Canine DisTemper

My dog was suddenly paralyzed from the waist down (well, so to speak). I went to the university animal hospital in KK (I don’t trust the level of knowledge in clinics) where they first muttered something about the spinal chord be damaged, then they came up with canine distemper. That viral infection apparently is highly contiguous.

The dog now seems to loose the ability to use his front legs. I have separated it from my two other dogs that seem until now unaffected.

The poor dog can hardly move and is constantly barking unless you sit with him and touch him. He still is very alert, eats and drinks.

I actually hardly can believe it is CDT, because the other dogs show not any sign of being sick, yet they lived and played together all the time. But what then ?

Has anybody had a dog that was partly paralyzed or had CDT ? Is it known if this is a common deasease in jangwat Udon ?

There's a vet on Phosri Rd that has a special interest in canine distemper. He's a bit of an odd guy, but speaks passable English and may be able to help you.
The easiest way to get to the vet is: across the street from the Bangkok Bank that's on Phosri Rd, there's a Chinese herb shop (directly next to the gold store that's on the corner). Enter the herb shop and walk all the way to the back. That's the vet's area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_distemper


The symptoms described don't sound much like what you described...

Well, the hospital came up with it. And I don't know, there is discharge from the eyes, the dog breathes with difficulty. At the present stage it looks like he will die today or very soon anyway.
I want to put him down today, because he suffers too much. But putting down is not something that comes natural with me...

I would agree with you that it doesn't look like CDT, if it were only for the fact that the two other dogs are not effected or seem not to be.

I have a vet friend. A world class dog lover that has a "special way" with them... He says that he believes that when a dog is suffering like that, it is far better to put them down... That they have no other feelings or knowledge other than the suffering... ( Maybe I didn't say that just right, but he is very convincing... Interestingly, he is a devout Catholic, violently opposed to suicide...)


I, too, hate putting 'em down, but I do agree with my friend.


BR

perhaps I am to late, perhaps not, but as a last resort I would give the dog a shot of Newcastles Disease vaccine, which is said to be helpful in curing distemper...Newcastle disease is a bird flu virus and is going around thailand at this time of the year, and probably killed the chooks that some other member was telling us about, but apparently it has been good to fight disyemper in dogs too

did the powers that be, check the dog over for snake bites , and other nasty poisonious biting things..to be paralyzed like that could point to this as possible..I have seen a dog die from ticks, but it took time, lose of weight, some paralyzed (too early in morning for proper spelling) seems alittle strange that only one dog was affected..

Hi,
My dog, about 5 days ago, went like you say. Paralyzed back legs, and could not walk. Also bleeding from the nose. Just lay there.
Took him to the vet, by the airport, and he give me some tablets for the dog to take. He's getting better now, but not 100% yet. At least he is now eating, which for a couple of day he would only drink water.
I have another dog, and they are always together. He is O.K.
Hope your dog gets better soon.
Chee4rs Doug.

Sounds like your dog has picked up a tick, check him every where inside the toes and inside ears, distemper symptoms are falling over foaming at the mouth, I would do that first before putting him down, and ticks are very small so you have to look properly, good luck

there is a thing called Polyneuropathy, which is a swelling of the nerves that function the rear legs, and once swollen the dog can loose use of its legs, and once swelling goes down, can regain it functions again.....

there are posterier disc problems that may occur to some dogs also... if you google around you might find some answers..

Thank you all for the answers and suggetions.

@ Maaka : Xrays have been made and they thought it might be disk problems, but is was not very obvious. The condition of the dog was such that they didn't want to do more test in this area.

Polyneuropathy maybe, no idea. How long before it gets better and what can I do to accelerate the healing process ?

A snake bite? Might be but no external signs

@ Dreamstalker : "A" tick ?? The last year I am fighting an all out war with ticks here, no idea where they come from. Originally I thought the dogs had picked them up near the river, but then they walked there much before the ticks came.
Of course ticks can carry deseases, but which desease can be transferred by a tick ? Any experience ?

@Douglas : I went to a doctor that sudied in KK. Aftyer a day she came off the idea that it was distemper and had no idea what it could be. She didn't give any other meds than Vit B and antibiotics.
How long did the recoveryprocess take for your dog ?

