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How do you tell whether an adult dog has distemper or kennel cough? What are the symptoms of both problems, for example, temperature, nasal discharge, etc? How long should a dog be treated for kennel cough before the veterinarian checks for distemper? Thanks, DONNA

Dear Donna,    Kennel cough and canine distemper are both infectious diseases of dogs. Kennel cough is caused by a bacterium, Bordetella brochiseptica, often in concert with a virus. Affected dogs suffer with a deep, hacking cough which is quite persistent unless treated with antibiotics and cough suppressants. A variety of vaccines are available to prevent infection with Bordetella. While kennel cough can be a nuisance, it usually is not nearly as serious as distemper.    Canine distemper is caused by a virus. Dogs initially exhibit a moist cough with thick discharge from the nose and eyes and often progress to develop vomiting and diarrhea. Some dogs may die during this stage of the disease, but it is not unusual for them to survive with the proper supportive therapy.    Unfortunately, those dogs who do make it past the acute illness often develop any of a number of neurologic signs shortly or even years after the onset of infection. Such signs include seizures, repetitive motions of the jaw or limb (known as myoclonus), or in some cases weakness or paralysis. These developments often incapacitate the animals and euthanasia is the only humane alternative. Not all dogs develop neurologic signs.    In patients suspected of being infected with the distemper virus but not showing neurologic symptoms, diagnosis is most easily obtained by measuring antibodies to the virus in two blood samples taken from the patient around a two week interval. A significant increase in antibody level from the first to the second sample is consistent with infection. The virus may also be isolated from or identified in cells from a variety of tissues but these tests result in a high percentage of false negatives. Distemper is much less prevalent now than it was before the development of effective vaccines.

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