Treatment Methods for Canine Distemper and Personal Experience

With the improvement of people's living standards and the increasing refinement of dietary patterns, the breeding of ornamental dogs and meat dogs has continued to expand, and canine distemper caused by canine distemper virus has become one of the most harmful diseases to dogs. Canine distemper is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by canine distemper virus (CDV), commonly known as dog distemper, with dogs aged 3 months to 1 year being most susceptible, and the mortality rate is extremely high. The author has cured multiple cases of this disease during clinical practice, with relatively ideal results. A brief introduction is as follows:

1 Clinical symptoms

The body temperature of the sick dog rises, showing a biphasic fever pattern (that is, at the onset of the disease the body temperature is around 40°C, and after lasting for 1-2 days it drops to normal temperature, then after 2-3 days the body temperature rises again); listlessness, coughing, dry and cracked nasal mirror, watery nasal discharge; swollen eyelids, with a large amount of eye discharge or purulent secretions, and corneal ulcers may occur in the later stage; small red spots, edema and purulent papules appear on the skin of the lower abdomen and inner thighs; frequent vomiting, dry stool in the early stage, followed by diarrhea soon after, with blood and bubbles mixed in the feces; some develop neurological symptoms in the later stage, and often secondary bacterial infection occurs. The disease can only be definitively diagnosed when cold, lobular pneumonia, infectious hepatitis, leptospirosis, canine parainfluenza, canine nocardiosis, bronchitis and other diseases have been ruled out.

2 Prevention and control measures

2.1 Inject the canine seven-combined vaccine on schedule, with 3 consecutive injections at 30-90 days of age, and 2 injections at over 90 days of age, with each interval of 2-3 weeks. At the same time, maintain environmental hygiene, make every effort to cut off the source of infection, and eliminate triggering factors. Appropriately increase exercise to enhance physical fitness and immunity.

2.2 The kennel for sick dogs should be well ventilated, cool and quiet, with a dry floor, and the dogs should be fed nutrient-rich foods that are easy to digest and absorb, such as milk, eggs, and meat sausages.

2.3 In the early stage, serum therapy can be used, with 2-4 mL injected intramuscularly every day for 3 consecutive days. At the same time, to prevent secondary infection, antibiotics can be used in combination for symptomatic treatment.

2.4 To prevent secondary bacterial infection, when the body temperature is 40-41°C, use ampicillin 0.1 g and dexamethasone 0.1 mg per kilogram of body weight, dissolved in 250 mL of 0.9% saline. At the same time, to enhance the body's resistance, use 25% vitamin C 10 mL, compound vitamin B 10 mL, adenosine triphosphate disodium 40 mg, and coenzyme A 100 Iu, dissolved in 250 mL of 5% glucose, and inject intravenously in two groups.

2.5 If the sick dog's feces appears like coal tar, use 2 mL of vitamin K3, 1 mL of vitamin B12, hemostatic 0.5 g, and 2 mL of adrenosem, choosing any one for intramuscular injection, twice a day.

2.6 If the sick dog vomits and has diarrhea, use 2 mL of Emol or 1 mL of metoclopramide for intramuscular injection. At the same time, give treatment according to the following dosage: use gentamicin 0.02 million Iu and ribavirin 10 mg per kilogram of body weight, dissolved in 250 mL of glucose saline for intravenous injection.

For the above conditions, after 3-5 days of medication and 3-5 days after stopping the medication, the dog generally recovers on its own.