"My dog has a runny nose and really bad diarrhoea. They seem feverish, won’t eat and are coughing and wheezing."
When a dog shows signs of eye and nasal discharge, lack of appetite, weight loss, fever, diarrhoea, cough or wheezing/trouble breathing, and neurological problems like muscle twitches and a lack of coordination, the prognosis is usually poor. This is the reality of distemper – a highly contagious viral disease that affects mostly unvaccinated dogs and puppies that are not yet fully vaccinated. The recent distemper outbreaks in Gauteng and the Overstrand area (Hermanus and surrounds) have put the spotlight back on this terrible canine disease. 
In this article, we’ll define distemper, discuss the symptoms, show how it’s diagnosed and treated, as well as look at what pet owners can do to prevent their dogs from contracting distemper.
What is distemper?
Canine distemper is a multi-system disease that affects the respiratory system, the gastrointestinal system, neurological system as well as the eyes and skin. It affects domestic dogs as well as other carnivores like bat-eared foxes, African wild dogs and hyenas. It can be contracted by large cats (lions, leopards, cheetahs, tigers, etc.), but not domestic cats. Domestic cats can carry the canine distemper virus if they are infected by dogs, but do not show symptoms.
What causes distemper?
Canine distemper is caused by infection with the canine distemper virus (CDV) – a single-stranded RNA virus. CDV is in the same family of viruses that cause measles and mumps in humans, but CDV is not contagious in humans. It is highly contagious among dogs and spreads fast in unvaccinated and incompletely vaccinated puppies and dogs. Infection occurs by the inhalation of expelled droplets (such as when an infected dog sneezes or coughs), contact with contaminated dogs or surfaces those dogs have been in contact with, or in utero.
If you transport a puppy with distemper to the vet, it’s important to disinfect your vehicle, clothing and everything that puppy was in contact with. The virus in the vehicle or even under your shoes can infect other susceptible dogs even when the puppy is not in the immediate vicinity.
What are the symptoms of distemper?
The CDV attacks a dog’s respiratory system, GI system, nervous system, and eyes and skin, so the symptoms can show in all of these areas. Within a few days of contracting the virus, a dog can show the early symptoms, which include:
- fever
- loss of appetite
- ocular and nasal discharge (runny, gooey eyes and nose)
At this stage, blood tests will reveal low white blood cell count as the compromised immune system struggles to fight back. During week two of infection, the symptoms in the respiratory and GI systems will start:
- wheezing
- coughing
- shortness of breath
- inflamed tonsils
- diarrhoea
- vomiting
The virus will have weakened the immune system, making the dog more susceptible to secondary bacterial infections, which will manifest at this point. With the progression of the disease, the dog’s nose and paw pads can thicken and become crusty.
By week four, the virus will have travelled to the brain and the neurological symptoms will set in:
- circling
- head tilt
- nystagmus (rapid eye movement)
- lack of coordination
- muscle tremors
- jaw tremors/chewing motion
- weakness in the back legs
- paralysis
- seizures
By this stage, the seizures can be frequent and violent enough to cause death. In some dogs, symptoms progress rapidly, while in other dogs, it may take weeks or months for neurological symptoms to show. This is why it’s so important to get a dog with fever and nasal discharge to the vet as soon as possible.
How is distemper diagnosed?
The vet will observe the dog’s clinical symptoms and start to form a picture of what is happening. Distemper is difficult to diagnose immediately because many of the symptoms (like vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of appetite and coughing) are common to other diseases too. The telltale signs of distemper include the combination of fever and generalised infection – although different dogs will show typical symptoms earlier or later than usual, which may complicate the diagnosis. To confirm a distemper diagnosis, the vet will take blood and do PCR testing, which isolates the virus’s RNA material and provides a positive result.
How is distemper treated?
There is no cure for canine distemper, which is why vaccination is the best and simplest way to prevent your dog from being infected. Treatment for the disease is supportive – the vet will initiate aggressive protocols to help the dog to fight the viral infection, to contain bacterial infection, maintain hydration and to prevent or lessen seizures. Treatment can include antibiotics, IV fluids, fever and pain medication, parenteral feeding (intravenous, or bypassing the GI system, giving it time to heal).
What is the prognosis for distemper?
The successful treatment of distemper is never guaranteed, as each dog will be at a different stage of infection when treatment is initiated, and even with the best care, some dogs will still succumb to the disease.
Dogs that recover from distemper may suffer long-term neurological effects. Muscle twitches and ongoing seizures may be a fact of life, or they may show no symptoms until they reach old age and experience old dog distemper syndrome. Older dogs may have brain inflammation (old-dog encephalitis), which causes them to appear uncoordinated. Dogs with latent neurological side-effects after recovering from distemper are not contagious.
For many dogs, the prognosis is poor and the vet may recommend euthanasia in order to not prolong their suffering.
How to prevent distemper infection
The easiest way to prevent your dog from contracting distemper is by ensuring their 5-in-1 vaccination schedule is up to date. At your dog’s next vet check-up, discuss their vaccination status with the vet, especially if your dog is exposed to large groups of dogs, such as at the dog park, doggy daycare, in canine sports, at boarding kennels or on communal dog walks. Do not let your dog use communal food and water bowls, such as at dog parks or daycare, and if your dog appears to be unwell, get them to the vet immediately.
Unfortunately, distemper spreads quickly in close quarters, like in informal settlements where unvaccinated dogs are often free-roaming. There is also a risk of outbreak in kennelling environments and at dog rescues where strays with unknown vaccination status may come in contact with larger dog populations, despite their best efforts.
