Distemper virus: What is it?

Published on: Saturday, August 28, 2021

By: Shirley Khong

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The discharge (as seen in pic) is one of the signs of distemper virus.

DISTEMPER is a highly contagious viral disease found in dogs. This is an incurable, often fatal, multisystemic (affecting multiple organs) disease that affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems causing a lot of pain and suffering ... all that could be very easily avoided by simply vaccinating your dogs.

Symptoms

A dog infected with distemper may have a number of symptoms, such as watery eyes and pus-like sticky discharge from the eyes too. They develop a fever, coughing, nasal discharge, lethargy and vomiting!

How dogs get distemper

Distemper is airborne and unvaccinated dogs/puppies can catch it through contacts with other dogs and or their saliva, urine, blood water droplets. This can also spread via coughing and sneezing and through sharing contaminated food and water bowls.

When to see your vet

If your pet dog displays any of the following symptoms please consult your vet immediately:

nasal and eye discharge
lethargy/ tiredness
coughing
difficulty breathing
thickening of nose & foot pads
diarrhoea
loss of appetite
skin sores
muscle twitch
excessive drooling of saliva
head tilt
circling
seizures are also signs to watch out for for a dog with the onset of distemper.

Please remember that distemper is an aggressive disease and can kill not only your dog/s but any they come into contact with. So if you have any suspicion your dog may have distemper, isolated him/her from any other dogs you may have.

Best form of prevention

If your puppy is six weeks old and has not been vaccinated against distemper please bring to the vet ASAP.

Continue vaccinating your puppy as per your vet’s advice till it’s old enough to withstand distemper

If you aren’t sure of your pet’s history please bring him/her to the vet for its vaccines just to be on the safe side.

This is a very small yearly expense, which will save you money in the long run and at the same time save your pet’s life!

Also, please ensure your dog eats a healthy diet and clean its living area regularly (at least once or twice a week) and ensure your pet has sufficient exercise and maintains a healthy lifestyle. While this may not prevent distemper, your dog will be cleaner, healthier and happier, and if you have to board your dog in a kennel make sure your dog’s shots are all up to date.

There is no cure

There is no cure for the distemper

infection. Treatment typically consists of supportive care and efforts to prevent secondary infections; control vomiting, diarrhoea and neurologic symptoms; and combat dehydration through

administration of fluids thus giving your dog the best chance of survival.

Recovering from distemper

If caught and treated at an early stage your dog will have a higher chance of recovery.

There may however be some lasting neurological and/or central nervous disorders like:

seizures
muscle twitching
jaw spasms
nerve damage
brain damage

These signs may not appear immediately after recovery but later on in their life

Therefore it is very important to vaccinate your dog annually to prevent distemper.

The only way to prevent this virus and its spread is to vaccinate. Don’t delay – vaccinate today!