Early symptoms of SRMA?

misst

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That is fantastic news. So pleased for you. They are so resilient and I am sure your vet and your care will ensure he's back to himself sooner rather than later :)
 

Boulty

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Parvo is relatively rare in adult dogs, although I would caveat that with saying when we do see it in adult dogs it does tend to be in young adults that have not received their first booster vacc (the one he will be missing), possibly because this first booster tends to catch those dogs who for various reasons haven't responded in quite the desired way to their initial vaccine course & gives their immune systems a bit of a kick in the right direction if that makes sense? (For some reason it's thought that black & tan dogs seem most at risk of initial vaccines not being as effective). Distemper & Hepatitis is virtually unheard of (at least in the area I'm in anyway) so would expect good herd immunity protection from them. Would be most wary of Lepto as I'd say where I am we see 4-5 dogs a year die from it. Despite a lot of the info being spread about it being easily treatable I've never seen a dog successfully survive it (perhaps because by the time it's diagnosed they're usually heading towards organ failure?) Would be vary cautious about letting him near stagnant water & keep him away from areas that are known to have rats to be safe. (Would probably also be cautious about letting him mix with strange dogs / going to areas frequented by a lot of dogs, especially if their owners don't tend to pick up after them. Mixing with dogs that are known to you that are known to be healthy (& in an ideal world vaccinated) should be fairly low risk as should walking in most public places, would probably just avoid designated "dog parks" if you're able) Would probably keep a vague eye out for any alerts on FB of Parvo outbreaks in your area but tbh would expect these to be fairly infrequent unless you're very unlucky in where you are. Titre testing may be something worth looking into so you could see how well protected he appears to be / gauge if you do need to be cautious (but it's kinda only giving you a value for how things are on the day it was done... it can't tell you how long that level of protection will be maintained for... it's especially not a great thing to go off where Lepto is concerned or certainly didn't used to be and as far as I'm aware the advice is still to vacc for that yearly even if titre indicates nothing else is needed. Obviously not an option in your case right now, just saying I wouldn't trust it 100% for that disease although tbf I'm not sure that a Lepto titre test is a thing anyway)
 

Muddy unicorn

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Parvo is relatively rare in adult dogs, although I would caveat that with saying when we do see it in adult dogs it does tend to be in young adults that have not received their first booster vacc (the one he will be missing), possibly because this first booster tends to catch those dogs who for various reasons haven't responded in quite the desired way to their initial vaccine course & gives their immune systems a bit of a kick in the right direction if that makes sense? (For some reason it's thought that black & tan dogs seem most at risk of initial vaccines not being as effective). Distemper & Hepatitis is virtually unheard of (at least in the area I'm in anyway) so would expect good herd immunity protection from them. Would be most wary of Lepto as I'd say where I am we see 4-5 dogs a year die from it. Despite a lot of the info being spread about it being easily treatable I've never seen a dog successfully survive it (perhaps because by the time it's diagnosed they're usually heading towards organ failure?) Would be vary cautious about letting him near stagnant water & keep him away from areas that are known to have rats to be safe. (Would probably also be cautious about letting him mix with strange dogs / going to areas frequented by a lot of dogs, especially if their owners don't tend to pick up after them. Mixing with dogs that are known to you that are known to be healthy (& in an ideal world vaccinated) should be fairly low risk as should walking in most public places, would probably just avoid designated "dog parks" if you're able) Would probably keep a vague eye out for any alerts on FB of Parvo outbreaks in your area but tbh would expect these to be fairly infrequent unless you're very unlucky in where you are. Titre testing may be something worth looking into so you could see how well protected he appears to be / gauge if you do need to be cautious (but it's kinda only giving you a value for how things are on the day it was done... it can't tell you how long that level of protection will be maintained for... it's especially not a great thing to go off where Lepto is concerned or certainly didn't used to be and as far as I'm aware the advice is still to vacc for that yearly even if titre indicates nothing else is needed. Obviously not an option in your case right now, just saying I wouldn't trust it 100% for that disease although tbf I'm not sure that a Lepto titre test is a thing anyway)
Thank you - that’s very helpful
 

Jenko109

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My specialist wanted my SRMA whippet to have his booster for the above reasons. He had only had puppy vaccines.

He had to be off the steroids (which he was in time) but her opinion was to proceed with the booster and if he relapses, then abandon any future vaccinations. She felt the risks from not proving the booster was higher than the associated risk of relapse.

Luckily he did not relapse off his booster. I appreciate your chap does sound like he has been more adversely affected than my boy was.
 

Muddy unicorn

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It’s three weeks tomorrow since Rocky became so ill and his recovery has been nothing short of miraculous. He’s tolerating the steroids very well and (touch wood) we’ve had no accidents in the last week despite the copious amounts of water he’s drinking. The head tremor has disappeared and his balance is pretty much back to normal. He’s a little bit sleepier and he’s not had evening zoomies since coming home from hospital but generally he’s the same cheerful, cheeky puppy he was before (apart from the truly awful haircut 😬).

Thank you for all the support on this thread - it really made a difference when I was scared we weren’t going to be bringing him home at all or that he was going to be permanently disabled if he survived.
 

palo1

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It’s three weeks tomorrow since Rocky became so ill and his recovery has been nothing short of miraculous. He’s tolerating the steroids very well and (touch wood) we’ve had no accidents in the last week despite the copious amounts of water he’s drinking. The head tremor has disappeared and his balance is pretty much back to normal. He’s a little bit sleepier and he’s not had evening zoomies since coming home from hospital but generally he’s the same cheerful, cheeky puppy he was before (apart from the truly awful haircut 😬).

Thank you for all the support on this thread - it really made a difference when I was scared we weren’t going to be bringing him home at all or that he was going to be permanently disabled if he survived.

I am so delighted to hear this; really fantastic news and thank you for updating us. I know exactly how terrifying this illness is and I never cease to be thankful that my lovely dog recovered and has shown no signs of relapse. I hope your lovely young dog does nothing but improve and improve now and that it may never recur or be well controlled. Zoomies will return I am sure :) :)
 

Muddy unicorn

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Another update 😊. He’s dropped down to a lower dose of steroids and almost overnight his ‘spark’ came back. He’s been doing really well but he was just a little bit too quiet and well-behaved for a 6/7 month old puppy. He’s back to zoomies and stealing slippers etc - I’m probably the only person to be pleased their puppy's being a bit naughty 😉

He’s still very small (same weight as two months ago) and where his fur was shaved is taking ages to grow back but apart from that you wouldn’t know he’d been so ill.
 

JJS

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Great update! I have a nine-month-old Lab who’s been ill on and off since four months, so I know how stressful poorly puppies can be. Wishing him nothing but good health and continual improvement from here on 🤞🏻
 

AmyMay

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Another update 😊. He’s dropped down to a lower dose of steroids and almost overnight his ‘spark’ came back. He’s been doing really well but he was just a little bit too quiet and well-behaved for a 6/7 month old puppy. He’s back to zoomies and stealing slippers etc - I’m probably the only person to be pleased their puppy's being a bit naughty 😉

He’s still very small (same weight as two months ago) and where his fur was shaved is taking ages to grow back but apart from that you wouldn’t know he’d been so ill.
Steroids can make some dogs really down and quiet. Delighted to hear he’s doing so well.
 
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