Distemper question

[pitbulliest]

Is Distemper common? I don't give my dogs vaccinations due to the fact that I hate injecting ANY chemicals into my dogs (had a very horrible experience with a past pet R.I.P Pimpek)

Can my dogs get distemper just by going to a park or outside for a walk even if they very rarely come into contact with other dogs?...I heard puppies are more prone to this virus..is this true? I was reading up on it today a bit and the only thing it mentioned was that it is airborne or dogs can get it from excretion and secretion and contact with a wild animal.

any comments on this info?

[Hondovious]

They can get it by coming into contact with other dogs that seem perfectly healthy since the symptoms take up to 2 to 3 weeks in an infected dog to show up. It is very lethal, and has a just less than half survival rate, and is even worse for puppies. My puppy is suffering through distemper right now and even though he is doing well now and it looks like he will make it, it was very scary for a while. They get horribly sick, respiratory congestion, vomiting, diarrhea, won't eat for several days and those are the lucky ones. Others have neurological problems and act crazy, can't walk, etc.. Distemper cases are also on the rise around the country. No offense meant, but you would be absolutely crazy not to protect your dog from this.

[pitbulliest]

I haven't heard alot of cases of it here..thank goodness..I'm just really against any shots and whatnot..like I said i had a dog die because of my vet giving him this shot or that pill..poor thing... ugh

My dog isn't around other dogs alot either..she usually goes for walks with me or to the park...where not alot of dogs roam...so I dunno. She's not a puppy anymore either..I don't know whether or not that decreases her chances or not... I also have a Chihuahua and he hasn't had shots since his puppy boosters...

Does anybody know if its more common in certain areas of the country or not? I live in Toronto, Canada...

Anywho, just lookin to see what people think about it thanks for your imput hondo..

[Rumpley]

The vacinations question is always a big issue, but honestly, your dog should have at least one or two sets initially to protect it from these diseases. Otherwise, you're taking a huge risk potentially if your puppy contracts one of them. I think it is safer to at least initially vaccinate, then to never vaccinate at all.

I understand your hesitation to vaccinate considering what happened, but there are alternatives that are considered safe, and you don't have to follow the old school yearly vaccine ritual if you don't want to.

We have a huge holistic trend in this end of the country (Vancouver, BC), and even the holistic vets agree that a young pup or dog should have at least one set of shots to protect them from fatal diseases. They can give individual shots of live vaccine, rather than the standard "combo" shot which are just as effective, and then you can pick that you want say, parvo and distemper, the biggest killers of young dogs.

From then on, you can "titer test" your dog during it's lifetime for levels of sufficient antibodies, if you're not inclined to give her ongoing yearly vaccines. These tests can tell you if your dog has sufficient immunity already existing in it's system.

Since I just lost one rescue pup to parvo, and almost another to distemper, I know that these diseases are not something to shrug off. It takes a little while after vacinating for their immunity to build up, but after that, it offers good protection from potentially fatal diseases.

[Guyver]

We recently had a puppy who contracted distemper from the shelter she came from. Despite my fiance's best efforts, including hand feeding with prescription puppy food, IV feedings and medications from the vet the puppy died a sad death in her arms. In short distemper is not to be messed with, it is a horrible disease and if your dog or puppy survives it will be brain damaged or have other neurological damage such as "Chewing Gum Disease" which causes the dog to constantly act as if it is chewing gum. DO right by the animal life you have chosen to protect. ~Gene

[elegy]

i really really think you need to just go ahead and vaccinate. the risk, even if your dog is not often around other dogs, is too high for something that you can almost certainly prevent.

yes, animals can have reactions to vaccines. my former roommate's dog had to be given cpr after a vaccine reaction, but the chances of a reaction that severe are very slim. it happened to you, yes, but what are the chances of it happening again? lesser vaccine reactions are more common, but they are much more treatable than distemper.

i'm not for yearly vaccs, but i do think they need to be vaccinated.

[pitbulliest]

Well I know my dog was vaccinated as a puppy for everything possible...and now she'll be three in aug and I gave her vaccines last year for everything as well... however I'm thinking of skipping it this year and maybe giving it to her next year if its that serious? Will it be good enough to protect her or should it be EVERY SINGLE year?

Also..what are the main vaccinations for? I know parvo and distemper..is that in one shot? And what else is there? My vet just gave her the shots and said they covered her against diseases/virus but never really got into what I was protecting her against specifically...

So is once every two years good enough then? What do you guys think...

[elegy]

i think the newest line of thinking is every three years. i think that's probably what i'm going to do with luce. i'll probably get her fully vaccinated this year again (she had full vaccs before i got her but i have no idea before that), and then go to every three years.

i personally don't think it's necessary to vaccinate every year as long as the dog has a good base, and current studies support that.

dhlpp = distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis (which is highly contageous to humans), parainfluenza, and parvo.

[pitbulliest]

Ok thanks everyone

[bluesky1966]

leptosprirosis bacteria tend to come from a wild animal population , so if you go hiking or let you dogs wade in any water that might have had a wild animal wee in it or near the water I would get the leptosprosis.vacc. On the other hand the lepto part of the vaccine is the part that most dogs react to allergic or otherwise. There are of course vacc with the lepto left out.

[pitbulliest]

Well she got her last vaccines last year so I'll probably do what you suggested and go in the next two - three years...