Canine Distemper Resources

A few weeks after adopting Japhy, he was diagnosed with distemper. You can read more about that particular “adventure” here on the blog. The most frustrating aspect of the whole experience was an immense lack of information. I’ve made this page of resources in the hopes that it can help someone. Distemper, if caught early, doesn’t have to be a death sentence. With special help and many thanks to a friend with connections to dog rescues in Mexico, and a member of the Austin Pets Alive! organization who graciously shared information with me, my boy survived. Please note: I do try to check the links below as often as I can, but if there’s a broken link, I may not catch it. Feel free to reach out to me if a link below is no longer active.

**APA! Distemper Treatment Webpage (scroll down to “Distemper Treatment”): https://www.austinpetsalive.org/resources/clinic

**APA! Distemper Manual: https://americanpetsalive.org/resources/distemper-manual

**APA! Distemper Handout for Fosters & Adopters: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZwFPDBjuyfnBKYoVPmj3HDbBbs3QX2yyjr3FsY0GNxY/edit

Holistic Dog Survival Story (this is the story I read that led me to buying and administering Vitamin C right away, before I’d heard from anyone else): http://www.holisticdog.org/distemper2.html [*Note: as of 6/8/25, this page seems to no longer be accessible, and the domain holisticdog.org now forwards to a related private Facebook group.]

I reached out to a friend who is well-connected in the rescue world and she confirmed that Vitamin C is not only effective but crucial to survival and should be administered as early as possible after a dog becomes symptomatic. It isn’t always necessary to administer it intravenously. I gave Japhy time-released Vitamin C capsules that I bought at my local grocer, and I truly believe it saved his life.

It’s worth mentioning that APA’s handout states that a “fully-vaccinated dog is a dog who has received at least 2 DHLPP or DAPP vaccines, one of which was given in the last 3 years and at the age of 4 months or older” and according to Japhy’s shelter records, he had met that criteria and still managed to contract the virus. That said, according to our vet in West Texas, 2 vaccines is actually not fully-vaccinated. She said there should actually be 4 puppy shots total. As I said, the inconsistent information is truly frustrating. But I hope this page helps.

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