Canine Distemper

[bianca_bendo]

i registered for your site. ok my doxie is 2 years old in may, she weighs 10 lbs a few ounces. i got her from a woman that was moving away and couldnt take her or a cat she had. shes registered and ive got papers showing that she had her shots and the woman said that shes due for them in june. i got her about 4 days after my daisy passed away. a few days later i got one of the puppies daisy had back because they couldnt take car of her. shes six months old and weighs about 4 lbs. i noticed that she had a cough like daisy and thats when i first posted on here. its not too often but she still has it. about her teeth i dont think they were deformend i think she was just losing her baby teeth because they look just fine now. umm she doesnt have anything coming out of her eyes and her pads and nose look fine. as for my mother in laws dog...shes the sister to daisy and they were around each other all the time. shes 1 1/2 years old and need her shots in march but hasnt gotten them yet. ive noticed a cough in her too. ive told my mother in law about it but she think its nothing. i also have a 2 year old yellow lab that shows no signs but hasnt had his shots.

[Daveyo]

Hi I am Daveyo

Ok as long as your Doxies have had prior vaccination shots the chances of Distemper is very low to none except when some new strain pops up but otherwise for the most part as long as they have had at least 2 full dose shots from say 8 weeks old on up and at least one booster a year later. After that you can vaccinate the dogs once every 3 years.

Keep in mind for Doxies never give full dose shots. They have a very hard time handling it immune wise. So you give a 1/2 dose vaccine shot and spread the next one 1/2 dose shot about 10 days later OK. At least they can handle it. This makes one full dose shot. But spread apart.

The other thing to avoid any serious trouble DO NOT MIX DISTEMPER SHOTS WITH PARVO. Try your best to keep that Parvo as a separate shot all by itself. It does come separately and get the killed version. The reason is Parvo is a bit nasty and opens up that blood brain barrier which exposes dogs to reactions especially distemper vaccine depending on the genetics of the animals. Some like 5% of animals get Distemper vaccine reaction meaning they get the full blown Distemper and some 95% do not. The one that really kicks it is the Modified Live Version of Parvo. Avoid it if you can. Killed version is much safer.

Based on what you wrote here I will recap it a bit so confirm if this is correct.

You have Doxie 2 yrs old weighs 10 pounds roughly (former owner says dog had shots) due in June.

You have one of Daisey kids 6 months old, weighs 4 pounds and has a cough similar to Daisey, teeth ok, eyes, pads, nose OK. How is the stools??

Mother in Law has sister to Daisey 1 1/2 yrs old shots due in March (late) has a cough

You have yellow Lab shows no signs > age?????? , no shots???? Need more info here.

Ok first I want you to do is have your dogs stand up on all four legs and keep them calm and on both sides of the chest I want you to tap kinda hard near the bottom portion 2 times like knocking on a door fast and watch the reaction on the dog. If it coughs then go to the other side of the chest and do the same. If it coughs, then you got either Kennel cough, or Respiratory Herpes or and possible pneumonia. Baytril and Pennicillin G is in order here. If no cough, then give some pennicilin G tabs for about a week. Then wait and see if the coughs continue. It is a broad spectrum antibiotic primarily used for upper respiratory infections. You will need to have the dog examined and have an X-ray taken of the lungs of both animals having a cough and a small blood test done to determine the counts.

If any of these dogs are SICK, which right now two of them are DO NOT VACCINATE A SICK DOG. Wait until they get well.

If that Yellow Lab is showing no signs of sickness or coughs, vaccinate that dog right now. Get 1 full dose in. It takes 2 weeks before that vaccine shot kicks in to start protecting the dog. I am assuming this Lab has had NO SHOTS of any kind based on what you wrote here. If so, then after the first dose is done then do the second dose. If this dog is more than 4 months old, this is all it needs to have, then 1 booster a year later and then every 3 years. If it being a puppy, usually a third shot is given due to maternal antibodies interfering on some animals.

Now once all your dogs have received their vaccination shots > don't forget to also give them the Rabies shot. Once every 3 years.

An occassional cough from a dog is normal. Same like people so don't panic. Sometime they do cough after drinking, or eating etc and or sneeze and cough at times. Normal. As long as it does not happen all day long. If such does happen all day long or night, then you know your dog is sick. Being observant and having your dog on your lap and giving it a visual exam once a day for 5 minutes goes a long way. Check the ears, pads for infections or body pimples etc or scratches etc, the eyes, for sand pits etc.

I can't find the thread here about Daisey. I wanted to review it as to finding out how she died.

Hopefully you can re-insert it back here.

Daveyo

For now I would rule out Distemper since your dogs were vaccinated except for the yellow Lab. That one is in danger.