Tag: Canine Distemper

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Canine Distemper FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

en español

Based on our anecdotal information, here is what we generally believe is, and is not possible with the NDV treatments for canine distemper.

 

NDV-induced serum

May save a dog or puppy of any age, but has to be used within 6 days of onset of symptoms. (Before going neuro.) A 90 percent survival rate is possible.

 

NDV as an IV injection

Might save a dog or puppy IF the immune system is intact, IF it is older than 12 weeks, and IF it is not a pure breed known to not have a response to NDV. This should not be the primary way to treat dogs, but might be used if the NDV-induced serum is not available.

Neither of these can help the nervous system, so when a dog gets to the neural stage there’s the …

NDV spinal tap

Has a nearly 50 percent survival rate. A professor at Kansas State who studied this treatment is not convinced that it helps. However, it may be that if given enough time and care many of these dogs can achieve a decent quality of life. Long term neurologic problems may remain, but may also be managed with drugs and physical therapy and other options.

But remember, even in the best of circumstances, distemper doesn’t play fair.

Here’s the rest of our FAQ …

Will these treatments save my dog from distemper?
It depends on whether your dog can be treated fast enough. Dr. Sears recommends that a dog be treated within six days of seeing symptoms. Unfortunately, many dog owners do not find out about this treatment until it is nearly too late. And often if the treatment is delayed too long other opportunistic diseases can set in. By then, even if the distemper symptoms are reversed, the dog could still die of the other diseases. In medical science there are no absolute guarantees, but if a dog is treated quickly and properly with Dr. Sears’ protocols, we believe there is an excellent chance of recovery.

How do these treatments work?

We don’t know the full story, yet. But here’s a possible explanation: The treatments are based on the Newcastle Disease Vaccine (NDV). Newcastle Disease is something that infects chickens. The vaccine was designed to give chickens immunity from the disease, but in the dog something else entirely happens. The Newcastle Vaccine may create a response within the dog’s immune system. We believe this is a previously unknown material or group of interacting materials that is able to neutralize the invading virus. We don’t know how or why, but it works and it works quickly, often within 24 hours.

What are the symptoms of distemper?

Distemper is often seen in two stages. In the first pre-neurological stage – before neural problems such as tics, twitches, spasms, seizures and paralysis – you may see hardening of the pads of feet, dulling of the eyes, mucous in the nose, coughing and respiratory trouble. Distemper attacks every system of the dog, so the damage is happening everywhere and there are symptoms you may not see. It can attack the stomach and make your dog vomit. For a while it may not attack the nervous system, this is because of the blood-brain barrier. However, it will eventually attack the oligodendrocytes,  which controls the production of myelin. With the destruction of the myelin sheath that protects the nerves, the neurological stage begins. The neurologic problems could be seen as chorea – a kind of involuntary twitching and shuddering – as well as a loss of balance, chewing gum seizures – which look like the dog is trying to chew a piece of gum – to a full-body shaking and convulsions. Since other diseases may mimic the symptoms of distemper, your first step should be to confirm that your dog has the disease. Your vet can take a blood test for you, but by the time you get the results back the dog may be too sick to help. We recommend you get the blood tested anyway, but then treat for distemper without waiting for the results. Then later if the test does come back positive for distemper, you know you have saved your dog. But Dr. Sears has come up with a faster test called the Brush Border Smear.

My vet prescribed antibiotics and fluids. Won’t this cure my dog of distemper?

Sadly, no. Antibiotics and fluids are supportive therapy. The prevailing wisdom in veterinary medicine is that there is no cure for canine distemper. The vet prescribed the antibiotics not as a way to fight the distemper, but to prevent other opportunistic diseases such as bacterial pneumonia from attacking the dog. This makes sense, though. Distemper knocks down the immune system, allowing these other diseases to attack. So, even with the NDV treatments, you should pursue aggressive treatment with antibiotics. However, antibiotics do nothing against the distemper virus itself. The fluids are another supportive strategy that can help, but this is still part of the traditional approach of trying to control the symptoms and waiting to see if the dog lives or dies. Most dogs die without the NDV treatment.

So, what kind of treatment will save my dog?

That depends on how old your dog is and what kind of symptoms you are seeing. If your dog is pre-neurological, your  dog might be treated with Dr. Sears’ serum. Unfortunately, the serum may not be available or you may not have enough time for a vet to make the serum. In this case, if the dog is old enough — more than 12 weeks — and has a strong enough of an immune system, an injection of the NDV vaccine may save the dog. Some dogs recover that easily. But this is not as reliable as the serum, and you won’t know for sure that it will work until you try it. If the animal is too young a puppy or has a compromised immune system, you will need to use the serum. If the dog is neurological, then the treatment is an injection of the NDV vaccine into the spinal canal. This allows the treatment to attack the distemper virus that is destroying the nervous system.

How did Dr. Sears discover his serum?

Dr. Sears discovered the serum when he was a practicing veterinarian in Lancaster, California. After being overwhelmed with distemper cases, Dr. Sears tried a variety of possible treatments, but none worked. Then, he read an article in the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association of a study that showed Newcastle Disease virus could boost levels of Interferon in cats. [Here is an example of an article on the NDV studies in cats. Click for PDF ] He thought it worth it to try the same procedure in dogs, but made a mistake and did not withdraw the blood serum at the same time as reported in the article. With the change in timing, the serum he created did not have Interferon. Tests from Cornell University confirmed that his sample did not contain Interferon. However, before he got that result back, he had already treated a distemper dog with the serum and it completely recovered. Obviously, some other new material or combination of materials had saved the dog’s life. But Dr. Sears does not know what that material is.

