My husband and I recently adopted a mastiff mix puppy from the shelter. He was first diagnosed with parvo, but he survived. He was originally diagnosed with canine cough, but a couple of days later he
was diagnosed with pneumonia and distemper. By the point that he was diagnosed, he was already showing neurological symptoms (forehead twitch). He had discharge from the nose and eyes, would not eat, and was not the happy and energetic puppy that we adopted. I was told by my vet that we would need to put the dog down, and that no dogs survive distemper or if they did then they did not really have distemper. However, I refused to believe that nothing could be done for our puppy. I did some research and found Kind Hearts In Action. Luckily I also found a vet that was not far from us that who performed the Newcastle serum and spinal tap. We called on a Friday and they were able to fit us in that Monday, and they even cancelled all of their appointments that day in order to treat our dog.
He had such a hard life all ready, and even though we only had him a few short weeks, he is our baby. I could not let him go without a fight and trying to do all that I could for him.
By the time of the surgery, he had developed the jaw twitch in addition to the forehead twitch. We knew that he had less then a 50% chance of surviving, but we had to try. He went through the spinal tap with no complications, and was up and walking almost immediately after (with a little swaying and wobbling). It is two weeks later, and he is back to the hyper puppy that he used to be. He has gained all of the weight back that he lost during that period, and he is loving life. Of course he still has the forehead and jaw twitch, but sometimes they lessen and other times they become more noticeable when he is anxious or nervous. If it were not for the Kind in Hearts Action website, then I would never have heard of the serum and saved our puppy.