My dog, Ryo, and I have been a family for just over a year now. I received him from a breeder in another part of the country (India) on the 3rd of July 2019. The breeder sent me his medical records which included proof of all vaccinations including Canine Distemper.
However, to my great sorrow, Ryo was diagnosed with Canine Distemper on Monday, the 23rd of March 2020.His symptoms started with a cough and wheezing in the month of February, which were treated with antibiotics. The cough and wheezing seemed to have died down after a week or two.
However, in a few days’ time he started having a discharge from his eyes, which the vet thought was an allergic reaction to building construction work in the neighborhood. What followed was a crusty nose with green discharge, thickening and cracked paw pads and the return of the wheezing/cough.Around the 19th or 20th of March I noticed his head ‘ticking’ and could tell that it was due to the tightening of his jaw.
I took Ryo to the vet immediately and he confirmed that he had Canine Distemper and suggested the NDV spinal tap, stating that his chances of survival are low but this gives him about a 20% fighting chance. The NDV spinal tap procedure was performed in Bangalore, on Tuesday, the 24th of March, 2020 at 10:00 in the morning under general anesthesia.
For the initial month following the procedure, Ryo refused to eat regular food and I had to put his food in the food processor and feed it to him via syringe in batches. In about 5 days’ time I could see small signs of improvement in him. He had started asking for treats and eating a couple, although with difficulty. He had started playing and running around within a week and although he was still a little wobbly for the next couple of weeks, I could tell that his strength was returning. What followed in the next couple of weeks were bouts of respiratory issues which were treated with Toxomox-250. Luckily, Ryo did not have any digestive issues and he started eating his food regularly after about a month and a half of the procedure.
We are now three months past the date of his procedure and Ryo is back to being his usual happy and bouncy self. He can now play with his other four legged friends and other than the nervous tick that remains, there are no signs of distemper in him. We are still continuing with a nerve support tablet a day along with a multivitamin. I also use a paw butter on his paws and snout which has helped immensely.
If anyone needs any further information on how we overcame CD, please reach out to me at me at sequeira.giselle@gmail.com
Attaching videos of his nervous tick that I’d taken back in March when it first appeared and also a picture from his party that we had to celebrate him overcoming Distemper and one of him from last week with his cat friend.
Lots of love,
Giselle
