Rat Terriers : update

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update

Posted by sarahthb on 5/13/2008, 12:59 am, in reply to "we rescued this dog....long"
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Well, we took him to the vet and the vet said he has hookworms, definately. But he didn't rule out anything else. He done a parvo test and it was negative, but he said that if it was the beginning stages of parvo the test might not detect it. He said it could also be distemper but there is no test for that. Do any of you have a vet that does have a test for that? If so I could bring him somewhere else that does have a test for that, unless there's just no test at all. I'm not sure if he meant they don't have a test for it or no one does. But anyway, they gave us a bunch of meds, a liquid for the worms and two types of pills for the cough. He said that the way they can tell if it's distemper is just waiting...even if the cough goes away, months down the line the dog could develop ticks/muscle spasms or something, then would have to be put down eventually. So even if his cough stops he still might have distemper.
I asked the Dr if Abby could get it, and he said it's possible, but not likely. The biggest thing likely for her to catch is kennel cough. He also said that they never used to mention distemper to their patients, but lately they have been having some cases of it, from shelter dogs, but he said he hasn't heard of a case of distemper from the shelter we got Buddy at. He also said there's a 90% chance that it's just kennel cough, not distemper.
Even with those odds, I'm scared to death that Abby might catch something, because he said there is no treatment for distemper. So now I'm feeling horrible about that and the fact that unless we are walking him outside, the poor guy has to stay closed up in the bathroom. I don't have the heart to leave him in his crate all the time. And exactly how long do I have to wait to be certain that he doesn't have distemper? I can't possibly make him stay mainly in the bathroom for 6 months or so. What do I do?
Well, that's the update. He's had his first dose of worm medicine tonight, he gets two more in the next two days, then 1 a week after that, and another a week after that one. As for the coughing pills, he gets 2 a day of each one... I think for 10 days.
The submissive urinating is getting better and better. He's hardly doing it at all. Well, he did pee in my car when we were trying to get him out. Thank goodness for leather seats, lol.
If anybody has anymore advice, it's really appreciated.