Questions and Answers
January, 1999
Dear Dr. Silverio,
I need help and ideas. The article I read is informative too. I
just lost two 11 day old pups to herpesvirus last night. I know
the rest of the litter is infected (bloated tummies, loose
stools), but nursing well and not crying.
It was sudden, yet not sudden, as I took the entire litter to a
vet on Monday (11/30) with the bloated tummies and crying and he
said they were constipated. I was told to put them on sugar water
and they did seem much better until suddenly on Thursday (12/3).
A shock - a valuable litter of Newfoundlands with most of the
pups already sold.
I am taking one for autopsy today, but won’t get a chance to
talk to my vet (diagnosis was over the phone). We have them on
amoxicillin. Putting them on heat seems to make them miserable -
then they scream. It is a nightmare.
And please tell me what I do with my other 7 dogs? I have delayed
a planned breeding today based on your article with an outside
bitch. My next breeding isn’t planned until next April. Will
the virus be gone by then? How can I tell if it comes from my
stud? Should I use him again?
Have I done anything wrong? Pups were born in our living room
(still there) away from others and in a quiet and clean place.
Our facilities are clean. Very few outside dogs come to our
premises. Our last show was in October. I am so frightened that I
have done something wrong.
The bitch had nine pups (3 dead - one faded the next day, one
born 6 hours late was stillborn, and one died upon delivery). Now
we are down to 4.
We noticed whining behavior about 7 days after birth and pups
were weedy at birth, a little underweight (1 lb.). I imagine all
of this is attributed to the virus.
I’d appreciate any help you can give me. I’d like to
call you too if possible - our vets are far away and just not too
concerned. I was turned down by 3 vets yesterday as they were
busy and it was just puppies I was told. I’m in Maine.
Thanks so much,
Amy Davis
First let me assure you that you haven’t done anything
wrong. It seems that you did many things right - you identified
mild signs in the puppies, you sought veterinary attention early,
and you made an effort to research this disease to find
additional answers.
If autopsy and laboratory findins confirm the diagnosis, it is
likely that one of your dogs contracted the virus at a recent
show. Unfortunately, the situation sounds very bad for the rest
of the litter. If their signs are due to herpesvirus infection,
any treatment is expected to be futile. Also, it may be difficult
or impossible to identify which of the other 7 dogs may harbor
the infection right now and to totally eliminate the virus from
your home and kennel. Cancelling your scheduled stud service was
a good start.
One way to deal with this situation would be to test all 7 dogs.
If they’re all negative (having no detectable antibodies
inthe bloodstream) this is a sign that they haven’t been
recently infected, but it is not a guarantee that there are no
carriers in the group. You could then consider adopting this
bitch out as a pet. She will remain a healthy dog, able to have
healthy litters, but she would remain a possible source of
infection to others. If all suspected carriers are removed from
your kennel, then you could consider an examination of retest of
the stud within a few weeks of the April breeding. Your vet may
be willing to write a statement that the dog is unlikely to be a
health risk to others.
If, on the other hand, a number of your dogs have a high titer
(antibody level), they could be long-term carriers. In that case,
the likelihood of having your kennel free of the virus would be
very low without drastic culling practices.