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Distemper · Distemper signs & symptoms · Distemper diagnosis · Distemper treatment · Distemper related articles
Diagnosing distemper can be difficult. Finding that white blood cells are very low (lymphopenia) suggests a diagnosis of distemper, but lymphopenia also occurs with parvo virus infection. Veterinarians can do special blood tests and can examine cells from the bladder, brain, and eyelids to help make a diagnosis. Even when the virus is present, much of the time it won’t be found with these methods.
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The usual method used to diagnose a disease is to look for evidence that the white blood cells have produced special antibodies to fight it. But with distemper, looking for antibodies does not work well. In young dogs that do have antibodies, their presence can mean either the pet was vaccinated and is actually safe from infection or that the pet has an active infection. Senior dogs with “old dog encephalitis” caused by distemper do not make antibodies.
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A test of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal column (cerebral spinal fluid or CSF) can diagnose distemper, but CSF analysis is an expensive, somewhat dangerous test. Another type of blood test looks for the virus itself by mixing fluorescent antibodies with the blood to see if they attach to distemper virus. If they do, the blood will glow. Even when pets have distemper, this test is not always positive because the virus may hide within cells and not be present in blood.
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The articles here were answered by a variety of pharmacists and veterinarians
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