What is Dr Sears’ serum?

The serum is created by using a donor dog, which is injected with the NDV vaccine. The donor dog’s immune system is triggered to create a disease-fighting material, which is still unidentified. But at a crucial time, blood is drawn from the donor. The serum is separated from this blood and then can be used to save a dog in the pre-neurological stage. The NDV-induced serum does not include the NDV virus. If used within the first six days of symptoms, the serum can stop a dog from ever having seizures.

Is the donor dog hurt?

No. When done properly in a veterinary clinic and monitored by a vet, the creation of the serum does not hurt the donor dog.

Can I use this to treat my dog without a vet?

No. These protocols are meant to be used by vets treating their sick patients. You should not be treating an animal on your own and without veterinary guidance. If your vet is not interested in using these treatments, contact us and we can make a referral to a vet who is.

But why doesn’t every vet use this treatment?

Because this is not taught in veterinary schools, and it is not yet published in a veterinary journal. It has not yet been accepted by the veterinary community. But that doesn’t mean it is not valid. We believe this is a previously unknown ally in our battle against disease. And it was discovered by accident, by a simple veterinarian in a California desert community, not at a major research facility or university. In the 1970s, Dr. Sears tried to present his discovery to a veterinary conference in Las Vegas, but he was told to “sit down, that’s impossible.” So, he sat down and then spent years quietly saving hundreds of dogs from this disease. His work drew no attention until it was published on a Web site in 2000, and it has only been in the past couple of years since his retirement that other vets have quietly picked up his work. We understand the reluctance of vets to try these treatments. They have not yet been proven or published yet. But we are gathering statistics on their effectiveness. It will be a long road before these treatments attain publication and acceptance. But we are working toward that goal. We have faith that this will happen eventually.

But this is so wonderful. It’s a miracle cure, isn’t it?

Whoa. Don’t get ahead of yourself. If the dog is treated within six days, there is an excellent chance of recovery. But so many people find out about these treatments late.  This is not  a resurrection technique.  It cannot save a dog who has been on the brink of death for weeks and return them to health. And with the spinal tap treatment for the neurologic distemper, you must remember that the seizures usually do not go away immediately. Sometimes it takes days, weeks, months. But remember, there is always the danger of pneumonia and other diseases that can kill your dog. Also, please realize that every dog will react to this differently, just as they react to distemper differently. Factors that can affect the outcome include age, the strength of the immune system, neutering, loss of T-cell function and the genetics of the virus and of the vaccine. Even under the best of cases there will be those who do NOT respond. We aren’t promoting a miracle, but we can offer hope for distemper dogs.

What happens if I don’t get my dog treated within six days?

Then you are likely to see the neurologic phase begin.  There still is hope for your dog, but the odds of success start to drop. Dr. Sears says that when he was in practice, the survival rate of dogs treated with the serum within six days of symptoms was in the high 90s. But so many dogs do not get treated in time and go into the neurologic phase, and the serum cannot help neurologic symptoms. The spinal tap might help, but the survival rate for dogs treated with the NDV spinal tap is about 50 percent. The longer you wait, the more the odds of survival drop. And a professor at Kansas State who studied the NDV does not believe it is beneficial. However, many dogs who reach neuro stage of distemper have a chance to achieve a reasonable quality of life even with good enough nursing care.

And who are you?

We are Save Dogs From Canine Distemper, a project run by Kind Hearts in Action, a nonprofit based in Los Angeles to rescue and find homes for stray dogs. The project director for Save Dogs From Canine Distemper is Ed Bond, whose dog, Galen, was saved by Dr. Sears in 1997. When Galen’s story was first published on the Internet in 2000, Dr. Sears finally posted the protocol for his NDV-induced serum.

How do I order the serum?

The serum cannot be mailed or shipped within the U.S., but vets can make the serum in their clinics, store it there and treat dogs brought to them.  We do not sell any veterinary product ourselves. And it is up to the vet clinics themselves to decide how to reach out to the public.

What other diseases in dogs does the serum treat?

According to Dr. Sears, it has also cured dogs of herpes. It may have a beneficial effect on dogs with canine influenza. However, that depends on what strain of the virus that is attacking. However, we know for certain the serum and the NDV treatments do NOT cure parvo.

Tell me more about Dr. Sears

Dr. Al Sears was born in the Canal Zone of Panama. He went to the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at Davis and spent 40 years practicing small animal medicine in Lancaster, Calif. He retired in 2006. More information: http://alsears.wordpress.com/

So, who is Ed Bond?

Ed Bond is the project director on canine distemper for Kind Hearts In Action, a 501c3 charity in the U.S. He also runs a group of websites on behalf of Dr. Sears. He became involved in this issue after his dog was saved from distemper by Dr. Sears in 1997. He has been an activist for this cause since December 2008, when he started the Save Dogs From Canine Distemper cause on Facebook. He now manages information about Dr. Sears and his treatments on Facebook, WordPress, Twitter and YouTube, as well as a discussion board on neurologic distemper. However, he is not — and does not claim to be — a vet, a scientist, a researcher or an expert. He is a former journalist, using the tools of media and the Web to spread the story about Dr. Sears and his treatments, as well as documenting the outcome of as many distemper cases as possible. Ed Bond can answer many questions about the NDV treatments as Dr. Sears has explained them to him, and most of the information needed to use the treatments are on these websites, which are reviewed and approved by Dr. Sears. However, when questions become too technical, Ed will refer you directly to Dr. Sears or to another vet. More about Ed Bond.

