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Author: edbondny
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Lost Treasure but saved Finnegan
From Rochelle Puczkowskyj of Arizona:
Below is my experience with Distemper.
Treasure:
Toy Poodle 5 lbs, 18 months old.
Rescued from Santa Cruz Animal Care Center, Nogales, Arizona 9/7/16
Rabies shot, DHPP/spay 9/7/16
9/10/16: fever spike 105.2
Given subcue fluids and amoxicillin
9/11/16-10/09/16: temp 102-102.5 energy level: Normal eating well.
10/10/16: Fever spike 105.8
Eyes and nose crusted, cough
HOSPITALIZED Nogales Veterinary Clinic, Nogales AZ,
Diagnosis: Pneumonia
10/14/16 Friday:
added symptoms, muscle twitching and inability to hold up head.
Diagnosis Distemper.
Told about NDV serum, but could not be treated in time.
Put to sleep
Above is a non-emotional description of a traumatic experience.
What I have found out is that Distemper mimics several other diseases and is often misdiagnosed, as kennel cough, pneumonia, allergies and sometimes, even Valley Fever. Blood tests are not an effective way to diagnose. Until the dog has all the symptoms or a smear test is done specifically for Distemper, the disease is wracking havoc on the dog. Once, the disease has all the symptoms, it is too late.
The one hope was not revealed to me until it was too late. NDV serum is only effective within 6 days of onset of symptoms. Treasure was already in her fourth day with full blown symptoms and would have to wait thru the weekend, plus Monday and Tuesday to get the vaccine. That would bring her into her eight day of symptoms. She was already getting the muscle twitching and seizures. It was too late. She had to be PTS.
However, being in dog rescue held other problems. There were other lives at stake in my home.
As soon as a dog is rescued, they are given Rabies, DHPP and altered.
DHPP:
1. The DHPP vaccine does not protect them from a disease they have already been exposed to prior to rescue.
2. The vaccine takes several days to be effective
3. The vaccine does not give 100% immunity even after that
Finnegan, 12 lb 18 month old toy poodle was rescued and given vaccine on 9/28/16. He came home with me on 9/30/16, where Treasure already was living.
10/18/16 PM: 103.5 temp, stopped eating, wheezing cough, low energy level
10/19/16: Vet prescribed NDV serum and Covenia injectable antibiotic,
10/21/16: Began NDV serum injection series every 12 hours for three injections.
10/22/16 Temp 102.3 eating when hand fed, sleeps a lot
10/23/16 Temp 102 eating better, low energy, sleeps a lot.
No additional symptoms
10/24/16 Finished NDV serum three injections at 4:20 PM on 10/22/16. This entry was made approximately 48 hours after final injection.
Temp normal, appetite good for turkey lunchmeat, drinking water, normal bowel and bladder movement, barks and plays with toys. Very interested in other dogs barking outside of his quarantine room. I took him outside away from other dogs. He loved it. He is totally house trained and had been saving it for when he was taken outside, so he went about his business and enjoyed the approaching stormy sky. He has slight breathing noises, slight cough and NOSE CRUSTY. see picture
10/26/16 Finnegan’s nose is not as crusty. He actually ate all by himself today. He is still wheezing, however. LIttle baby steps….I am hopeful.
11/5/16 Finnegan is doing well. Slight sneeze once in a while. Cough is gone. He is eating and drinking well. I would say he is recovered thanks to the NDV serum, my veterinarian in Nogalas, Arizona, and your support. He is a happy boy. Today I took his picture playing with his toy. see attached.
THANK YOU
Received October 18, 2016
Good morning,
I came across your website this morning in regards to treating canine distemper. I adopted a Labrador pointer [Bear] on 10/15/16 from a shelter when I brought him home I noticed he started having a wet sneeze. On Monday 10/17/16, I took him to the vet for a checkup and at that point he suspected distemper. They gave him antibiotic, so this morning, 10/18/16, he woke up sneezing even more with wet green mucus on his nose, not much stuff on his eyes. He ate, was active this morning…but I am very afraid this is turning into distemper.
Can you please tell me what vet would administer the NDV treatment? I live in the Baytown/Houston area.
