Dog Health Questions

How to control seizures that result from distemper

Question:  My 4 year old mixed Labrador caught distemper from another puppy in the neighbourhood. Thanks to homeopathy, the early acute period of distemper went by relatively smoothly. However, she began having seizures again on a daily basis a few weeks later. My spouse and I have been doing a lot of research and are now thinking about giving our dog Phenobarbital, also known as just “Pheno”. Is Pheno safe? How does it work?

In an animal with distemper, demyelination causes the lingin of the nervous tissue to be destroyed. Subsequently, the dog`s body attempts to fight this by using its own immune cells. The result is encephalitis, inflammation of the brain, which leads to seizures.

Phenobarbital is thought to be a good way to help fight against and limit your pet`s seizures. It might also be wise to supplement this with a Chinese herbal formula that will aid in healing the damage already done. On top of that, hemp oil, vitamin D and B, kelp, supplemental magnesium, and vitamin C can all have a positive effect on this condition.

Pheno should not be taken permanently and eventually you should wean your dog off of it. But vets dealing with holistic medicine will continue to advise you to give your dog the herbal supplementation longer term.

As is usually the case with health issues involving drugs or supplements, please be sure to consult with your veteranarian.

Canine Distemper Vaccine

4 kinds of canine distemper vaccine exist and are currently in use: serum, “killed vaccine”, MLV (also known as “Modified Live Vaccine”), and Measles Vaccine. I will outline the four types briefly below.

Serum

Technically speaking this is not a vaccine, but rather part of the blood of a dog which has immunity to distemper. It is injected into a dog that requires immediate projection from canine distemper, such as when entering a pet shop or the pound, a kennel, and so forth. The serum contains antibodies from the dog from which the blood was taken, and those antibodies provide immediate but short term protection for the receiving dog. But it is indeed a short term preventative measure and not a proper vaccination program.

Killed Vaccine

The “killed vaccine” is made by growing the canine distemper virus in a lab and then carefuly breaking it down. This creates a virus particle that won’t multiply itself or cause distemper, but still works like an antigen and stimulates the production of antibodies, providing immunity. The main drawback of this approach is that the amount of virus particles that can be injected into the dog is predetermined, limiting the power of the antibody response.

MLV (Modified Live Vaccine)

The production of this kind of vaccine entails growing the virus in a lab in a way that makes it harmless without killing it. Once injected into the dog, this vaccine can multiply, but it will not cause the disease. This kind of vaccine offers a great source of antigens and stimulates the production of an abundance of antibodies.

MLV provides great duration and strength of protection. It is the preferred method of vaccination for longterm protection against distemper. MLV distemper vaccines are often combined with canine hepatitis and leptospirosis. It’s important to be careful with the production and handling of this vaccine.

Measles Vaccine

The viruses causing canine distemper, cattle rinderpest, and measles in humans are all very similar antigens. Therefore injected the human measles virus into a dog will stimulate the production of antibodies that protect the dog from distemper. This is usually given to young puppies of 3 to 4 weeks old, because distemper antibodies consumed through the pup’s mother’s milk will not attack the measles virus. They will, however, attack killed vaccine or MLV.

The value of giving the measles virus vaccine to puppies to prevent distemper is still debated amongst experts.

Dog Distemper Symptoms

There are various canine distemper symptoms, but they normally include thick pus discharges from the nose and eyes, as well as serious coughing and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pustules, convulsions, body/leg spasm, lack of apetite, weakness, intermittently high fever, and footpad thickening.

Certainly there are other diseases and conditions that may cause some of the same signs, many of which aren’t so serious and aren’t so difficult to treat. This causes some problems for diagnosis of the distemper in dogs, since a certain diagnosis can not be made based on symptoms alone. Confirmation of a diagnosis can only be done based on complex procedures of isolating the virus and fluorescent antibody technique. But experienced vets can make a reasonable informed diagnosis based on their clinical experience.

