Distemper Pup in Medellin Colombia

My host  in Medellin volunteers at an animal sanctuary and we visited this pup that has Distemper -"Moquillo" in Spanish - it had gotten over the gastro-intestinal phase and was bright and eating but had developed constant myoclonal contractions. (twitching)

 My host was wanting to know the prognosis - had to wrack my brain - 30 years since I saw a case - at the PDSA clinic in my final year at Glasgow Vet School!

A common colloquial name in the UK for "Hardpad" - the reason for this is that part of the disease process is a hardening of the pads under the toes and also the nasal pad. This is also the origion of the Old Wives Tale that a dog with a dry nose might be ill - it stems from the times when Distemper was common and indeed a dry nose probably indicated your pet was very ill.