Nuria Enciso
Received October 26, 2016
He examined Bear and he got the serum and guess what? 6hrs after he received the first shot I could already see a difference! At 12hrs he had ZERO green mucus coming out of his nose, he was no longer congested. At 24hrs all he has is a little clear drainage from his nose and he is “sneezing” as if trying to get the last of it out. But I could tell he felt 100% better! When I got home from work he greeted me with SO MUCH excitement. He was jumping so high and he just couldn’t get enough. J At 30hrs I noticed even his pink color had come back to his face and belly. I am so grateful to you guys!!! I cannot thank you enough!!
I attached some pictures of before and after the serum. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the amount of green gunk coming out of his nose…I was too busy wiping it off J. But I am amazed I look at these pictures and just by looking at how his color came back….wow….
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for all of your information!
Thank you,
Nuria Enciso
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Distemper study concludes
So, we’ve heard from Dr. Ken Harkin at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
He’s been running a study on the effectiveness of the NDV spinal tap on dogs in the neurologic stage of canine distemper.
He wanted us to let our followers know:
1) That the study has concluded, meaning that if people want their dogs treated at Kansas State, they will need to pay out of pocket.
2) That he will not be treating distemper dogs with myoclonus — spasmodic jerky contraction of muscles. But he would still consider treatment in other cases without myoclonus because he believes those are most likely to respond.
3) He will be publishing his insights on CDV infections at a later date.
We are grateful for Dr. Harkin’s willingness to investigate the potential of NDV to treat canine distemper. And it sounds like he may have helped answer one question that has long perplexed us. With the NDV spinal tap in neuro distemper cases, some dogs would make remarkable recoveries and some would not. The success rate seemed to be under 50 percent. According to Dr. Harkin, it appears that the dogs with myoclonus do not respond to the treatment. Those without myoclonus are more likely to respond, but they were too small a number in the study to make any conclusion. But this absence of myoclonus had been the case with Nilla, a dog from South Dakota, which was the first to be successfully treated at Kansas State
Dr. Harkin says: “I am still happy to speak to clients about their dogs with distemper. …. I will still consider doing the NDV therapy in specific cases, but in my experience it isn’t the holy grail for CDV.”
We look forward to seeing Dr. Harkin’s completed study.
Here is the original post about the study.
– Ed Bond
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First use of NDV serum in Bulgaria
Received from Justine Garratt of Bulgaria, Aug. 14, 2016:
“Hi, I am running a very small charity Santerpaws Bulgarian rescue in Pleven Blugaria, I sadly for the second time this year have picked up a puppy with the virus, and worryingly I have 20 other dogs here that are still only half way through the vaccinations. I really would like to know more. I see dogs dying from this on the streets everyday, I have a vet that I am sure I could convince to help me, please can you let me know what I can do to get involved, selfishly to help the ones around me. Reading about the Newcastle virus vaccine. Many thanks Justine.”
We exchanged information, including contacts in Romania. One dog died before the serum could be made.
Today, Aug. 23, I received this video:
From Justine:
“Both these 2 were diagnosed with distemper a week ago. Both had the Sears serum. Think we may have cracked it. Thank you so much. We have a long way to go as I have said before we have loads of dogs here but I have real hope that we will have more survive than not.”
I believe this is the first example of the NDV serum being used in Bulgaria. Thanks so much for sending us this, Justine!
Note from Justine: “I would like my vet Zari [Заривет Плевен — “Zari of Zarivet Pleven”] mentioned because when he got on board he did not charge me for his time or anything.”
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Michelia makes a complete turnaround
From Anna Alexis Bariring of the Philippines
July 22, 2016
Hello again! First of all I want to thank you for all your help with our questions regarding Michelia’s distemper. I really appreciate you answering my e-mails. I wanted to update you also on her condition 🙂
We opted to go for the Newcastle vaccine body shot and she responded amazingly to the medicine! In about 12 hours her mood completely changed. She has been very active and her appetite improved a lot. Her doctor advised us to go back to the clinic two weeks after her shot. We brought her last Monday and the doctor cleared her of distemper! It was such great news for us. She has follow up check-ups now for vaccinations 🙂
The people who assist there were a bit surprised and were happy as well to see Michelia since they said most puppies they treated were not able to make it. I really believe that aside from the treatment that was given to her, the attention and care given to her has been a huge factor in her immediate recovery 🙂
This is Michelia after her recent check-up. She seems to be happy as well for being cleared of distemper 🙂
Had this posted to my Facebook wall by Joyce Burton Titular. Made my day!
