ATTN: Distemper in SF

[Mona A.]

Hey SFer's,

 

Since the SF pup socials/obedience school community is pretty small, I wanted to send you this email i got from Teddy's obedience school. The most important is the email that was sent out to the SFSmartyPup clients who were directly affected. I believe this is one of the first Distemper cases that SF vets have seen in about 15 years. 

 

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Dear SF Puppy Prep Daycare Clients,

We wanted to make you aware of a health-related situation with a puppy who recently attended a social at another school and later was diagnosed with the canine distemper virus. (Some of you who are in classes may have already received this letter and if so, you can disregard this duplicate.)  In light of the fact that our puppy community is small, and we and our fellow trainers often share the same clients, we feel that is necessary to bring you this information as well as take some precautionary measures with our puppy socials this week in the highly unlikely possibility that an SF Puppy Prep pup is at risk.

Though the puppy with distemper never came to SF Puppy Prep, a puppy who attended one of our socials (on August 28^th) did come into contact with that pup at the SmartyPup social on August 24^th.  The owner of that puppy, a Wheaten terrier named Piper, has been wonderful about contacting us and making us aware of the situation, and keeping us abreast of how Piper is doing. Piper is very healthy, and has shown no signs or symptoms of the virus.  She has gone through 10 days of a 14 day incubation period and there is every reason to believe that she will be totally fine.

I am including the letter that Fawn Pierre, trainer and owner of SmartyPup, wrote to her clients detailing the situation and how they are choosing to handle it.  Fawn did an amazing amount of research, talked to specialists, and I am grateful to her for providing us with this information since it’s the first time any of us have dealt with an event like this.

The letter will give you an overview of the situation, and provide you with some very important medical information to help you understand more about the disease, and steps to take to protect your pup.

As for SF Puppy Prep, we feel confident that it is safe to have your pups attend daycare and classes this week with one exception:

If you attended any puppy socials in the Bay Area (including ours) from August 24^th –August 28^th, and your pup has not had his/her 3^rd set of vaccinations, we kindly ask that you keep your pups from contact with other pups till after September 10.

The health of SF Puppy Prep puppies is a top priority; we have a strict cleaning system, use the most effective viruscide (trifectant), and are extremely vigilant with our protocols. Additionally, our space was deep cleaned after the social on Sunday, August 28^th so if you attended any of our services this past week, please be reassured that the cleaning process eliminates any trace of the virus.

As always, we are here to answer any questions and concerns you may have. If you aren’t sure you want to attend daycare or classes this week, please shoot us an email at [e-mail], and/or call us at 415/618-0828.

Thanks so much for entrusting us with your precious pups!

Aishe and The SF Puppy Prep Team

Dear SmartyPup Clients,

I was notified yesterday, September 1, 2011, that one of the puppies in our puppy social on Wednesday, August 24, tested positive for the Canine Distemper Virus. This puppy was cleared as healthy and eligible to go to socials on Monday, August 21, by their regular veterinarian, but then became ill on Saturday, August 29. Yesterday at 1pm, the owner of the pup called to let me know her pup had been diagnosed with a viral disease called Distemper. 

I have been consulting with veterinarians since yesterday in order to bring you the best possible information (Dr. Jill Williamson –Animal Internal Medicine & Specialty Services Hospital, who in turn is consulting with Dr. Von Dehn who works at IDEXX labs; Dr. Sandy Hazanow – Seven Hills Veterinary Clinic; and Dr. Anne Reed –Holistic Pet Vet.) It has not been easy, as Distemper is essentially non-existent in San Francisco, and most vets have either never seen a case in the city, or for others it has been over 15 years. This is what makes it so incredibly sad and frightful. I am currently waiting for more information from UC Davis. Any new information I get over the next few days I will pass along to you.
 
Below is some information about the virus, possible risks to your pup, and our plan of action at SmartyPup.  Please contact your veterinarian for medical advice. While it is natural to start looking for answers on the Internet, I urge you to  contact your Vet for information and medical advice instead.

According to the veterinarians with whom I have consulted, Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) is spread from dog to dog via bodily fluids such as eye and nose discharge as well as through contaminated urine and feces. It does not survive for long outside of the body and is readily killed with mild disinfectants. The affected area at Jeffrey’s has been thoroughly disinfected.

Most commonly seen early symptoms of Distemper are clear to green nasal discharge +/- cough. Symptoms may appear as early as 1-2 weeks after infection, but in some cases the incubation period can be as long as 4-6 weeks.  Unfortunately, once a dog is infected, there is no treatment to kill the virus. Luckily MOST PROPERLY VACCINATED DOGS IN YOUR AGE GROUP WILL EITHER BE IMMUNE OR ONLY DEVELOP MINIMAL SYMPTOMS SIMILAR TO KENNEL COUGH (COUGH, RUNNY NOSE, RUNNY EYES).

Pups with at least 2 sets of vaccines and who were 12 weeks old at the time are at a moderate risk to contract the virus.  Pups over 16 weeks of age who have completed their full set of vaccinations are even less likely to contract the virus.

We at SmartyPup are very diligent about cleanliness and maintaining a safe and healthy environment. However, because your dog was potentially exposed, we recommend considering some safety measures. 

• For the next ten to fourteen days—starting from the date of the social you attended, I urge you to not expose your pup to any other puppies under 16 weeks old or to any adult dogs that may have an impaired immune system
• You can take your pups around dogs older than four (4) months and who have been fully vaccinated
• You can definitely still expose them to people and their environment. Focus on socializing your puppy with a wide variety of adults, children and things in the environment, such as umbrellas, hats, masks, sounds, bicycles, skateboards, etc.
• Also, please keep practicing the skills you have learned in class and at the socials.

 
Classes and Socials:

Because of the nature of this virus I am choosing a conservative response for the safety and well-being of all our puppy students. Therefore, I am canceling the Tuesday and Wednesday night socials and classes. Classes and socials will recommence on Tuesday, September 13th. For those of you who have your 101 class on Tuesday or Wednesday night, there will be no class on Tuesday, September 6th or Wednesday, September 7th. We will meet the following week Tuesday, September 13th and Wednesday, September 14th.

While this may seem extreme, especially if your pup was not in the Wednesday, August 24th social with the infected pup, I assure you that I have only the best interests of all of my students at heart. I am being as careful as possible.

I am very sorry to bring you this news, and even sorrier if your pup was exposed, but under the circumstance I believe I am taking the most prudent course of action. If you have ANY questions about your pup's health or want to know more about Canine Distemper Virus, please contact your veterinarian directly. Dr. Sandy Hazanow, president of the San Francisco Veterinary Association will be contacting her Veterinary colleagues in the city to let them know of this occurrence with a copy of this letter. 

Lastly, I will keep you updated on how the infected pup is doing. At present she is resting comfortably and we are hopeful that she will pull through.

 

Respectfully,
Fawn Pierre
SmartyPup! Puppy Training
415 730 5149"