Coping With Canine Distemper

I’ll keep it short and sweet. I am a new pet owner, I adopted Cooper on Sunday 2/3/08 from a Humane Society The poor thing had been at the shelter for 109 days. As they are a no-kill shelter, I couldn’t leave him there to live. He is perfect for our family.

With the adoption, I am awarded a free ‘wellness visit’ to a vet. I take Cooper (Pitbull/AmStaff mix) in for his check-up, he is perfect! No fever, clean ears, clean nose and eyes… oh and what a well behaved boy! He is such a lover.

Well, I ask the vet a few questions before he sends me on my way. Coopers back right leg will sometimes twitch/spasm when he is relaxing - it is not noticeable when he is playing. On another note, his teeth are in TERRIBLE condition. I ask for suggestions. Well, after some comparing of paperwork, taking an overview of the medicine given to the dog at the Humane Society, and his condition, I am provided with the information that he had Distemper when he was a puppy. He is now 8 months old, and with research through this site, this appears to be a good sign? If he had it as a puppy, and is now 8 months old, he survived it.

I don’t really know what to do at this point. He is happy, healthy, seemingly a great eater. He is energetic, smart, obedient, house-trained… BUT I am fearful that there are things I should be doing to prevent this virus from killing him. As I understand it, he HAD it as a puppy, SURVIVED it, he MIGHT get seizures (which I can get a prescription to aid/alleviate), I can have his teeth worked on…. all according to the brief free visit to the vet.

….and thats it?

I don’t think so based on all the information I am reading, and the stories in this forum. Can someone please give me some information, or at least point me in the right direction? I am terrified that I am going to neglect a killer virus when there are measures I can take to aid him in living a wonderful life.

NDV - Is this something I should look into?

Thank you depthlessly.