update on shaking puppy (kind of long)

misskrisnicole

I'm not sure if many of you got to my original post about our puppy shaking, but i wanted to give an update along with my little piece about the whole thing...

we decided to take him to the vet bc it was getting pretty bad, when we got there our vet saw him and the concern on her face worried us greatly, we went into the examine room, and she told us is he has signature symptoms of canine distemper virus...

she gave us a lot of hope though, she let us know she feels that he's got a lot of fight in him, and that it would be worth it to her to keep him there and try her very best to treat the secondary illnesses of the distemper (the disease is not curable, but by treating the secondary illnesses his body may be able to fight the distemper) ...

the vet was very compassionate very very very nice and i have to say i really felt that she was extremely genuine in her efforts...

however, i did call the shelter that we got sushi from, because with him having distemper the number of dogs in his close proximity his short stay there had to have been exposed...

once i let them know, i merely got the brush off...almost as if it was no matter to them that a dog they sent home had a very fatal illness...

Rancho Cucamonga Shelter here in California definitely misrepresented themselves as a shelter that cares....

i followed up another day wondering if maybe i got a rude person, but same thing, it's ridiculous, to fall in love with a puppy only to find out that he has a fatal illnesses, both my boyfriend's and my heart are broken...we just wanted to make sure that they made the precaution to not let another family go through what we are going through right now...

what more if we had other dogs?....

sorry if it was long, but at any rate we're trying hard to get through Sushi's distemper, the doctor sounded very optimistic and one thousand dollars later, we're hoping that we might be able to beat it

Criosphynx

Sorry you had a bad experience there. Four of my dogs are from that shelter...(hi nieghbor!)Emma, Kiwi, Critter and Scooter (who is passed away)all came from there. They are honestly the best shelter for like 75 miles. Have you ever been to Baldwin park? Gag.

Now about distemper...Iam sorry this is happening to you. But heres the thing about distemp

I have no doubt your animal can maybe survive it...if you caught it early BUT theres a catch your vet doesn't seem to have covered with you.

Dogs that survive are left with brain or spine issues...som' walk in circles...some can't walk at all...som' shake uncontrollably...

My Tippy is possibly a distemper survivor (no way to know) and she is very high functioning...that said, she still falls down about every 15 steps...no big deal for a little dog...but a larger dog may really really hurt themselves .

They also "shed" the virus for months after the "cure".

High functioning dog that make it past the disease...and the effects...can always relapse...suddenly, then die anyway.

No trying to make you feel worse, but from all the research i've done and the info I get from vet techs is that not many dogs make it through this disease and the ones who do are so non functional they usually have to be euthanized.



So I really suggest you ask the vet about quality of life after the virus so you can decide if you should treat.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/dog-i...distemper.html

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...distemper.html

Once again Im soo sorry. If you need anything we're all here.

misskrisnicole

Thanks for the information...

The vet did let us know about those possible fatal consequences, but we've fallen so much in love with him that it's no matter to us...

The vet let us know that if she felt it was better to euthanize him that she would have let us know....
We take him home today, after him being there for 3 days...i'm really excited and scared..

But we just want to give him the best quality of life that we can

pawzaddict

I cannot believe they have no care in the world. There has to be something you can do....have you checked the laws in regards to shelters in CA? I have been looking up ours here and if I read it correctly they are responsible for adopting out only healthy pets and making sure this happens. As long as the quality of your dogs life is still there I see no reason not to treat it and love him like you would any other dog.

Criosphynx

I wish you luck then. Please keep us updated.

Criosphynx

Im sure they absolutely care...but what are they supposed to do about it? Dogs are adopted AS IS. I have signed the same contract 4 times.... that shelter is BUSY. The people answering the phones are probably not the right people to talk to...they often have dozens on people in line in front of them...

you sign that you acknowledge that the dog is outwardly healthy and any further medical expense/ treatment is the responsibility of the adopter. No doubt they thought the dog had kennel cough...early distemper can look like kennel cough.

Iam also sure that they would take back the dog if you asked them too.

my concern is quality of life simply will not be there. Im' not a vet, and I haven't seen the dog...so Its impossible to say... but like I said most dogs who progress to neurodistemper are euthanized anyway. They just aren't functional dogs anymore.

Personally I would not chose to fight it. But I support the idea of the OP wanting to save/help their dog. I hope we are kept updated, perhaps this dog will make it... and restore som' of my lost hope.

also (to the OP) when did you adopt the dog? Distemp incubation is fairly short and the dogs practically have to sneeze and slobber on each other to spread it...

misskrisnicole

Hey guys. So far so good. We adopted him on the 10th, and his condition continued to worsen until the 22nd which is when we took him to the vet. We just got him back today and he seems to be doing very well.

His pneumonia has subsided but we need to continue the course of the remaining antibiotics. His appetite is back which is a really huge difference. Upon receiving him on the 10th, he barely had an appetite. We assumed it was just an adjustment issue, but in hindsight, it was just a symptom of a more serious problem. He now seems to have a voracious appetite even showing interest to hearing kibble, when before the sound of kibble was no cause of excitement for him.

His energy levels and demeanor are also very different. He is now a puppy that bounds around swishes his tail every which way. Im actually trying to get him to relax since rest was a major point of the vet.

I understand your concern Crios. However even the vet said that if it were her dog, she would continue to fight it since it was too early to make any real judgments. She was even kind enough to give us a HEAVY HEAVY discount on the hospital stay. Euthanisation is an option. I do not want him to suffer any more than he needs to, But right now we cant tell how well his body will handle the virus. As of right now it clearly hasnt affected him too much. Most of his problems were due to the pneumonia. He deserves his own chance to fight it until his body gives clear signs that he cant handle anymore.

Edit: Oh and the distemper test came back as a maybe...so the little guy need another test in 3 weeks.

pawzaddict

You know I misspoke in regards to laws about adopting healthy pets, I re-looked up what I read and it is for pet stores, which I do not think include county pounds. You are right tho, a receptionist is not the right person to get compassion from at this point. I also do not know a lot about distemper for I have NEVER seen it personally and did not know the signs are similar to kennel cough (thank you for bringing that to my attention ), I am a pro at parvo tho unfortunately seeing it constantly at vets offices. My boyfriend said he adopted a dog with distemper and it was treated, but who knows if the dog had just contracted it or already had treatment for it before.

misskrisnicole

We didnt call the shelters office for sympathy of any sort. We were only hoping that they become aware that a dog from their kennels has distemper. Our guy had a kennel mate and we were also just hoping that maybe they warn the family that adopted her. The big put off of the entire thing is the sound of annoyance that came from the receptionist.

Criosphynx

Iam glad he's feeling better...when you said the dog was shaking I assumed it was because he had already progressed to Neurodistemper...but now Iam understanding the shaking has stopped?

Glad they gave you a discount...I love it when that happens. It helps alot.

What do you mean by distemper test? I am not aware of any test available for distemper. Did they X-ray his lungs?

We will never know if Tippy has a birth defect or had mild distemper (we're thinking birth defect, but initially thought distemp) because from what I understand they have to examine the dogs spinal cord post mortem to make a diagnosis...that was two years ago...maybe things have changed?

Pawz thats part of the reason it kills so many dogs...the symptoms are the same at first.

I must admit I was at Rancho about ten days ago and saw a dog that had so much pussy discharge coming out of his nose I actually walked VERY widely around him and said to my husband "I don't think thats kennel cough.."

Then I hear this...wow...glad I avoided the heck out of that dog.