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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2011 3:11:28 GMT -5
I am hardcore panicking right now, I can't stop shaking, and I am really really hoping I'm wrong but...
I have a 2 year old dog, has had all her puppy shots, has had her 1 year booster shots, is not due until august. However she has chronic skin issues all the time , vet isn't too worried, but the past week or two her nose has been super dry and crusty, some green discharge and the pads of her paws have been crusty too. We saw a vet Friday and she said that kima (dog) didn't have any infections and were doing allergy testing and autoimmune disorder testing next week.
However I was just flipping through ferrets with dummies and I stumbled across the distemper symptoms and they sounded like want kima has so I googled it and the symptoms are the same for dogs. She has had discharge from her nose and eyes and her nose looks identical to all the pictures on google. Now I may be jumping the gun, because it's rare for older dogs to get distemper but oh my goodness, what if she has it?!!!
The ferrets have been exposed for sure, through me. Kima hasn't touched them directly but she's snuck in a few times and touched their cage.
The girls aren't showing any symptoms as far as I know but ferrets for dummies says it's like 99% fatal? What in the world do I do?
Calling the dogs vet first thing in the morning but oh my goodness, I can't lose her an tw ferrets... Calling the ferret vet first thing too.
How in the world is this happening? Please pray that I'm just over reacting and that my dog doesn't have distemper.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2011 4:01:22 GMT -5
it's like 2:50 am here lol and I just woke up my mom to tell her that I think the dog may have distemper. After a lot more googling and discussing the symptoms we are hoping that she doesn't because her symptoms aren't all that severe and could just be allergies or an autoimmune disorder like the vet thought. I'm just a little mad that no one at the vet (my work) bothered to mention to me that these are also symptoms of distemper and I'm mad at myself that even after 2 years of working at a vet clinic I didn't recognize them as such. It's just such a rare disease that we don't see in dogs because the vaccines are so good at preventing it. at least they better be, if kima has it even after vaccines I'm also going to be mad. Anyways just wanted to say that I'm breathing now and will be talking with the vet I know better (the vet we saw only works a few shifts here and there at my clinic but still you think she would've known if it was distemper) and hopefully they can test Kima somehow so I know for 100% sure if she has it or not. On the horrible but hopefully small chance that she does have it and that the ferrets have been exposed (praying they have built up enough immunity from their initial vaccines and maternal antibodies) do they have any chance of survival? I would hospitalize them immediately and let them do whatever they could but ferrets for dummies basically says if they have it, you should euthanize  Oh please please let this be an autoimmune disorder or allergies that's causing the crusty nose and discharge. My dog seems perfectly fine otherwise but like I said she has immunity and is able to fight it off quite well, it's the ferrets who might not be so lucky |
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2011 4:13:48 GMT -5
I hope your dog doesnt have it. Read the topic about the washington ferrret rescue - 34 ferrets died from exposure - and they were vaccinated - there are no guarantees- I am still reading and learning. Dont panic I hope its just allergies. |
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Post by katt on May 9, 2011 4:33:46 GMT -5
If Kima was immunized she should be fine. It could be a number of other things like you said - allergies, or even some random virus she picked up. IF by chance it is distemper, you will notice it in your girls. If they start showing symptoms there's really not much that you can do. However, the chances your dog has distemper are low bc she has been immunized. It is not impossible, but not super likely. Just keep a very close eye on them and wait to hear what the vet says about Kima in the morning.  I will be thinking of you guys! Keep us updated! |
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2011 5:05:10 GMT -5
I will say that the clinic where I work is seeing ALOT of allergies lately. Skin allergies especially. I've seen those kinds of symptoms with mange.
Just calm down for now, don't panic until you have all the info. Usually distemper is the first thing that crosses a vet's mind; likely she is/was missing other symptoms that would qualify her for that. Basic vitals can come into play, such as heart rate and temperature. Of course a vaccine isn't a cure... like the flu vaccine, it just is the best weapon we have against the terrible disease for now.
For example, the rabies vaccine isn't a sure thing. If a dog with a rabies shot gets into a fight with an animal who has it, animal control will recommend you go give the dog another rabies booster IMMEDIATELY. Why? I don't know, it doesn't make sense, but that's what health care professionals recommend.
There is also debate on whether vaccinations given in such a sequence for puppies doesn't actually LOWER their immune system (3 or 4 distemper combo boosters given every 3 weeks, the last one being counted as annual). It's a heated debate on both sides.
Either way, like I said, TRY to calm down for now until you have answers. I'm bad about that too, it's hard when you care so much about your fur kids. But it's the best thing you can do right now.
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Post by katt on May 9, 2011 5:18:10 GMT -5
For example, the rabies vaccine isn't a sure thing. If a dog with a rabies shot gets into a fight with an animal who has it, animal control will recommend you go give the dog another rabies booster IMMEDIATELY. Why? I don't know, it doesn't make sense, but that's what health care professionals recommend. Viruses and bacteria mutate very quickly.  There is never a guarantee with a vaccine (or an antibiotic). These things mutate quickly. I heard somewhere that the rabies vaccine in use is not even for the current strain, but is actually a rather outdated vaccine. I don't know any facts on that though, just a rumor I heard so not sure of the legitimacy of the claim. |
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2011 6:54:51 GMT -5
There was a study posted on here a few weeks ago about the effect of vitamin A on ferrets with distemper. It basically said that ferrets who were supplemented with vitamin A showed less distemper symptoms and had more mild symptoms than ferrets who hadn't. If you are worried, it might be worth giving them some extra ferretone as it contains vitamin A. It can't do them any harm (as long as they aren't consistently given too much vit A) .
