[livingwith]

My 15 year old son and I decided to adopt a dog from the animal shelter. We had recently moved to a large city and he was quite lonely. We found the cutest dachshund/lab mix online and decided to take a look. When we got there, he was coughing, lethargic, and had diarrhea. I tried to talk my son out of getting him but he wanted to try and save him as the shelter was going to put the dog down that afternoon. They told us he just had kennel cough. He (Snoopy) walked around and tried to jump on my ...Read the full article

[Mary714]

The coughing, the diarrhea and the runny nose are all symptoms. But dogs who have distemper usually have seizures. Doesn’t really sound like distemper to me. But you should wait for the results to come in. Hope your doggy has a fast recuperation. Best of luck.

[Daveyo]

Hard to say with the information you have given. What is the vaccination history, its age????

You need to get the VET to do this test. That test he is doing is not accurate.

The very best test for rapidly diagnosing ACUTE distemper is to do what is called a brush border smear of the cells of the inside lining of the bladder. These cells ALWAYS have inclusions. So, easy to collect, easy to stain (quick dip) and instantly diagnosed with inclusions in these cells which are carmine red and para nuclear.

Any medical person can tell you how to get cells from the bladder. Urinary catheter. Empty bladder flush with saline and collect some of the last saline. Spin down the saline and remove the cells. Place on slide and dry stain with diff-quick. Very common stain used by most medics or lab people who use medical microscopy. Everyone? I should hope so. Very fast, very cheap, very accurate for Dx of distemper. If present then Distemper. If negative then either kennel cough or respiratory Herpes or Toxoplasmosis.

If it is confirmed then you need to get NDV - Newcastles Disease Virus Vaccine.

I will cross that bridge once you get that test done. It takes only 30 minutes and it is 100% accurate. What the vet will see is the actual distemper virus if it is there.

Also you need to tell me what the WBC readings are. Does the dog have high fever????? Do temp check on anus of dog. Check the ears with your hands and if it is hot it is running a fever. If so give me the reading temp wise.

You don't want to play games with Distemper. It is very contagious and deadly for dogs. However there is a cure both for the body and for the CNS. I just gave you the name of the vaccine which is the cure.

Also tell me if the dog has soupy stools, and if the discharge is still ongoing, and watch the pads of the dog. If it starts to get hard that confirms the dog has Canine Distemper.

In the meantime do not give any kind of vaccinations to this animal while sick. The only one to give if confirmed Distemper is the NDV.

Please tell me when all this began of when you got the pup. Give me the date when you got the dog. I can give you an estimation of how log the dog was sick.

Write back

Daveyo

[Sandra1224]

Hello Mary,
Thanks for the story:)and congrats on your new addition:)
I couldn't believe your story when I read it.It sounded so similar to mine.Honestly, I think there is a very good chance the dog had distemper,from it's symptoms. Well, here is our story,see if it sounds close.We finally thought it was a great time to add to our family,after waiting a couple of years,due to finances.So,I went online an found a 4 month old female,who was on friendsforeverresue.com because we both wanted to rescue, insted of buying.She is 1/2 dachshund and 1/2 miniture pincher.I fell for her hard.She was 5 months old,when they would release her.Now,we've had her for approx a month.Well,her baby teeth have been falling out(they are white and beautiful)and now the adult teeth are coming in.We started to notice they were coming in brown,chipped and broken.I started going online and found out,it's called enamel hypoplasia,and dogs get this sometimes from having distemper.Then it all clicked when I thought back and they wouldn't release her.She had Phase 1 distemper and recoved,but lived and never got phase 2,the nuerological phase,thank god.Unfortunately,that phase could possiby come back when she's older.Needless to say,we are horrified.We are calling a canine dentist this week,and will do whatever we have to do to have her live more comfortably.Without enamel our teeth are very sensitive to everything basically and that's what she has.Also,when we got her, they Dr.s said she had kennel cough which lasted for months,but finally went away.I think it was a symptom of the distemper she had.Please feel free to write or call with any info or questions.We are just scratching the surface of this terrible sitiuation also,I wish you the best,Sandra [moderator note: contact information has been removed]

[Daveyo]

this animal you mentioned here needs to have a CSF tap done to avoid the ODE. Once ODE sets in, death is imminent.

You may want to take a look at our site Dr. Sears and I at [moderator note: website address has been removed] and here you will find all the information you will ever need about Distemper including the pics as well.

If you have any questions contact me there.

Daveyo

As to the question yes the dog has distemper and this dog is lucky to live. Only 5% around the world survive this disease and almost all have some damage caused by the virus. There are 4 different strains, one for seizures, one for paralysis, one is the weak type which is the one dogs survive on, and the other extremely deadly hitting the eyesight and internal organs. All the same being MEASLES.

[Sandra1224]

Daveyo,
Thanks for your wisdom:) they removed the Dr.Sears address from your letter to me, can you send it to me at my personal email, [moderator note: e-mail address has been removed] What is the csf tap, how is it done, can any vet do it? Many thanks Sandra

[Sandra1224]

[quote="Sandra1224"]Daveyo,
Thanks for your wisdom:) they removed the Dr.Sears address from your letter to me, can you send it to me at my personal email, [moderator note: e-mail address has been removed] What is the csf tap, how is it done, can any vet do it? Many thanks Sandra[/quote]
P.S. I live in southwest florida,does anyone know who can do a CSF tap in this area? thank you

[wishing_liffey_well]

Hi there,

I hope your puppy is doing better.
We have a 9 month-old Great Pyrenees puppy who has survived distemper - we got her from rescue back in February.
My hear goes out to you, but please know that recovery is possible.
She does have some neurological damage from the virus, manifested in occasional muscle tremors in her hind quarters, but is otherwise happy and healthy.

my best to you,
kath

[Daveyo]

Hi Sandra

You need to be more informed about this Disease. You may want to take a look at this place at [moderator note: website address has been removed] of which you will find it quite informative. Most particularly that the disease will enter the Central Nervous system once it gets past day 6 from onset. Yes only about 5% of the dogs worldwide do survive this disease but the virus still remains in the central nervous system eventually leading to full blown ODE sometime between 10 days to 8 years. No dog has survived such past 8 years. We now have a cure for this disease from beginning to end and complete elimination of the ODE factor thus allowing the dogs to lead a full and normal life nothwithstanding some damage that the animals previously sustained.

Daveyo