Coping With Canine Distemper

We brought our little Copper (Golden Retriever) home on July 4th. She was just getting ready to turn 11 weeks. She seemed very sweet, quiet, and a little nervous. She was great on the drive home, and so sweet. No accidents, and no motion sickness. That night she threw up, but seemed to sleep okay. We figured her stomach was nervous from the drive. The next day we brought her to the vet, and she was so lethargic, but the vet told us, it was probably from all the changes. That night she vomited again, but this time there was blood, and also very, very loose stools. We brought her back into the vet, this time they admitted her and started IVs. They wanted to treat it like Parvo. She improved rapidly which had them rule out Parvo (yeah). The decided it was a case of dehydration due to the stress of her move. We brought her home and she was great. She was so smart, and eager to please, and becoming very spoiled. The loose stools started again, so we brought in a sample and found she had round worm, which we promptly treated. Again, she was a happy go lucky pup, but still not able to socialize with other dogs as she needed one more set of shots.

Then our worst nightmare happened. I had started taking her for little walks around the block. On her first day actually alone she ended up getting four short walks. She loved them. That night she started whining, and I noticed a twitch in her front paw. I quickly brought her to the Emergency Vet clinic, and they thought it may had been from the walks, she had a sore muscle. Made sense to me. The whining continued, but she had medicine, and I just figured she needed rest. We then took a long drive to visit my parents. She cried the entire 9 hours, and the twitching had spread, and it bothered and hurt her. We quickly brought her to the vet there and they were puzzled. They admitted her for IVs thinking possibly it was toxic poison. When one of the vet’s mentioned it could be Distemper I almost fainted on the spot. Everything I had read about Distemper was not good and we were so worried. She was eating and drinking, no fever, and no vomit or loose stools except for weeks earlier from the dehydration she suffered. I thought there was no way it could be Distemper and then I probed more, and it looks like there can be up to a 3 month lag between the first symptoms and further symnptoms. I cannot tell you how shocked I was to learn that.

As of today, We have an appointment to see a neorologist [neurologist] and hope that they can either confirm Distemper or confirm that it is not Distemper Of course we are hoping for the latter, because poor little Copper does not deserve what she has been put through in such a short amount of time. We cannot give up on her though, she is a fighter, and we plan to fight right on next to her. We are going to try Homeopathic meds next, and lots of prayer.