• In a 'typical' case, the dog becomes pyrexic about 1 week after exposure and signs of generalised disease develop after several weeks. These may include:

• serous-mucopurulent nasal and conjunctival discharges
• coughing
• dyspnoea
• pneumonia
• vomiting and diarrhoea
• pyrexia
• and, later, hyperkeratosis.

• After 2-4 weeks of generalised disease, the dog may appear to recover completely.
• Alternatively, signs of CNS disease may develop. Neurological disease can be acute or chronic, and often indicates a poor prognosis.
• In dogs which recover, persistent infection of the CNS can lead to 'old dog encephalitis' years later.
• Enamel hypoplasia can often be seen in recovered puppies.

But typical distemper is uncommon.

• The clinical signs of distemper are often much milder than in the so-called 'typical' case, and often the disease will affect mainly one organ system, for example:

• the respiratory tract (in which case distemper needs to be distinguished from kennel cough, especially as secondary infection with B. bronchiseptica is common);
• the alimentary tract; or
• the CNS.

• In addition, there is some evidence that persistent CDV infection might be involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis in dogs.

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