Ed Bond
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Response to a skeptic
So, a dog owner I’ve corresponded with sent me this link and asked me to respond:
http://avetsguidetolife.blogspot.com/2015/01/ndv-to-treat-canine-distemperhogwash-or.html
I’d encourage you to read the post. I like Dr. Chris Bern because he is a skeptic. I consider myself a skeptic myself. I spent 25 years in journalism and that’s pretty much our stance with everything. If you want me to believe something, you have to show me yourself. Unlike others who might dismiss a cure for distemper out of hand, Dr. Bern actually took the time to read our report about the effectiveness of NDV. So, that’s how skeptics should work. But I think he missed some key points.
Let me just say right off, that I absolutely respect any vet who does not want to use an unpublished treatment. And if you are not interested in hearing about how Dr. Alson Sears found a cure for canine distemper, I will respect that and leave you alone. However, other vets who were probably tired of routinely euthanizing distemper dogs gave the treatments a try and wrote back to tell me how it went.
I compiled those numbers into that report. At no point do I call this a scientific study. However, I did refer to the 2003 study by Dr. Kim Hee-Young in Korea. But at no point do I claim to be a scientist, a doctor or a veterinarian. At no point do I claim to have proven there is a cure for canine distemper. As I say in the report, “We do not claim here that we have proven this cure, but we consider these treatments to be at least encouraging and worth further investigation.”
I am not a scientist, but I am a former journalist, and I can compile information and tell you the facts I have found. In 1997, my dog Galen was dying of distemper. My sister took him to see Dr. Alson Sears, who treated him. Galen came back to us two days later happy and healthy. Now, I know that one incident is not enough to prove a cure. I know I don’t have the test reports and other specifics of the case to further verify that one case. At the time, I was not planning on campaigning for this cause. But as far as I was concerned, my dog’s life had been saved.
I put Galen’s story up on my website, edbond.com, but was determined to not get further involved than that. People found out about Dr. Sears. Some were able to get to his clinic and some wrote back to me to say their dog had been saved from distemper too. “That’s nice,” I thought to myself.
The turning point came in 2008, after Dr. Sears had been retired for a couple of years. A woman in Romania contacted me and asked if her vet could use the protocols from Dr. Sears, which I had posted to the website. “Sure,” I said. I forgot all about that until 4 months later when she contacted me through Facebook to say her vet had used the serum to save at least 5 dogs at that point.
That was when the light bulb went on. I may not be a scientist, but I remember enough from college biology class to know that scientific results need to be repeatable by other scientists. A veterinarian from the other side of the world had taken Dr. Sears’ protocol off my website, followed them and had the same results.
This was significant to me. But at the time I was just a copy editor for a newspaper in Upstate New York. Science writers who I contacted wouldn’t look at it because it was unpublished. Vet schools wouldn’t give me the time of day. But as an individual person, I still had the power of speech and I could harness the then-emerging power of social media. I pushed it out into the world everywhere I could. I asked dog owners to record and videotape their dogs before and after treatment and tell me their stories. I asked vets to send me updates on how the treatments went for them. This all became the reports, videos and stories that fill the Kind Hearts In Action website.
At least 23 veterinarians around the world reported to me that they could repeat Dr. Sears’ work.
And yes, none of this is scientific. This is all anecdotal. The whole point of all of this was to get the attention of those in the scientific community and get someone to realize this would be worth a study. I believe that if this could be put to the test — especially in treating the early stages of distemper — it would show that the lives of dogs could be saved.
At the very least, I believe the veterinary community should end the routine euthanization of distemper dogs. Yes, in many cases, the neurologic problems are too severe to overcome and euthanization is the kindest thing you can do. But even if you don’t believe NDV is saving these dogs, I can still point to hundreds of examples of distemper dogs where it was definitely worth the effort to try. That is the point of our We Love #DistemperDogs campaign. Slideshow.
I have a book on canine distemper from the 1920s. That book tells the story of veterinarians who at the time were desperate to defeat canine distemper. They were either trying to find a cure or find a vaccine.
