Canine distemper is a viral disease that
can infect dogs, particularly puppies,
and produce life-threatening disease.
One of the routine things I talk about with all of my clients that come in with new puppies is canine distemper vaccination. In pursuing these discussions with my clients, I have come across a great many misconceptions regarding canine distemper in general. So, I thought this might be a good time to demystify canine distemper, explain exactly what it is (and what it is not) and discuss the need for canine distemper vaccines, especially for young puppies.
What is Canine Distemper?
Canine distemper is a viral disease, a contagious disease that can be passed from one dog to another, usually through the aerosolization of respiratory secretions that occurs when an infected dog coughs. In previous times, canine distemper was a commonly seen disease and was frequently fatal for infected dogs. However, presently, canine distemper is not nearly as common because of the existence and commonplace usage of effective vaccines against the disease. That is not to say that the disease not longer occurs though. It is still seen, though not as often as previously, in individual dogs, particularly puppies, that have not yet developed any immunity to the disease. Unfortunately, the disease is still frequently fatal when contracted. Dogs that do recover may make a partial or full recovery from the disease.
What Canine Distemper is Not
One of the most frequent misconceptions I run into about canine distemper is that is has something to do with the temperament or personality of the dog in question. Though dogs suffering from canine distemper can develop neurological symptoms that affect their behavior, these are symptoms of the disease invading the dog’s brain and causing pathology. Canine distemper does not inherently affect the personality of an individual dog. Vaccination against canine distemper does not cause a dog to become aggressive nor prevent a dog from becoming aggressive. The reality of the situation is that canine distemper is a disease and vaccines against canine distemper protect dogs against that particular disease but do not play a part in the development of individual personality traits or make a dog friendly, mean, outgoing or fearful.
Symptoms of Canine Distemper Virus
Canine distemper virus can infect dogs of any age, but young puppies are most susceptible to the infection. Symptoms most commonly seen with the disease include:
- runny eyes
- runny nose
- fever
- lack of appetite
- coughing
- vomiting
- diarrhea
Secondary bacterial invaders often affect the lungs of infected dogs, causing pneumonia. Neurological symptoms, such as jaw snapping, muscle tremors, incoordination, weakness, and even seizures, can occur as well but may not be seen immediately. Some dogs may appear to recover initially, only to present with the neurological symptoms one to three weeks later.
Another manifestation of canine distemper is the keratinization of the skin of the nose and foot pads. This leads to hardening of these tissues and has resulted in the disease sometimes being referred to as “hard pad disease”.
Canine Distemper Vaccines
Effective vaccines against canine distemper exist and canine distemper is considered to be a “core” vaccine by the American Animal Hospital Association’s Canine Vaccination Guidelines. This means that vaccination against canine distemper is considered important for all dogs.
Vaccination against canine distemper can be administered as early as 6-8 weeks in puppies and should be boostered every 3-4 weeks until the puppy has reached the age of 14-16 weeks of age. This vaccine is most often a combination vaccine that protects not only against canine distemper but also against canine parvovirus and canine adenovirus infections.
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helpful post.
Just had to leave a comment. I really loved your opinion.
Glad you found the information helpful
You write very nice,but the last two paragraph I have a little bit to don’t understand, can you please give me an explain?
Hi, Gregory. And welcome. I’m sorry you had difficulty understanding the last two paragraphs. Perhaps this article will help clarify for you: Canine Distemper Virus: Protect Your Dog Through Vaccination. Please feel free to reply back if there’s still something you don’t understand
Thank you Lorie, I found this article helpful, we will never know when our dog can get a Distemper.
Thank you for the helpful information on Canine Distemper. I currently am caring for a dog that has shown signs of distemper and has been very sick. It started out as a diagnosis of kennel cough after the dog was rescued from a shelter. Then, proceeded to pnemonia, nasal discharge, lack of appetite. I work for a veterinary clinic who has been a tremendous help in helping me care for him. He is on antibiotics to treat the pnemonia symptoms and Rimydol. We also started him on Tamiflu a few days ago. He is responding to the meds, eating 8 cups of food a day, drinking, pooping and peeing normally. He is showing signs of Ataxia, walking like he is drunk and stumbles sometimes. His temp has been normal for the last few days. If he recovers from the Stage 1 part of distemper, will any of the neurological signs subside at all? Being he is progressing and I am able to give him the care and time he needs I am hesitant in putting him down. Your insight would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Hi Jennifer. Bless you for taking care of this poor little guy!
Recovery from the neurological signs of canine distemper can be quite variable. Some dogs do recover completely, others do not recover at all. Many fall somewhere in between with some improvement but not complete resolution of the signs. Only time will tell. There’s really no way that I’m aware of to predict the outcome.
Good luck to both of you through this ordeal. Hopefully, this pup will be one of the lucky ones that makes a complete recovery.
I am currently nursing our 3 y/o Border Collie we adopted from breed rescue approx 6 wks ago. He was initially tx’d w/ two antibiotics for his double pneumonia and collapsed lung. Now his CXR is clear but he has developed ataxia. No seizures. His appetitie is wonderful as is his fluid intake. We took him to a DVW who gave him the Newcastle serum through his spinal column. We are now seeing his activity levels increased and decreased tremors. He is on a BID dose of Phenobarb and continued antibiotics. I am hoping that his sx will improve, or at least not progress. What do you think? Thanks, Pam
I’m sorry to hear that, Pamela. It sounds like your veterinarians are doing all that can be done. Good luck with his recovery. We’ll be thinking of you!
I have a siberian husky that is going to be 2 in January. I have gotten a reminder from the vet that she needs a distemper vacc. How many years does she need to get it? She got them as a puppy but I am not sure if she needs them every year.
Thank you
Barbara, this is something you need to talk to your veterinarian about. There are a few different factors here and different doctors have different protocols. Her prior vaccination history should be looked at and considered in the decision. Generally, distemper vaccines are given in a series in as a puppy and repeated at one year age of age. After that, some veterinarians administer the vaccine every three years and some every year.
In addition, there may be other vaccinations that need to be discussed for her as well. Her lifestyle and risk factors will need to be considered in this decision. At a minimum, rabies vaccines need to be administered following your state’s guidelines. (Rabies vaccination is required by law in most communities.)
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