The situation is stable now, we clean the dog regularly because it can't control his bladder causing irritation of the skin around, maybe a catheter could help.
The doctor, being a Buddist as she said was not very keen on 'killing' the dog, nor are the people around me here. I am from the Netherlands with more enlightend but well thought over views about it. I can't see a reason why a dog without belief should suffer so much.

Hiya Pete, look matey I am not a vet, only just trying to give you some ideas, so you can look into them..

There seems to be oddles of dogs owners with such problems as you have, the dog eats and is happy, but cant use rear legs and wee or poo by itself, alot of questions go unanswered as to the cause, but most seem to involve Polyneuropathy, disc problems and ticks.. In some dogs Polyneuropathy is breed related, others like Dotterman, get whats called Dotterman" s Dance, Rottweilers also can loose function of all four legs from Polyneuropathy...some systoms can come and go in 1-3 days, some others just get worse...

Boxers, Dashhounds and English Pointer can have a Polyneuropathy that cause them to feel no pain, and as such they can do themselves harm

the disc problem can be missed during xrays, and scans, indeed some have operated only to find nothing..Prednisone may help as a medication in regards disc problems..

the tick issue can be a big one in causing Polyneuropathy, and even death in dogs, as I have wittnessed myself with my neighbours old dog some years ago..some types of ticks have a neuro toxin in thier salvia, and paralyse of legs can occur to the dog, usually if dogs get ticks in USA and tick are taken off the dog can recover in 1-3 days, but if in Australia that same dog could suffer cranial nerve effects and die, due to different types of ticks, so as regards Thailand I am not sure, I can only say to check your dogs over , including inside ears, for ticks and remove pronto..you mentioned ticks in your last message, so I would focus on this alittle..

what kind of dog do you have and how old is she /he?? are all your dogs the same breed?? as I say I am not a vet, but I could come up with some way out there ideas, like the use of icepacks on the spinal area. I would also watch to see what your other dogs did, or if they focus on a particular area of the hurt dogs....like licking her in a certain area all the time..a dogs saliva is a powerful healing agent, and they are now using dogs to sniff out cancer in humans, so they may be trying to heal each other without us knowing it...good luck to you and your dog

Hi,
Peter, My dog was very bad for about 3 days. Took him to vet on second day, he give me some pills to give dog. After 3 days he started to get better and is O.K. now. The dog is half Rot. and is six years old. The other dog is a shih tzu and was not affected.
Hope your dog is improving.
Cheers Doug.

Thank you all for your interest and advise.

The dog is dead. We buried him yesterdag with rice, fried meat and a glas of rice whiskey, an unhappy moment as dogowners/doglovers will realize.

Nobody has come up with a convinced idea what desease it was, I just hope the two other dogs will not get sick. Today they both will be vaccinated against distemper. They never have before because nobody here knows about the desease, nor did I. Stupid ? Guess so, never had dogs before I came to live here.

as i have many dogs i have encountered many times canine distemper, mostly when you see the symptoms it is all ready to late.... incubation time is one week , when they start getting the symptoms the dog is mostly dead within 1 week,what you must look for ( if you want to be quick) is first glassy eyes ,not responding to any movement ( almost same blind) , the playfulness that a pup usually has is gone and lost of appetite, but drinking a lot and sometimes start vomiting ( the pup can have this vomiting also as cause of worms... , )also they will get fever.., the biggest problem is the diarrhea it gets , like water , very smelly..and after 2 or 3 days there will be blood also , and than you know for sure it is to late, most times the dog will die within the next 2 days....,to prevent all this , when ever you buy a puppy, leave it check same day by the vet..at the age of 6 weeks they need their first injection of canine distemper vaccine , after 2 weeks the need same again , and 2 week later same again ( boost ) than after about 4 weeks of the last boost they need the yearly mixed vaccine ( 6 or 5 in one ) , this is the only one you have to repeat every year
( i buy this , and inject the dogs myself..) canine distemper is an ugly disease that mostly only affect puppy's, and if you are late to detect the symptoms it will lead to the dead of the dog...so take care your dog good....