They eventually found a vaccine. So they forgot about finding a cure. My assumption is that with the vaccine, the veterinarians at the time considered a cure unnecessary because the vaccine would control the disease. But distemper is very different from the small pox vaccine. Small pox could be eliminated from the world because it only affected one population, humans. Distemper can exist in other canids and it keeps spreading. New cases, year after year. I get emails from all over the world telling me how devastating a problem it is.
So, as important the vaccine is — yes, always get your dog vaccinated — it has only partially defeated distemper. An effective treatment is needed.
However, somehow the narrative changed from when the vaccine was developed in 1950. Rather than, “a cure is not needed.” It became “a cure for canine distemper is impossible.”
Yes, it is a bold claim that a cure for canine distemper is possible. Yes, it is a bold claim that there is some unknown process caused by NDV that can defeat the distemper virus. But you just sitting there saying it’s bold doesn’t prove that it is not there. You won’t know if it is there unless you check it out for yourself. That’s what a true skeptic would do.
Alas, I cannot prove it to you. I am not a scientist. I am, after all, still just an ordinary guy running websites and answering email. I do not have the money, resources, connections and experience to run a proper study on this. But with all due respect, I know this:
Veterinarians around the world have patients that are sick and will die.
Somebody should do should do something about it.
Ed Bond
P.S. As to the implication that this is snake oil and I am just a P.T. Barnum looking to con people, I have to say that as a newspaper reporter, I once chased a con artist out of town. Con artists usually keep changing their story. They want the money as soon as possible. They don’t stick around very long to answer questions.
Kind Hearts In Action is a 501c3 non-profit. We have been active with this status since 2009. You can look it up. We never require any money for the help we offer. Donations are gratefully accepted, but I would never twist anyone’s arm for money. I would never ask for money from someone who is desperate and in the middle of crisis. Frankly, if we get enough to keep the website and social media going, I’m happy. If people share their stories and tell others about what is happening here, all the better.
I’ve been doing this for about 7 years now. I do this for no pay, and every morning when I get to my computer there are more emails from people asking for help. But it is because I also get emails from people thanking me for helping to save their dogs that I keep doing this. If there had been no successes, I would not have done this for very long.
Check out our other stories here:
https://www.kindheartsinaction.com/archives/category/canine-distemper/saved-dogs
Recieved May 23, 2016 from Amy Jaramillo Ureste of Brownsville, Texas
“This is Missy. She will be 3 years old in September. In March 5th she was diagnosed with distemper. She wasn’t eating, nor being her hyper self that she normally is, her nose was so hard and dry, and full of green buggers and blood, her paws were so hard. I would wake up with her every hour giving her water with sugar, pedialyte, and water with a syringe. I wouldn’t sleep just to keep an eye on her because I was so scared she might not wake up. We took her to the vet. She got some antibiotics. Vet said she doesn’t get better bring her back on the 3rd day, so we did. 2nd vet saw her and told us she had distemper. My husband told him, “well save my pup” vet said “it’s not worth it, it’s better if you just put her down, your wasting your money and time”. I just started crying like crazy. I took her out of there and I said “no, I’m not giving up on her”. So we found this amazing group. And we heard about the New castle vaccine. We ordered it. My husband said let’s take the shot. So we did. We went back to the vet to see if he would help us in injecting her. He refused. He didn’t want to be part of it because there was no scientific proof that it saves dogs from distemper. So we took matter into our own hands, one of our good friends they are familiar with distemper said they would help. So we took the chance. We gave her the dosage ever 12hrs till it was gone. It was so hard since she was so dehydrated. But our friends managed to get it thru. The 1st night she ate and drank water. The 2nd round she fell back down again. 3rd one was the charm. She started eating again. Being more active. A week later it’s as if nothing were to ever happen. She is back to being the boss with our other dogs lol. Most people said if we were sure it was distemper. I tell people well whatever it was this new castle vaccine sure killed it.”
#lovedistemperdogs #distemperdogs
Here’s all the photos we have received — so far — in the #lovedistemperdogs campaign #distemperdogs
Go to the Save Dogs From Canine Distemper Facebook page to see the original posts.
@distemperdogs on Twitter
To join the campaign, post to Facebook or Twitter with #distemperdogs or email me at ed.bond.new.york.@gmail.com