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 9, 2011 7:14:26 GMT -5
My friends boxer had crust around his nose, etc he freaked bc he thought it was distemper and if wasn't. It's like dermatitis. Don't Google to much bc you'll drive yourself nuts. Keep calm and take your dog to the vet. Remember when you panic and stress your ferrets can sense it especially if they are bonded to you.
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Post by Sherry on May 9, 2011 10:56:05 GMT -5
I'd not panic quite yet. Here's a timeline for the disease in dogs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_distemperThe virus first appears in bronchial lymph nodes and tonsils two days after exposure. The virus then enters the blood stream on the second or third day.[11] A first round of acute fever tends to begin around 3 to 8 days after infection, which is often accompanied by a low white blood cell count, especially of lymphocytes, as well as low platelet count. These signs may or may not be accompanied by anorexia, a runny nose, and discharge from the eye. This first round of fever typically recedes rapidly within 96 hours, and then a second round of fever begins around the 11th or 12th day and lasts at least a week. Gastrointestinal and respiratory problems tend to follow, which may become complicated with secondary bacterial infections. Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord otherwise known as encephalomyelitis is either associated with this, subsequently follows, or comes completely independent of these problems. A thickening of the footpads sometimes develops, and vesicularpustular lesions on the abdomen usually develop. Neurological symptoms typically are found in the animals with thickened footpads from the virus.[1][8] About half of sufferers experience meningoencephalitis.[8] [edit]Gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms Commonly observed signs are a runny nose, vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration, excessive salivation, coughing and/or labored breathing, loss of appetite, and weight loss. When and if the neurological symptoms develop, incontinence may ensue.[8] [9][14] [edit]Neurological symptoms The symptoms within the central nervous system include a localized involuntary twitching of muscles or groups of muscles, seizures often distinguished by salivation, and jaw movements commonly described as “chewing gum fits,” or more appropriately as "distemper myoclonus." As the condition progresses, the seizures worsen and advance to grand mal convulsions, followed by death of the animal. The animal may also show signs of sensitivity to light, incoordination, circling, increased sensitivity to sensory stimuli such as pain or touch, and deterioration of motor capabilities. Less commonly, it may lead to blindness and paralysis. The length of the systemic disease may be as short as 10 days, or the start of neurological symptoms may not come until several weeks or months later. Those few that survive usually have a small tic or twitch of varying levels of severity. With time, this tic will usually diminish somewhat in its severity.[1][8] |
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Post by Heather on May 9, 2011 11:47:36 GMT -5
I would say that your vet has probably called it. Your dog is immunized, which may or may not have taken but that being said....auto immune diseases also affect dermis in the same manner. Have you been to the vet yet? Do not immunize that dog again if you find out that she has auto-immune problems brought on by allergies...please.
Other than the crustiness, you have no other symptoms. They are severe, your dog is supposedly in the later stages if this is indeed distemper. She should be so sick she can't stand up at this point. Unless there are symptoms that you're not telling us, I think you're probably scaring yourself. If, by some longshot, she does have distemper do not under any circumstance immunize your ferrets...this will kill them. I'm not fear mongering here. Their immunities will have already activated, if you immunize now, their immunity will shut down.
ciao
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2011 12:14:13 GMT -5
Thank you everyone, I think I was just having a 2 am in the mowing mini-heart attack there. Spoke to the vet clinic this morning and they aren't worried that it's distemper because she's not showing any other symptoms. It was the green discharge from the eye/nose combined with the crusty nose and the weird breathing sounds when she sleeps (which are most likely caused by her nose being so dry) and the fact that she een had a nose bleed that had me concerned that she was in the very beginning stages of the viral infection. However she had also missed important symptoms as you guys mentioned such as the loss of appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms etc and the thickening of the paw pads is like one of the last symptoms so I think I was just over reacting because it was so late at night and well because it's scary!  But my regular dog vet isn't concerned and Kima has an appointment tomorrow at 1:30 (my vets crazy on Monday and there's no point taking her to emergency at this point) to further investigate. They do think it might be a severe autoimmune disease though, which isn't good either Don't worry I won't be loading her up with vaccines if it is autoimmune and I won't be vaccinating the ferrets either if there's a chance theyve been exposed to distemper. But I think everythings going to be all right, I apologize for the panic, I tend to do that when it comes to my animals and of course the ferrets were sneezing like crazy this morning so I'm thinking oh no was it some other viral infection that they've now got? But they were also playing so I think they were just making each other sneeze while rough housing. Yay for my first ferret mini heart attack, I can't wait for more! :PThank you everybody for being so understanding and rational and helpful!  |
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Post by Heather on May 9, 2011 12:20:03 GMT -5
Don't worry...2 am is never a good time to find illnesses. The fact that your vet has scheduled your appointment for tomorrow says everything ;D Take a deep breath and enjoy the beautiful day  ciao |
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2011 15:20:15 GMT -5
That's what I'm trying to do! The ferrets are sneezing on and off a bit more than usual, but as long as I don't see any other symptoms of a viral infection like runny eyes or a cough, I shouldn't have to worry too much right? They do have their noses in everything all the time so I'm assuming it's just dust that's causing them to sneeze. |
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