I received this video from Vanna Truong of San Jose, CA, and of the many videos I had been sent from all over the world, this was one of the hardest to watch. Not only did Vanna lose her sweet puppy Simba to distemper, but the COVID crisis made everything much more difficult. You can see all the pain and sorrow in her face.
But this is also a very important video for people to watch and learn from.
As she explains, the COVID crisis has worsened the problem for dog owners and for those of us trying to fight canine distemper. Because people are more interested in getting a puppy to help deal with the anxiety and isolation, more puppies are available, but possibly from sources who do not take the proper precautions to prevent disease. So, potential dog owners need to be smart about who you get a puppy from.
The COVID crisis has also stressed the veterinary profession and it’s possible that basic steps like getting a distemper test ordered don’t happen. What Vanna has learned, unfortunately, is that now more than ever dog owners need to be on top of things and be an advocate for their pups. Simba was weeks into the neurological stage of the disease before the vets realized they had not followed through in ordering the distemper test. They didn’t get the results confirmed until after this puppy died.
Some points I would like to underscore after I watched her video:
• Even when puppies are vaccinated, they can still get distemper. This is because they may have already been exposed before adoption or because their ability to build an immune response has been blocked either by worms, mange or simply because the maternal antibodies are still in their system.
• Early diagnosis is essential. The sooner you know what you are dealing with, the faster you can start looking for therapies that can help. So, not only would that give you a better chance when dealing with neurological distemper, but we also believe that if a dog can be treated with NDV serum before the onset of the neuro stage, we have a much better chance of saving their lives. (But that is something that has yet to be proven through published studies, which is a main topic of my book. )
• Distemper is a nasty, cruel disease that does not play fair. In the early stages of the disease, he had symptoms more like parvovirus and that was another reason they were thrown off the proper diagnosis.
But you should really hear what Vanna has to say:
Thanks again for sending me this video, Vanna. And thank you for giving a shout out to Kind Hearts In Action. (One small, minor point, I’m not the founder. My sisters, Jane and Karen Bond, started this group. I’m a volunteer for them, but I manage the distemper project here.)
— Ed Bond