DOWNLOADABLE FILES

Copyright © 2014 Kind Hearts In Action Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Categories
Canine Distemper Saved Dogs

Mater gets to be a puppy again

Here is Mater today. You wouldn't know that Mater had gone through this and was a couple of days from being put down to avoid the misery of distemper.

Here is Mater today. You wouldn't know that Mater had been a couple of days from being put down to avoid the misery of distemper.

This is Mater.

Mater already has an interesting tale to tell at the tender age of 6 months, but only because of Kind Hearts in Action, we are able to show the above picture just two weeks after he was diagnosed with canine distemper.

We picked up Mater from the local animal shelter already malnourished with little hair on his ears due to a fungus.  Except for a missed case of some worms, we figured it wouldn’t

Here's Mater when we picked him up from the shelter. We were happy to find him. My son named him on the way to the shelter even before we saw him.

take much to bring this pup around and make him a part of the family.  He made a quick impression.  He bonded immediately with us and his older brother, a pound mutt we have had for 12 years now.

A week after we brought Mater home, I noticed that he was developing a dry cough.  Our initial thought was kennel cough that was picked up before he left the shelter.  We let it go for a couple of days before I took Mater to our usual vet.  He expected it to also be kennel cough and prescribed some antibiotics and anti-cough medicine to take over the next 2 weeks.  One thing he did mention that I didn’t pay much attention to was that it could be distemper.  I probably should have listened a little more intently, but he didn’t seem to emphasize it too much.

I went away that weekend for a business trip.  On the day before I came back, my wife mentioned that Mater wasn’t really eating much anymore, was very lethargic, and looked even skinnier than before!  I told her to get him some soft food, as his throat was probably sore from his coughing spells.  He was probably tired from the medicine he was taking.  We hoped.

Upon returning from my trip, just a week after the coughing had started, I started fearing the worst- distemper.  Mater rarely left his kennel, would only eat a few mouthfuls of food, and had lost over 10% of his already low body weight.  I knew that I needed to see the vet the next day.

Driving to the vet, I wasn’t sure that I would even be able to bring Mater home.  He didn’t want to move much and only perked up to go outside for his breaks.  The vet didn’t have to look for long before telling me that Mater had distemper.  He could run tests, but he had seen this enough times to see the symptoms- crusting nose, gunky eyes, non-productive coughing, loss of weight, sensitivity to light, and so on.  There would be no saving Mater if this was true, but just in case it wasn’t distemper, I was given a different antibiotic to treat the developing pneumonia free of charge.  I could tell the vet felt sorry for what we were about to go through.

I went home pissed off!  This dog had endeared himself to us.  His personality was perfect, he had had only one “accident” in the house even while deathly sick although this was the first house he had lived in, and he was a fighter.  I had to find some videos of other dogs that went through distemper to see just how bad it would get so I would know how soon to put Mater down.  The first few videos were terrible.  I could tell that I would have to take Mater back to the vet in just a couple of days just so he could avoid the attack on his nervous system.  He had already had the respiratory symptoms for about 8 days at this point so he didn’t have much longer until twitches and seizures would set in.  The last video I looked at piqued my interest; it was of a pair of dogs that were taken to a vet in New Mexico for treatment of distemper.  One of the dogs lived, one died.

With visions of an overnight drive to New Mexico already racing through my mind, I watched the movie clip to see a seemingly easy procedure done to save a dog that had distemper.  Fortunately for Mater and me, there was a website address at the end of the video that saved me the drive- kindheartsinaction.com.

It was already late in the afternoon so I quickly skimmed what I could to see if this was a legitimate website.  If my vet said that there is no cure, then there is no cure.  This had to be some type of scam.  Against my better judgment, I emailed Mr. Ed Bond for some info on any local vets.  An email came back within minutes with the name of a local vet.  Yep, a scam, but I was dealing with a dying puppy.  I decided to call the vet.

The lady on the other end of the phone seemed patient enough with me when I asked her about treatment for distemper.  She, in fact, talked about it like it wasn’t necessarily a big deal.  I tactfully brought in my final question, “How much?”

I laughed at the answer!  Not because of the high cost but at the ridiculously low cost.  I jumped at the first available appointment the following afternoon.  My hope was that Mater would make it through the night and wouldn’t develop any symptoms that would show that the virus had entered his nervous system.

Mater did make it through the night and to the vet’s office.  The vet explained what I had already read through on the website.  Mater would need 3 serum injections, 12 hours apart, and some more penicillin for the respiratory infection.  Mater’s white blood cell was in the normal range, a good sign.  I told you he was a fighter.

At home, we waited for my wife to come home from work.  She thought that Mater already looked livelier although it would take 24-36 hours to get back to normal.  Mater’s next serum shot would have to be done by us in the middle of the night.  To make a long story short, we visited an urgent care clinic at 4 in the morning where a nurse offered to inject Mater out of the kindness of his heart, as we weren’t the best at getting just under the skin.  Even better would be the next injection where I was the only one around.  I got lucky and it went right in.

My wife arrived home from work a couple of hours after the last serum injection.  With nervous anticipation, she called out Mater’s name.  Joy rang out as Mater ran around the corner towards her already on a fast path to recovery.  This was the same day I had originally set aside to put Mater down after the last visit to my regular vet when I was told that there was nothing that could be done.

It has been less than two weeks since Mater received his treatment.  He is back to being a puppy- chasing the ball, chewing on my slippers, wagging his tail by the door when he needs to go outside.  I bet Mater feels fortunate to be here.  I know we feel fortunate to have Mater here and to be able to spread the word that there is a treatment for distemper.

Craig Blackburn
Feb. 20, 2012

Mater's first bath, the day after we picked him up.

