For the next few weeks, our blog is focusing on distemper.  This disease has caused many weeks of pain for the shelter dogs, employees, and volunteers as the shelter had to shut down to get it under control.  It’s more important than ever to make sure your pets are vaccinated!

 (source: American Veterinary Medical Association)

 Canine distemper is a contagious and serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems of puppies and dogs. Distemper is often fatal, and dogs that survive usually have permanent, irreparable nervous system damage.

Puppies and dogs most often become infected through airborne exposure (through sneezing or coughing) to the virus from an infected dog or wild animal. The virus can also be transmitted by shared food and water bowls and equipment. Infected dogs can shed the virus for months, and mother dogs can pass the virus through the placenta to their puppies.

 Initially, infected dogs will develop watery to pus-like discharge from their eyes. They then develop fever, nasal discharge, coughing, lethargy, reduced appetite, and vomiting. As the virus attacks the nervous system, infected dogs develop circling behavior, head tilt, muscle twitches, convulsions with jaw chewing movements and salivation (“chewing gum fits”), seizures, and partial or complete paralysis.