper? Did he do the brush border smear test of the bladder stained with quick dip??? I would strongly suggest you do this for Brutus. If the inclusions are confirmed, then see the post here on how to cure this disease on the dog (body wise). The cure is between 12-48 hours. If I were you I would not wait and try to get it very early. Also check the temperature of the dog. If it is hovering around 106 deg F, it has it, a very classic sign. Distemper always causes pneumonia. You treat the pneumonia for 7 days with Baytril and penicillin G after you give the NDV shot for the Distemper itself>which is based on the weight of the dog into the blood stream. The NDV creates a immune response so fast it will stop the virus, however the longer this dog has the disease the greater chances of it breaching the blood brain barrier which will cause neuro problems.

Once the dog is cured of this disease in the body and hopefully it did not breach the blood brain barrier, do not vaccinate any further for Distemper Vaccine and stay away from Parvo. You can use Parvo and make sure it is the KILLED VACCINE, NOT THE MODIFIED LIVE VIRUS VERSION, and give the vaccine at 1/2 shot about 3-4 months after you gave the NDV. After the 1/2 shot, then you can give the last half shot 4 weeks later. After this no more. Parvo will open the blood brain barrier.

As of the Distemper itself the vaccine, your dog will be immune from this disease for like 50 years. So you not need to ever vaccinate this dog again for Distemper.

All the rest of the basic shots for a small breed is to be given at 1/2 dose per shot occassion and then the next one 1/2 shot 3 weeks later. Rabies do once every 3 years. The others such as lepto, Cav 2, kennel, parainfluenza do every 2-3 years. Doing it every year compromises the dogs immune system.

Normally after one year just do the titers check to see where they stand immune wise. Those that are low those are the ones you want to bring up. Those that are high leave them alone.

good luck

[Bernice]

Please tell me - what is NDV shot? I am fighting for the life of a Chow-Chow who now has neurological symptoms. I lost my beautiful Rocky on Jan 3 after bringing him from a shelter on December 15. Kelly has now finally been diagnosed after several visits to the vet. She is also a rescue and came here on Dec 16. Unfortunately, we did not know that Rocky had distemper at this stage and she was exposed directly to the virus. Please help to save this girl's life. Any help or advice appreciated.

[Daveyo]

NDV is Newcastle's Disease Virus Vaccine. You can get at any Poultry Agriculture Store.

Lets see, December 16 to now is about right which is the final and last stage period.

Is your dog doing the chewing gum stage now.

Answer quickly

[Daveyo]

If you do the CSF-NDV tap now and it is in Neuro stages I would say I am not sure if it will save the dog in time. Once the dog exhibits chewing gum phase death is almost certain in about 24 hours and the seizures begin to get really bad. If you do the tap it takes minimum of 12 hours to 48 hours to take effect.

It will be a hit or miss on this one, because of the late stage of this disease. Don't know, and if you do, just pray. Be advised if the dog does survive, it will have a lot of problems neuro wise. The whole body of the dog has taken a smash hit with the disease and it definitely is in the CNS no doubt about it.

Whether or not the dog can take this immune shocker and if it responds quick enough I am not sure you have the time needed for this dog to get well. Up to you to give it a shot.

This one is a very close one indeed.