Categories
Canine Distemper Saved Dogs

Three puppies saved in Colorado

Ptarmigan & Annie Oakley

Ptarmigan & Annie Oakley

Received Aug. 12, 2011

My name is Laurie. My boyfriend and I adopted two puppies from Texas that have been exposed to distemper. We are located in Vail, Co. The puppies have been coughing and sneezing for almost 3 weeks now (since we received them). Our little male puppy (6ish months, maybe a lab/Dane mix??) woke up this morning with a cracking nose And coughing up mucus. He also threw up his food after a car ride-could be car sickness or an upset stomach from clavamox or a distemper symptom. They both previously have had a clear liquid coming out of their nose but nothing more than a watery nose that dogs get. They had a little bit of eye discharge but that has since stopped. Their poop was runny but they are on probiotics that seem to be helping. They have not had seizures. They had their 1st round of shots..we are torn about getting their next set with them showing symptoms?? Our little girl puppy is better than the male. She is a 4ish month old pug mix. They both still act like happy, playful pups. Not lethargic. We rescued them because they were about to be put down. We don’t have much money but want to do everything we can to help them survive and have a life they deserve.  …  They have not been diagnosed but did spend their trip to co  with an distemper infected puppy that passed away this week. Thanks so much for your help!!

Laurie Lilley
Vail, Colorado

Received Dec. 4, 2011

We treated 3 puppies with the NDV treatments.

We fist gave all 3 of them the straight vaccine, then when the serum came we treated them all with the serum.
After 3 weeks, 2 of the puppies started showing neurological signs (after seeming almost 100% cured) so we immediately did the spinal tap on both and gave each of the puppies(all 3) another round of the serum.  This week, we gave one of the puppies that had the neurological distemper another round of the serum (his nose is drying out again).

All 3 of the puppies are alive and well, thanks to the NDV treatments.  Though we are still waiting on pins and needles, they all are acting like healthy little pups without a worry in the world.

Both puppies that had the spinal tap have remaining twitches, however, after receiving the procedures the rapid progression ceased in both.

We soo greatly appreciate all your hard work in getting this treatment out there.  Our pups are finally living a life they deserve.  If it isn’t bad enough that they were all strays in a kill shelter hours away from death, they came down with an “hopeless” virus when they finally had been saved from the needle and given a chance to live.  You helped make believers out of 4 people that just wanted to save some lives from euthanasia, and 4 vets that were 100% skeptical of the treatments we were asking them to preform.

We thank you!! As do our children, Ptarmigan, Annie Oakley, & Sully.

Laurie Lilley
Vail, Colorado

Categories
Canine Distemper Saved Dogs

Mojave survives neurologic distemper

en español

I adopted Mojave (Moe) in June 2011 from a Border Collie Breed Rescue program. Moe was found wandering in the Mojave Desert and breed rescue picked him up from a shelter in that area. Moe was covered with foxtails, not neutered, and apparently had never been vaccinated for distemper as a puppy. He subsequently received all of his immunizations (including distemper) upon being picked up by the rescue folks. However, Moe was unfortunately exposed to distemper in the shelter where he stayed initially.

About 10 days after I adopted Moe, he came down with double pneumonia and a collapsed lung. My vet was hoping that this was not a complication from distemper, but we had no way of knowing that at the time. Moe’s infection cleared up after several weeks of intensive antibiotics, IV hydration, and breathing treatments.

Approximately a week after Moe recovered from the pneumonia he began to have tremors in his hind legs. We went back to his primary vet who suspected that these symptoms were distemper related. A blood test was drawn, but the

Moe and Shasta

results were not to be available for several weeks. At that point we saw a neurologist who confirmed the diagnosis of distemper based on Moe’s symptoms. She videoed him for teaching purposes since distemper is not common in adult dogs and basically told us to go home and say our goodbyes to Moe. I found that unacceptable!

Fortunately around the same time one of women from rescue told me about the Newcastle serum vaccine. She told me at 8 in the morning and at 11 am the same day Moe and I drove to see Dr. S. at … Dr. S. is awesome! He spent time talking to me on the phone while I was making the 400 mile drive and explained the spinal tap infusion treatment in great detail. When we arrive Moe was checked in and scheduled to have the infusion the next morning. All went well, we drove home three days later and now the Moe dog you see in the videos is our recovering warrior dog!

Conventional veterinarian medicine does not accept this treatment as valid. I wish more doctors did because the Newcastle vaccine discovered by Dr. Sears does work if administered in time. Mojave is living proof of this!

Pam Nabors
Nov. 9, 2011

Categories
Canine Distemper

Q&A on distemper

Questions and answers for people who have not experienced canine distemper. These are based on questions I’ve been asked over the years. Post your own questions as a comment.

So, canine distemper, that’s like rabies, right?

Wrong.

Rabies and distemper are separate diseases caused by different viruses.

“Rabies is spread by infected saliva that enters the body through a bite or broken skin. The virus travels from the wound to the brain, where it causes swelling, or inflammation. This inflammation leads to symptoms of the disease. Most rabies deaths occur in children.” [PubMed Health.]

Distemper is often spread through the aerosol discharge from the nose of an infected animal. It does not transmit from dog to human the way that rabies does. It also does not increase the anxiety, stress and aggressiveness of the victim. Both diseases include seizures among their symptoms, but while rabies is a threat to humans, canine distemper only attacks dogs. The distemper virus affects every system and every organ of the dog. The symptoms of the early stages of distemper include a gunky/runny nose, dry eyes, dry/cracking nose, dry/cracking pads of feet, vomiting and diarrhea and fever. In the latter stage, the virus attacks the nervous system, causing seizures. However, the disease does not attack every dog the same way. So, symptoms don’t come in the same order.

