Distemper

by **Hondovious** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 9:01 pm

Does anyone have a dog that has had distemper and recovered form it? Zeus all of a sudden Sunday evening started vomiting and became very lethargic. He had kennel cough so I did not worry too much when his nose was running a bit Friday and Saturday but now his respiratory system is very congested, he won't eat, and has diarhea. The vet this morning said it may be Distemper and I won't know until Tuesday morning when the test comes back. I am totally crushed since I have had this great little puppy for a week and now he may have a disease with an over 50% mortality rate. Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on what else might cause those symptoms? :frown:

by **moto1320** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:33 pm

Damn, I am so sorry. I have no advice on this one but just wanted to say we'll have fingers/paws crossed for you. Good luck. :thumbsup:

by **BabyReba** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 11:05 pm

Did they test for parvo too? It wouldn't be causing congestion, but it would cause the vomiting and loss of appetite and stuff.

If it's distemper, since there is no cure for it, you just basically take care of your pup and hope he recovers OK. You keep him warm and dry and try to keep him comfortable and uncongested and hydrated. I've never had a dog personally who had it, but my parents did when I was young and the poor pup didn't make it.

I hope your poor puppy is OK. I hope it's not distemper. Keep us posted on his progress, please.

by **chewalotopus** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 1:15 am

Yeah, parvo is very similar...but they CAN make it through both - try keep your spirits high and take good care of him! :pray

by **Skeptik** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:26 am

Very sorry to hear that :sad:

Just hang in there and keep your hopes up.

by **concreterose** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:54 am

Oh no...I hope your puppy recovers...we'll keep fingers and paws crossed for you!

by **pocketpit** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 6:59 am

Since he had kennel cough, what do they think about pneumonia being the cause? There are plenty of secondary respitory problems that can arise if your pups immune system becomes weakened enough or it's a particularly bad strain of kennel cough.

by **Hondovious** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 8:57 am

I don't think pneumonia would explain all the GI problems. It has been 3 days now since he has eaten and still has vomiting and diahrea. Even if he just drinks a lot of water he can't hold it down. Still don't know the results on the Distemper.. should hear today. His CBC came back normal and his white count is fine, but things aren't looking good unless he can start eating and keeping stuff down very soon. It's so sad, he hardly has any energy but when I go to see him even though he mostly stays laying down his little tail wags like crazy.

by **Blue Steel** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:34 am

Yes, I have a girl righ now who has recovered from Distemper (and she was fully UTD on all her vaccinations, too.) Also, waaaaay back in my youth, I watched my mom nurse two seperate dogs through distemper (several years apart from each other).

The most important thing we were told is to get nourishment in them any way you can. The vet said to feed the dogs whatever they'll eat (within reason, of course). My mom fed both the dogs Kentucky Fried Chicken for two to three weeks (it's the only thing either dog would eat). When my girl came down with it, I fed her a Boiled Hamburger Meat/Rice mixture, along with some pedialite (seperate, not with the meat/rice mixture), every few hours. Although she recovered, she does have some problems as a result of the disease (as distemper is a neurological disease affecting the brain and nervous system). She is a happy girl now, and healthy (all things considered).

I hope Zeus makes a full recovery. Get him to eat something. Anything. Start out with just very small amounts. Small amounts of water (or pedialite, or Gatoraid) and small amounts of whatever he'll eat. He's not dehydrated, is he? If he's dehydrated that could be one reason why he can't keep water down (sounds odd, I know, but there comes a point when the body is so dehydrated that it can't keep water down even though it's despirately needed). If you pull up the scruff of his neck, and let it go, does it stay up or does it snap back into place? If it stays up, or is slow to get back into place that is an indication of dehydration. SubQ fluids may be required....

My thoughts are with you.

by **Hondovious** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:58 am

I don't think he is dehydrated. He has gotten sub Q fluids at the vet the past couple days, and now I am doing it at home for him. I will get some KFC on my way home from work today and maybe some pedialyte also. I have tried rice with chicken broth, boiled chicken, beggin strips, dog biscuits, wet food from the vet, and kibble with chicken broth. I even took some of the wet food and mixed it with water and squirted it down his thoat, but that comes back up to. I wish it were simpler and I could just give him a kidney or something...

by **Hondovious** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:01 pm

The results finally came back. He does have distemper. We are taking him to the puppy rescue that we adopted him from and they are going to try and treat him and see if they can get him through this. We have spent a lot in the last few days just treating and running tests to find out what was wrong and we just can't afford to spend 200 a day to keep him in the hospital indefinately. We appreciate all of your hope and thoughts, I will update everyone as soon as I know more.

by **pocketpit** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:35 pm

I'm sorry to hear that. Poor guy, it's very nasty stuff. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you both.

by **mnp13** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 11:29 pm

Hondovious wrote:The results finally came back. He does have distemper. We are taking him to the puppy rescue that we adopted him from and they are going to try and treat him and see if they can get him through this. We have spent a lot in the last few days just treating and running tests to find out what was wrong and we just can't afford to spend 200 a day to keep him in the hospital indefinately. We appreciate all of your hope and thoughts, I will update everyone as soon as I know more.

Is there any way you can keep him and nurse him back to health? I almost lost Ruby last summer, and I know that being with me and Demo helped keep her going.

The rescue may be able to help with extra 'fill in' care as well.

Just a thought, I hope he pulls through.

Michelle

by **Rumpley** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 11:50 am

I just suffered through 2 pups coming down with parvo, within 2 weeks of each other, so I feel totally what you're going through. Some do survive, and since you're right on top of the situation, hopefully it will work out for the best.

by **Hondovious** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 8:36 pm

Well, so far so good. On Wednesday Zeus started keeping water down and began eating again on Thursday. He is getting his energy back and starting to return to normal. If he does not relapse within the next few days he should get to come home again on Wednesday. :pray

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