BATON ROUGE — Two area animal shelters are making plans to reopen after cases of canine distemper forced them to stop dog adoptions.
Companion Animal Alliance (CAA) in Baton Rouge identified cases of canine distemper earlier this month. Since then it paused dog adoptions, implemented isolation protocols, and started testing animals regularly. As of June 26, a small number of dogs tested positive.
CAA posted on its Facebook page on June 26 that they are tentatively planning to open on June 30.
Meanwhile, Cara’s House – Ascension Parish Animal Shelter is also following its distemper protocols after learning it picked up a previously adopted dog from a different facility that had canine distemper.
On June 25, Cara’s House posted on its Facebook page that it will tentatively reopen on July 6.
Original story
BATON ROUGE — Possible cases of canine distemper have forced two area animal shelters to stop adopting out dogs for the next two to three weeks.
Last week, Companion Animal Alliance (CAA) announced it identified cases of canine distemper within its dog population. Shortly after that announcement, Cara’s House – Ascension Parish Animal Shelter said that it picked up a previously adopted dog from a different facility, and that facility confirmed cases of canine distemper.
“The scary thing is canine distemper is very transmissible. It’s airborne, and so that automatically scares us,” said Stacey Alleman, director of Pen Pals, Inc. Animal Shelter. “Distemper is really almost like measles in children. It attacks the respiratory system, the gastrointestinal system, the nervous system, the immune system.”
Both of the affected shelters are closely monitoring their dog populations and consulting with veterinary teams. CAA’s dog adoptions are closed through Monday, June 29, and Cara’s House is closed and planning to reopen on July 6.
“Some dogs can be carriers when they come in and we don’t even know it,” Alleman said. “We’re vaccinating, we’re being super clean, we’re doing everything we can, but by the time a puppy shows signs it’s little immune system could really be compromised. It’s a tough disease to combat in a shelter.”
Distemper symptoms and treatment
Distemper symptoms can vary from dog to dog and the severity can fluctuate. “It could be fever, a nasal discharge, usually clear in color, eye discharge, coughing,” Alleman explained. “Some will present themselves to be a little lethargic, there could be vomiting, diarrhea, pustular dermatitis, but that is very rare. One of the hardest to determine would be inflammation of the brain and the spinal cord.”
“The problem is, once you hit that stage one, these issues are just going to constantly be building,” she continued. “They’re going to start with difficulty breathing, changing respiratory rates. The lethargy, the vomiting, the diarrhea are now probably going to roll over to be a pneumonia type symptom. Here’s the worst part: if they make it through all that, you’re going to move into stage two of distemper, which is going to be the head tilt, the circling, the partial to full paralysis, seizures, the repetitive eye movement, muscle twitching, convulsions.”
When it comes to treating distemper, Alleman says all you can do is treat the symptoms. “IV fluids, anti-vomiting medication, antibiotics if it’s a bacterial infection, oxygen therapy, anti-seizure medication. We can only treat the symptoms,” she said.
Allemane says one of the contributing factors to canine distemper cases in shelters is overpopulation. “We have communities with high volumes of puppies with no vaccines, and they’re pouring into our shelters at a rate that is like something I’ve never seen,” she said. “Distemper has always been there. It’s always been a problem. I’ve been a director of a shelter that has had distemper, and I can tell you it is heartbreaking, and it puts such a heavy burden on the whole staff and team.”
Recent adoptees
If you recently adopted a dog from one of these shelters and you’re concerned they might be sick, you should contact your vet. “Go immediately to your veterinarian of your choice and ask for a PCR test,” Alleman said. “I would immediately isolate this dog. I would also look at my past medical records and see if my puppy had a full set of vaccines, because vaccines are the key to prevention here.”
Before you go to the vet, Alleman says it’s important to let them know that you think your dog may have been exposed to distemper. “Let your vet know ahead of time if you think the puppy or the dog has something related to distemper so they can isolate their lobby, becuause it is airborne,” she said.
“It’s always okay to reach out and ask the shelter that you adopted from if they could give you any pointers,” she added.
Protecting dogs in shelters
CAA says it has implemented protocols to make sure that the shelter’s dog population remains safe.
Alleman says distemper cases like this can be really hard on shelter staff. “It’s very heartbreaking, because the shelter staff works literally seven days a week, giving all they can,” she said. “And when someone says, ‘This is the dog that broke with distemper,’ I do believe they hold themselves accountable.”
Alleman also emphasized that distemper cases like this can happen anywhere. “It’s not concentrated to just one town or one community,” she said. “If there was a case in East Baton Rouge Parish, that person who brought that dog there may have left and visited their aunt in West Baton Rouge, and that night, she might have ended up at a nursing home in St. Tammany Parish.”
“Don’t ever think it’s just limited to one place, and don’t look at that shelter as this being something negative about that shelter, because I can promise you they have thrown everything they have into a protocol,” Alleman continued. “I know the shelters are going through a hard time, and I just think this could be a great learning tool. Maybe they could help other shelters develop a better distemper protocol.”
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