I heard the only way you can be sure it’s distemper is when you see seizures.

No, there are ways to tell. And you don’t want to wait that long. That’s the stage where it is hardest to save the animal’s life. One way to diagnose distemper is by checking the cells of the bladder through what is called a Brush Border Smear. There is also a new lab test that can tell the difference between antibodies from an active infection rather than from a vaccination.

What’s it like to have canine distemper?

I recently asked Dr. Al Sears this question, and this is what he had to say:

“Have you ever had the flu? You’re dizzy. You sit up, and you get dizzy. You’ve got diarrhea. You’re vomiting. You can’t eat. You can’t drink anything. You’ve got a fever. You’re sweating. You’re laying there in bed, just wishing you could die. How does that feel? The difference for dogs is the majority of them go on to stop breathing. When you have a real bad case of the flu, you almost wish that would happen. That’s basically how I’m sure how those dogs feel. I’m sure in an acute case, they wish they were dead. I’m sure the majority of them go on to die, but that’s only because of organ failure. God, it affects every organ of the body practically. …  Your eyes are all full of mucous. You can’t see. Are those dogs comfortable? No they’re miserable. They’re in severe pain and they don’t like what’s going on. They’re hurting. …  You can have hardpad, which makes it almost impossible for the dog to walk. Consider somebody shaving off all the skin on the base of your foot and then ask you to walk across the room. You can’t do it. Think about the dog that gets bad teeth, loses all the enamel on their teeth …  Or the ones that lose their ability to make tears, so they can’t even blink. These are all secondary problems that occur.”

Why worry about canine distemper? I thought there was a vaccine to take care of that.

There is a vaccine that can prevent the disease, first developed in 1950, but the disease continues. Without an accepted treatment, unvaccinated dogs still get sick and die. There are hotspots of distemper all over the world. In the U.S., it is most common in the South and West. It keeps spreading because of outbreaks in shelters, hitting stray dogs and puppies. Contact with wildlife also spreads the disease. But nobody seems to be keeping statistics on the disease, so no one really knows how big a problem there is. But we’ve received thousands of e-mails from hundreds of people begging for help from around the world. We’ve maintained a page on stats that we have tracked through our site.

Why should I care if strays and shelter dogs get distemper?

Because you, or someone you love or someone in your community, may someday fall in love with a stray or a shelter dog. It happens. [That’s what happened with me.] People bring home a dog that seems healthy, fall in love with it, and the children in the home get attached, all before the first symptoms hit. Eventually, a vet may make the diagnosis of distemper, and it hits with the finality of a death sentence. But then, owners are told that a few dogs might survive. This gives a false sense of hope, and they struggle to save their pet with the accepted protocols — antibiotics, fluids and supportive therapy — but to no avail. The animal dies after the family has gone through hell — and a lot of money — to save their pet. We believe they could have been spared the pain, misery and financial expense with an early diagnosis and a vet who had a ready supply of NDV-induced serum.

I don’t hear about distemper in my community. So, it’s not a problem here.

Distemper can crop up literally anywhere. For example, it is not very common in the Northeast. But in the past three years, we have received requests for help on distemper cases in Buffalo, Syracuse, Scranton, Pa., New Jersey and the New York City area. Unfortunately, vets in the Northeast have been very reluctant to try the NDV treatments, and we have yet to save a dog in the Northeast. Eventually, it can come to your town.

I thought only puppies get distemper

No, it can hit any unvaccinated dog, at any age.

I read on the Internet that there is no cure, and no absolutely no proof that NDV can cure dogs of distemper.

It’s accurate to say the treatment has not been proven. But all we are asking for is a chance to prove that it does work. This is a new way to fight disease. When Edward Jenner injected cowpox into an 8-year-old boy in 1796, he had no guarantee that it would save him from smallpox. When it did, it opened up new possibilities in fighting disease. Alexander Fleming did the same thing in 1928 when he discovered penicillin when his lab samples were accidentally contaminated with mold. Dr. Sears’ protocol may have unlocked a new weapon against a disease, even though we don’t know what it is or how it works, yet.

Ed Bond

Oct. 25, 2011

Have more questions on distemper? Please post in the comments below, and we’ll answer them here.

Copyright © 2011 Kind Hearts In Action Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Categories
Uncategorized

Millie’s Story

UPDATE: Sept. 20, 2011

“As fate would have it and as we all very well know, distemper is a cruel and many times deceiving disease. Such was the case with Millie. Millie crossed the Rainbow Bridge today. After making what for all practical purposes was a full recovery and after having gone 14 days post treatment with no symptoms, the neurological aspect of the virus reared its ugly head and it was simply more than she could overcome. I want to thank Ed for always being there with words of encouragement and for his endless support and dedication in helping get the word out that there is hope. I would also like to thank Dr H. for his help in giving verbal guidance to my vet with Millie’s initial treatment and lastly to Dr. S. for being willing to go “outside the box”. Your compassion is greatly appreciated. Even though Millie’s journey didn’t have the outcome we had all wanted, I have no doubt that under the right circumstances, this treatment is a means of survival for many dogs who would otherwise not have a chance and I would not hesitate to do it over again if the need arose. Please, to anyone reading this, if your vet even remotely suspects your dog has distemper, ask him/her to administer the NDV vaccine while waiting for lab results. Timing is so crucial in catching the virus before neurological systems occur. If treated prior to it breaking the blood brain barrier, the chances of survival are very good. Again, thank you to everyone who has silently been following Mille’s story and saying prayers. My vet and I learned a lot thru this little angel and I know it is thru this knowledge gained and with her loss, we will be able to save many lives in the future.”
Mary Randolph

Millie, three days prior to the onset of the seizures.

