Essay On Canine Distemper
Chapter 2. What is Canine Distemper?
Canine distemper is a serious disease caused by a highly contagious virus that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems of dogs. The virus also infects foxes, wolves, coyotes, raccoons and other wild animals in the canine family. Juvenile dogs are most prone to infection. Older dogs can also be infected although with much less frequency.
More than 50% of dogs that acquire the disease die from canine distemper. An even lower 20% survival rate is present for puppies. And even if the dog survives the disease, it is very likely that its health will be permanently damaged.
A case of canine distemper leaves the nervous system impaired with little to no hope for total recover. Partial or complete paralysis is common as well as other effects on sense of smell, and hearing and sight …show more content…
These areas can still harbor the virus since it is airborne and can stay alive outside a host for long periods of time.
It is almost impossible to prevent your pet from exposure to the virus. Some scientists predict that every dog living for 12 months has had contact with the virus at one point in time.
The symptoms of canine distemper are not necessarily easily detected. And it is because of this that immediate treatment is rarely given. The disease is commonly disguised as something like a bad cold with most of the dogs with the infection running a fever and a stuffy head. Complications such as pneumonia, bronchitis and severe inflammation of the stomach and intestines can also develop from the disease.
What an owner should be on the look out for in watching for signs of distemper such as squinting and/or a discharge from the eyes. If this occurs in tandem to loss of weight, vomiting, coughing, nasal drips, and diarrhea, there is more cause for
Canine distemper is a serious disease caused by a highly contagious virus that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems of dogs. The virus also infects foxes, wolves, coyotes, raccoons and other wild animals in the canine family. Juvenile dogs are most prone to infection. Older dogs can also be infected although with much less frequency.
More than 50% of dogs that acquire the disease die from canine distemper. An even lower 20% survival rate is present for puppies. And even if the dog survives the disease, it is very likely that its health will be permanently damaged.
A case of canine distemper leaves the nervous system impaired with little to no hope for total recover. Partial or complete paralysis is common as well as other effects on sense of smell, and hearing and sight …show more content…
These areas can still harbor the virus since it is airborne and can stay alive outside a host for long periods of time.
It is almost impossible to prevent your pet from exposure to the virus. Some scientists predict that every dog living for 12 months has had contact with the virus at one point in time.
The symptoms of canine distemper are not necessarily easily detected. And it is because of this that immediate treatment is rarely given. The disease is commonly disguised as something like a bad cold with most of the dogs with the infection running a fever and a stuffy head. Complications such as pneumonia, bronchitis and severe inflammation of the stomach and intestines can also develop from the disease.
What an owner should be on the look out for in watching for signs of distemper such as squinting and/or a discharge from the eyes. If this occurs in tandem to loss of weight, vomiting, coughing, nasal drips, and diarrhea, there is more cause for