There Remains Much Research To Be Done

Like the majority of viral diseases, no specific drug that can attack the canine distemper virus in the body exists. Existing treatment focuses on preventing secondary infections linked to the disease, as well as controlling and limiting some of the symptoms like cough, diarrhea, and convulsion. Vitamins and other supplements are used to ward off infection and improve general health and immunity. Drugs like ether, and vitamins like vitamin C are often cited as therapeutically useful, though the evidence for this is not conclusive.

There are also dog distemper antiserum and vaccination available, but according to studies dogs who show symptoms of the disease already have antibodies, so these may not be therapeutically useful.

One important thing to point out is that animals raised in clean and hygenic environments show mild symptoms when they contract canine distemper. Secondary and opportunistic “bacterial-invaders” cause most of the severe and debilitating symptoms. The main effect of the virus itself seems to be to break down body tissue and lower the body’s immunity to other diseases.

The rate of survival of dog distemper isn’t particularly high, especially if the dog is exhibiting symptoms like convulsions and muscle spasms. Treatment and care is often a long and prolonged process, but in spite of aggressive therapy and care, many dogs eventually have to be euthanized in order to be humane and prevent the dog’s suffering. Prevention is of course the ideal scenario to aim for.

Vaccines and How They Work

It is useful to understand the basic facts of immunity and vaccination in order to understand the treatment of your dog’s condition. When a foreign substance enters into the body, the body reacts in an attempt to kill the foreign substance.

The formation of antibodies is one kind of reaction to such invaders. Antibodies are proteins circulating in the bloodstream, which attach to the foreign substance, forming a “harmless complex”. Antibodies start being made by the body after a few days, but once they are present, they remain for the longterm. Every new foreign substance will stimulate the creation of a different antibody.

Canine Distemper Virus – Part 1

Most people are familiar with the term “distemper”, and the majority of people with dogs are aware that their dog needs some kind of shot in order to prevent distemper, but they likely don’t know much more than that.

While we talk about distemper in this set of articles, please remeber that we are speaking with generalizations based on scientific research. The averages based on those research findings are the basis of vaccine doseage recommendations and those averages obviously don’t take into account the specific characteristics of your dog and its condtion.

All programs of dog distemper vaccination are based on a compromise of the prevalence of the disease, the convenience to the owner, financial considerations, and a number of other factors. The dog owner needs to trust his vet to help him devise an effective program that balances those considerations.

The Disease

Canine Distemper, also known as “Carre’s Disease”, results from a virus that attacks the cells of the epithelial and nervous tissue. Organs that can be affected include lymphoid tissue, nerves, footpads, the brain, the intestinal tract, lungs, and other epithelial tissue of the dog’s body. You might have heard of “Hard Pad Disease”, which is one of the numerous manifestations of distemper virus.

Just one singl;e strain of canine distemper exists so the various resulting syndromes simply reflect individual response to the virus. The virus infects not only dogs but also dingoes, coyotes, foxes, ferrets, wolves, raccoons, mink, weasels, and skunks.

The Canine Distemper, or CD, virus is transmitted via eye, mouth, and nasal discharge of infected animals. If such a discharge enters another animal’s respiratory system via direct contact or through dust or droplets containing the virus, the animal can contract the virus. It can also be transmitted manually by flies. Contact with the feces or urine of an infected animal can also transmit the virus.

In cool environments the virus can lie dormant for a long period of time and become active again when the environment warms. But hot temperatures outside of a host destabilize the virus so that it may only survive for up to a few hours. At temperatures over 140 degrees the virus will die after 30 minutes or so. Many chemicals will also kill the virus.

If you are considering bringing a new dog into a home where a case of distemper in dogs has occurred, the above can provide you with some guidance as to when it is safe to bring the new animal into that environment. In warmer weather, the environment should be fine after a few weeks. But in a cold climate, the CD virus may be lying dormant in the back yard and become a danger once the weather warms up a little.

The incubation period of Canine Distemper is around a week. This is how long it takes for the virus to cause the disease after entering the dog’s body.