Millie, a rat terrier in East Texas.

Here’s Mary’s account of Millie’s case, as received on Aug. 31, 2011:

I want to start out by thanking my vet and his wonderful staff. If it weren’t for him being willing to go out on that limb and try something he had never heard of before, I know Millie would have become just another casualty of this horrible disease.
7/25: Millie (12 week old Rat Terrier) brought into the pound and given a 7/1 vaccination.
7/30: Adopted and brought home to East Texas with no apparent symptoms of any illness whatsoever. She is active and alert with typical puppy behavior. Got home and took temp. just for safe measures, 101.4. Appetite off and on.
8/1: First trip to the vet for checkup. Everything checks out good. Usual puppy parasites present. Received another vaccination with worm treatment.
8/3: Wet sounding cough develops.
8/5: trip to the vet for cough. Vet says worst case scenario is distemper. Lungs clear, eye/nose clear. No fever. Started on Doxacycline and vitamins. Given an antihistamine/antibiotic

MIllie gets breathing treatment for respiratory infection.

injection and within 24 hours all symptoms are gone. Millie starts eating like a horse and is thriving. Growing and very, very active. Everything is rocking along until the seizures start.
8/18: Up all night with Millie having seizures every 45 min to an hour. She would start pacing then shortly there after stop and start salivating terribly with the “chewing gum” action. This would last 10 to 15 seconds followed by a couple minutes of extreme excitement. Afterwards, she would be hungry, eat well then crash until another seizure was about to start.
8/19: 7:30 at the vets. Millie was administered 2.5ml of Valium. Vet is fairly certain we are dealing with distemper. Still no eye/nose discharge, no cough and no fever. Blood work shows definite viral infection but does not confirm distemper. Sample sent to Texas A/M for confirmation. In the meantime she is placed on Phenobarbital for the seizures and a second antibiotic is added, Chpc, 1ml 3 x day. I also start her on 500mg of Vitamin C to help her immune system and 81mg of aspirin every 36 hours. Seizures completely stop. She is extremely slow but continues to eat well. She is kept quiet and in a non-stimulating environment thru the weekend. Having had dogs all my life and spending 15 years showing Goldens, I just refused to accept the fact that my new puppy was going to become another victim of this cruel disease. After spending hours on the computer Sunday (Aug. 21) afternoon, I came across “kindheartsinaction” and immediately sent Ed Bond an email. Within just a few minutes, he responded back with the names of two vets in Texas.
8/22: Contacted vet in Houston to find out more information. After discovering that what Millie needed was the spinal tap injection along with the IV injection of just the straight vaccine, I immediately contacted my vet and he was willing to give it a try. I purchased the vaccine and had it shipped directly to my vet. This is also the first day that Millie started showing signs of the respiratory phase with the matted eyes and nasal discharge.
[Click here for a PDF of the lab report on Millie’s distemper diagnosis.]
8/23: This is where I have to take a moment and say “thank you” to the vet in Houston. Had it not been for his willingness to help my vet do an evaluation of Millie to see if she was even a candidate for the procedure, help in the preparation of the vaccine, calculate the right dosage and actually share his insight as to how he would handle the procedure, my vet said he would not have been able to perform it. Millie was administered the IV injection sometime around noon. Sometime around 3:00, the spinal tap procedure was started and went just as planned. No problems or complications. She was kept overnight for observation purposes.
8/24: Millie experienced a mild twitching of her lip Wednesday morning before coming home. She rested comfortably but was extremely weak. However, she never lost her appetite and continued to drink as well. At this point, the Chpc was increased to 1ml 3 times a day and the phenabarb was decreased to 1/2ml (15mg) twice a day. Gentimycin eye drops were started 3/day. She was still receiving Doxacycline once a day along with the multi vitamin. That evening, the coughing had increased and there was just a huge amount of clear phlegm that she would sometimes cough up and out or cough up and swallow. At this point we are 24 hours post treatment and I’m already beginning to notice the eye/nasal discharge is subsiding. And there have been no seizures. My concern at this time was the phlegm and keeping her lungs cleared. We placed a humidifier next to her crate to help keep the nasal passages moist and open. She coughed all night.
8/25: Millie is having difficulty walking but she is trying really hard. Cough seems to be getting a tick worse along with the amount of phlegm but it remains clear. Eyes and nose have no discharge. She is still eating but refuses to drink which is so important so hubby, who stayed home with Millie to tend to her, starts pushing water. We continue the Vitamin C and baby aspirin regimen. The congestion appears to be getting worse although it remains in the upper respiratory tract and has not moved down into her lungs as of yet. Knowing that if this were a child with this sort of upper respiratory distress, breathing treatments would be being administered so a nebulizer was rented with a peds mask. At the direction of my vet, we administered 1ml of the Chpc antibiotic along with 4 drops of the Gentimycin drops and did breathing treatments twice a day starting the second night, post treatment. After just one treatment, we saw a significant improvement.
8/26: Significant improvement in her walking today. She continues to eat well but still is reluctant to drink so we continue to push the water. She has yet to have a bowel movement so that is now becoming a concern however, that was short lived. She is still moving slow but better. The coughing is starting to slack off but the congestion is still there. She is still eating well but in the afternoon, throws up and it is mostly just phlegm with a little food. She is put back strictly on the Science Diet AD critical care food and that remedies the problem. Several tiny meals a day we found works best during these early days of recovery.
8/27: Breathing treatments continue. By Saturday evening she is feeling much better and actually wants to play a little bit.
8/28: 6 days post treatment. NO SYMPTOMS OF ANY KIND! Congestion is totally gone. Lungs and upper respiratory system sound clear. She continues to get stronger with each passing day. Still a long, long way to go but I am becoming comfortable with the fact that I think this is one little dog this disease won’t claim. She continues to get her antibiotics, vitamins and baby aspirin. Although her demeanor is changing somewhat as she is becoming a bit standoffish but I would suspect a lot of that is contributed to what all she has been thru and the fact that we are constantly administering meds to her via syringe and she is just tired of it.
8/29: Millie continues to get stronger and stronger. Eating and drinking great. She does however, seems to act confused or bewildered at times. We are hoping that this is just a lingering affect from the neuro aspect of the disease and with time, will subside.
8/31: Things are rocking right along. We are now 7 days post-treatment with no symptoms showing what so ever. We increased the Phenobarbital last night to slightly over 1/2ml (15mg) and this seems to have helped her bewilderment tendencies. What a blessing Ed has been thorough out this process. He has been there 24/7 to answer even the most trite question. And Dr. Sears, thank you for never giving up. If it weren’t for you, there is no doubt Millie and the countless others before her would have become yet victims of this horrible disease.

