# Distemper disinfection.



## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

Some of you may have read my previous posts about Koda, who died on Friday morning at the vet's office. He was an adorable little Pom puppy that I bought just two weeks ago. And the cause of death? Well, unless a necropsy was done, there is no way to know, and we weren't going to spend extra money (we already spent about four-hundred dollars on veterinary bills) for that.

The vet, however, believes that it was either the distemper virus OR a liver shunt, and I'm thinking that it's the latter of the two. He was in a litter with three other puppies, and there were puppies all around whenever I bought him and all of them -according to the breeder- are all perfectly healthy. So I can't see how it would be distemper, because if it was then ALL of the puppies would have been infected... correct? He was in contact with puppies all of the time, as well as other dogs, and they haven't reported anything and it's been a couple days already since his death. Additionally, his symptoms were pretty darn close to those of liver shunt victims.

HOWEVER, I want to be absolutely positively sure that it wasn't distemper, so I'm doing some cleanup around the house to disinfect everything. My plan is to swiffer/clorox our linoleum floors, sweep and Bissel the carpets, soap and scrub the furniture, Lysol EVERYTHING (including the car), stick his bed in the washing machine, clorox all pet food and water bowls as well as his crate and dog carrier, and clean/store the dogs' toys away for the meanwhile. Maybe that's being a little stir crazy, but I want to be absolutely sure there's nothing to infect him, though I'm almost sure it's not distemper that killed Koda.

For the record, we've had Koda from February 3rd through February 20th, and the last time he was in the house was on the 19th... before we took him to the vet's, where he passed on. We have two other vaccinated dogs in the household, as well as three cats. I'm hoping that none of that causes a problem...

But yeah, just making completely sure that there's nothing around to harm the new puppy, who just *might* be coming home tomorrow (I know, this happened pretty fast) depending on whether it's safe or not. The puppy in question is 9 weeks old and has had his first vaccine, which I believe was for distemper.

Thanks!!


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## tuesday (Feb 17, 2009)

The distemper virus consists of a single strand of RNA, encased in a protein coat which is again encased in a fatty envelope. The fatty envelope is easily disrupted in the environment which makes it impossible for infectious virus to persist in the environment. Because an intact fatty envelope is required for infection, virus transmission must involve dog to dog contact or at least contact with extremely fresh (less than 30 minutes old) infected body secretions. As with other viruses, living virus happily freezes and can survive for years if kept frozen and protected from light. Recovered dogs can shed the virus for 2-3 months. 

The first round of vaccinations to protect against distemper does not guarantee protection, as the full immunity has not been reached. It's very important to complete the entire set of puppy vaccinations. 

Whether an individual puppy gets infected or not depends on the number of viral particles the puppy experiences, what kind of immune experience the puppy has had with the virus before (vaccinated? previously infected? how much past exposure?), and how strong the individual puppy is (stress factors, diet, etc.). Not all puppies in a litter will become infected. 

Bleach will completely kill distemper. Use 1 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water. The surface should remain wet for 10 minutes. Since you can not bleach the carpets, I personally would not bring in another puppy yet. Without a necropsy, you have no way of knowing if there are other, hardier viruses in the enviroment that were brought in by Koda. 

I don't recall your initial posting about Koda. I am very sorry for your loss.


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## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

Now why couldn't I find all of that info on the internet? Man, I searched and searched and couldn't find a single thing advising me on how to disinfect.

But thank you so much on that useful info! That is definitely helpful... I'll get to cleaning today and more than likely will wait a while to bring home the new puppy. I really don't want to go through that again. Thanks!


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