Dog Distemper

[garethbrunt]

After study of the internet I have come to the conclusion that all 3 of my dogs have contracted distemper. These are rescue dogs from a thai dog home, so i assumed - it would seem incorrectly that they were vaccinated.

It started with a mild cough in one dog around a week or so ago, followed by loss of weight lack of appetite, pussy spots on the stomach and vomiting too. I am now seeing the coughing in the other two so i assume its spreading.

Can anyone speak from experience the best way of treating this and preventing in the future please. Funds are rather tight at the minute so a trip to the vets would rather be avoided, particularly as I only have a motorbike and live some 30kms from the nearest vet.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

[Nienke]

That sounds very much like distemper. How to treat it without a vet? Hhmmmmm, little chance.

The dog with the weight loss, pustules etc is already in an advanced stage with a considerable reduced chance on recovery and definitely will not make it without vet care.

Big chance the other two have distemper as well, as coughing is one of the many sx. You can try vitamin C up to bowel tolerance (slowly building this up. Brand name of Vit C is Hi-CEE, available at all pharmacies. It should be ascorbic acid together with sodium ascorbate, and not only ascorbic acid. The latter will be pee-ed out without doing any good in the body), and change to a raw food diet without any rice or any other grains. Both boost the immune system which can increase the chance (slightly) that the two are going to pull through, depending on their age and stage they are in now. The younger they are the less chance.

Be prepared for a high vet bill, and lots of suffering in your dogs. Distemper is a very nasty disease with a very high mortality rate, despite vet treatment. There is a newish medicine on the market, called interferon (or something) which increases the chance a distemper or parvo-virus dog will make it. The medicine is not cheap though and I'm not sure it is available in the sticks. In CM and BKK it is available and most probably at vet Faculties/Unies, such as in Khon Kean and BKK.

Prevention: there is no 100% guarantee. However ... at least 6 months no pups/dogs in your house and garden. And vaccination of any new pup/dog with the distemper vaccine (preferable with a killed virus in stead of a modified life virus) at an age not younger than 7 weeks (or the vaccine may interfere with the maternal immunity leaving the pup unprotected) and not with a combined vaccine (as that can severely mess up the immune system and over-vaccination can cause parvo-virus and distemper!), and provided that the pup/dog is in full health (meaning without any sign of disease, such as skin problems, cough, soft feces for at least more than 2 weeks). After not less than 4 weeks another vaccination (and not two weeks as so many vets advise dog owners here, as again that considerably increases the risk on side-effects such as impaired bone growth, thyroid problems, and other auto-immune diseases).

I'm sorry that I can't give you much better news.

[garethbrunt]

Thankyou very much for your detailed reply. Even if it is somewhat bad news. The answer would seem to be the vets then....Ill let you know how we get on.

Thanks.