— Mary Randolph

East Texas

Copyright © 2011 Kind Hearts In Action Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Categories
Saved Dogs

Some of the San Antonio dogs saved with serum

en español

We received word this morning of 12 dogs who were treated with serum last week in San Antonio: 2 pups, 4 dogs and 6 very young pups. All were saved.

Here’s some pictures, sent in by Elizabeth Nelson, who writes: “All had coughs and nasal discharge. We didn’t wait for them to get worse. They are all doing well now. Piper is the girl in the top picture. Her 6 puppies were sick too and all got serum and are doing well. The message is don’t wait so see if the dog gets worse so the serum has the best chance of working.”

Piper

Kiefer

Maddie

Bodie. This little guy was a bit worse – even spent a few days at the clinic, and he’s a ok as you can see!

Categories
Canine Distemper Saved Dogs

Another Distemper Survivor

For those that don’t know, back in February I had 5 puppies that I pulled from ACS diagnosed with distemper. Long story short, 1 died of pneumonia, all seemed to recover from the mucus phase, then one, MAX, went on to the neuro phase, we tried many different treatments as I watched in despair as his twitching in his body progressed. I finally found out about a NEWCASTLE VACCINE, doing some research I contacted the closest vet, Dr. Z, in up North Austin and drove Max up to have the spinal tap. He had it, and within a few days, he stopped fighting, he had been fighting it for 3 weeks, and I had discovered this treatment too late. It broke my heart and he took a piece of my heart with him when he went over to rainbow bridge.

A week later, one of the other pups started twitching in his rear leg, he was up in Austin the next day having the spinal tap treatment, the twitching had progressed slightly and when he was resting he had like a pulsating twitch, it did irritate him, but it didn’t stop him doing any other activity and he continued to grow healthy, and found a perfect forever home. The other two pups showed no signs of neuro distemper.

I pulled a pup on 6th July, after swearing I would never get another pup from ACS as it totally emotionally, mentally and financially drained me, but we are all weak, and “Morgan” came home to the Give a Dog a Home – San Antonio household.

She is a feisty, hardcore little pup, that loves to wrestle with the GSDs, but she was sat on my knee and I noticed her jaw starting to do what is called the “Chewing gum” I felt sick, even though it was slight as this is a prominent sign of distemper in the neuro phase. I emailed Mr. Ed Bond, program director at “Save Dogs from Canine Distemper” and also Dr. Al Sears, who had discovered this treatment back in the 70s asking if distemper could only show up in the neuro phase, with NO signs at all of the mucus phase. They confirmed it can, and does happen and confirmed what I knew – that she needed the spinal tap ASAP.

The rest you probably know – working with some amazing people who come together in this rescue community, we got her up to a vet in Houston on Wednesday. She was given the serum vaccines and then on Thursday morning she had the spinal tap surgery. I was in contact with this vet who had told me all had gone well and she was making a great recovery. I drove to Houston on Friday (yesterday) to collect her, and ended up taking another dog that needed the serum with me.

You can see in the video attached – FF to about 2/5 minutes if you don’t want to watch it all – but see how Morgan is playing – it’s like nothing has happened. She is not out of the woods yet, and needs to be monitored to ensure the twitching doesn’t advance. So far I have not seen her jaw twitch at all.

If the serum is given to dogs in the mucous phase, within the first 6 days, there is at LEAST 75% chance of curing the distemper, if it is in the neuro phase, as with Morgan, there is at LEAST a 50% chance of it working, obviously the sooner it is caught the better – as was proved with Max and Bruno, and now Morgan.

PLEASE DO NOT WAIT – if you see any signs that your dog/puppy has distemper take action immediately, the rescue community as has shown, will pull together and do what is needed to save the lives of these poor animals, do not give up on them, and lets get away from the old attitude of DISTEMPER = DEATH it really doesn’t have to be like that.

A vet in San Antonio is going to be hopefully starting the treatments soon and so we will have a vet here in San Antonio that will make things a lot easier. He is my vet for GaDaH, and also my own dogs, and I cannot speak highly enough of him and his staff.

Please “LIKE” the following facebook page, and look at the “info”, click on the links and start to research yourself, get your fosters and volunteers to research so that they are aware of the signs and know how to act.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Dogs-From-Canine-Distemper/111817215513393?sk=wall

This is the website, it has so much information on it, and you will learn so much.

https://www.kindheartsinaction.com/

Lets all work together, with the vets that are willing to treat distemper, and save even more lives, that are otherwise condemned.

DISTEMPER DOESN’T MEAN DEATH!

Jenny
Give a Dog a Home – San Antonio
Non- Profit Corp, EIN 27-5241306
www.giveadogahome-sanantonio.org (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

If you want to follow how Morgan does, “LIKE” the Give a Dog a Home – San Antonio Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Give-a-Dog-a-Home-San-Antonio/115295648540276
 
Give a Dog a Home is a small home based operation. All donations/assistance is gratefully accepted. 
Thank you for your support!

Categories
Canine Distemper Saved Dogs

Bella from San Antonio saved from distemper

en español

I hope this story encourages pet owners and vets to use the serum as soon as the first signs of distemper appear instead of waiting to see if other symptoms develop.
Bella is a beautiful chihuahua mix who was rescued from being euthanized at our local animal control facility last March. She seemed perfectly healthy but within a few days she began to cough. I took her to the vet who diagnosed her with kennel cough and prescribed antibiotics. Her cough worsened so the vet prescribed more antibiotics. It wasn’t until she stopped eating and became lethargic that he finally decided she”might” have distemper. He suggested euthanasia as an option and said supportive care was all that was available.
We said no so she was put on IV fluids and medications. That night I found your site and contacted you. I now know that had we already known about the serum Bella would have gotten treated the day she began to cough. Instead it was over two weeks after she started coughing before she received the serum. It did help her because the next day she sat up, walked around and allowed us to feed her with a syringe. However, she began twitching on the side of her head. So we traveled to get the spinal tap. THE SAME DAY OF HER TAP SHE ATE ON HER OWN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER A WEEK. You have a video of this that I sent to you. [See below.]
We brought her home and she has continued to gain strength ever since and is living a normal, happy, doggie life. Bella’s journey has given us knowledge that has led to saving 2 more lives since then. One of these pups got the serum just a few days after starting to cough and overnight stopped coughing and is completely well. The other didn’t get the serum until late in the disease like Bella but he has also made a full recovery.
Here is a picture of Patch before treatment and a video after treatment.

Here is a picture of Juicy, the other pup saved with the NDV-induced serum.

Again, I can’t thank you enough for the work you have done over the years gathering information and helping people get educated about this treatment for distemper.
Elizabeth Nelson
July 6, 2011

Categories
Canine Distemper Saved Dogs

NDV-induced serum saves Simba

en español

Mr. Bond,

As promised, I am writing you to inform you of the progress of my dog. Attached is a recent photo of my Simba.

Simba

On June 7th, I took my German Shepherd/Shar-Pei four month old puppy to the vet, after seeing him with yellowish eye discharge and a yellow/green nose discharge.  He wasn’t as playful as usual and, even though he didn’t stop eating, he had lost some of his appetite and was sleeping more than usual. He had been like this for 2 days.  Since I had taken him to the dog park and dog beach at Tropical Park here in Miami the week before, I thought he probably got a cold (I had no clue of the existence of distemper).   After seeing him, my vet told me I should worry about something called distemper. She sent some blood and mucus samples to the lab to test for distemper and told me that in the event it tested positive, I should consider putting him to sleep after a few weeks when the seizures would kick in.

On June 9th, she called me with the results of the lab tests.  Simba had tested positive for distemper and she wanted to see him in a week and have me consider not allowing the dog to suffer after the seizures, recommending me to euthanize him.  My wife cried for most of the day and I stayed awake all night reading about distemper on the Internet.  That’s when I read about Dr. Sears and his treatment.  It was close to daylight already when I sent him and you an E-Mail asking desperately for help.

I received your reply incredibly fast, with very helpful information.  I called all those clinics and only one said they had the NDV vaccine, but not the serum.  The doctor was out of town and the assistant could not administer the shot without his supervision, but she promised to help me by finding someone who could.  A couple of hours passed and I couldn’t concentrate in my work at my office, waiting for her call.  She finally called me back and said that there was this Animal Aid clinic in Boca Raton who had the serum and gave me the number.  I thanked her many times and made the call.  … I went home to pick up my Simba and drove an hour and a half to Boca.  The vet who I spoke with on the phone, a Godsend, saw my Simba and showed me how to administer the first injection, since I had to take part of the serum home with me, on ice, and administer the next two shots every twelve hours, which I did.

He got his first shot on a Friday at 5:21PM, and at 7:30PM, already home, he wanted to play, so I took him out for a short walk around the block and was already more energetic.  But he kept having the nose discharge, mostly at nights, for a couple of days after the last shot.  His eyes are now healed and healthy and he no longer has the nose discharge. He’s now eating more than ever and is extremely energetic and playful.  For the first time, since we brought him home when he was two moth’s old, he has been barking at passersby while in our backyard.  He gained 5 pounds in just one week!

I took him again to my vet here in Miami last Tuesday and she couldn’t believe the results.  She told me she wasn’t able to administer the serum, first because she doesn’t have it, and second because there isn’t enough information on that treatment, which isn’t accepted within the respected veterinary community.  I told her: “Doctor, my dog was saved because of it, look at him.  What have you got to lose by giving that treatment shot and many dogs a chance?”  … I decided I would purchase Dr. Sears DVD and give it to her so she may see the results and maybe change her mind and start using the treatment.  I purchased the DVD online today and also made my donation to Kind Hearts in Action.

Mr. Bond, I don’t know how to thank you enough and I needed to share my story with someone like you, who deserves it.  My dog has been saved from distemper, thanks to the knowledge you have been willing to share with others.

Arthur Mondejar
Miami, Florida
June 17, 2011

Thank you, Arthur, for your donation and for sharing your story with us. You may have helped save the lives of countless dogs. Ed Bond