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Report on effectiveness of NDV treatments

February 5, 2013 by 19 Comments
Statistics compiled by Kind Hearts In Action between December 2008 and February 2013.

“I’m sorry, but your dog has distemper. You should have him put to sleep.”

This is what dog owners around the world are told far too often. According to the experts, distemper is an incurable disease from which few dogs survive. Euthanasia is the frequent course of action.

But we’d like to show you some facts that we hope will give the experts a reason to think again. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dogs could be needlessly dying of this disease every year.

Since December 2008, Save Dogs From Canine Distemper, a project of Kind Hearts In Action, has been tracking the effectiveness of a treatment discovered by a veterinarian in Lancaster, California. Dr. Alson Sears could not get the veterinary community to listen to him when he first discovered NDV-induced serum in the late 1960s. But now, our numbers support – if not yet prove – Dr. Sears’ claim that distemper is curable.

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.

We have received reports from 20 vets who have used NDV to treat distemper dogs. Of those, 12 vets used NDV-induced serum in the early stages of the disease, and in 86 percent of those cases, the distemper dog survived. Dog caregivers — owners, fosters and rescuers — tell us that 62.6 percent of distemper dogs were saved by one of the treatments developed by Dr. Sears using NDV — Newcastle Disease Vaccine.

These numbers were compiled from e-mails from dog caregivers and from a survey of vets using the NDV treatments. These statistics support our primary conclusion that if dogs can be treated within four to six days of the onset of symptoms, the majority of these animals can be saved. Our conclusion is also supported by a study conducted in Korea in 2003, which is included below. However, the survival rate also relies on getting a fast diagnosis, on having a supply of serum available, and in successfully treating the dog for the opportunistic diseases — such as pneumonia — that usually accompanies distemper.

History

Dr. Alson Sears, a veterinarian in the desert community of Lancaster, Calif., discovered how to use Newcastle Disease Vaccine (NDV) as a treatment for canine distemper in the late 1960s/early 1970s . The basic principle of the treatment is to use the NDV as an inducer to prompt a reaction in the dog’s immune system that can create a material to kill the distemper virus. The protocol for making the serum is available here.

Dr. Sears reports treating more than 600 dogs for canine distemper during his years as a practicing vet. He says that dogs infected with the distemper virus treated before going through the sixth day of showing symptoms had a survival rate in the high 90s. Dr. Sears was not able to get his discovery published. He retired in 2006.

However, his treatment had been made available on the Internet since May 2000 [http://www.edbond.com/distemper.html], and some vets have followed his treatments and theories with success. Today, the NDV treatments include the NDV-induced serum, the NDV as an IV injection to the body and the NDV spinal tap, which is for dogs in the neurologic stage of distemper.

With a treatment that had been discovered in late 60s/early 70s and available on the Internet for nearly 12 years, the question has often been raised about why more conclusive information has not been published before now.

This is because:

  1. After his discovery, Dr. Sears ran into overwhelming disbelief about his treatments. “Son, that’s impossible. Sit down,” he was told when he tried to explain his discovery at a veterinary conference. This was a discouraging experience for him.
  2. He lacked the resources and ability to get his work published. When he contacted major universities about his discovery in the 1970s, he was told he would have to pay $500,000 to have a research project conducted. As a simple, clinical vet trying to meet the expenses of running his clinic, he had no way of paying so much. So, he remained quiet about his discovery for decades.
  3. While his treatments were posted on a website in May 2000, the Save Dogs From Distemper project did not get started until December 2008. Our early efforts focused on reaching out to dog owners and vets. In 2011, our efforts to prove Dr. Sears’ theories coalesced into a plan known as Project Carré. We believe Project Carré will answer many of the criticisms about these treatments when it is concluded. In the meantime, we have compiled these preliminary statistics.

How this report was compiled

The data for the report comes from two sources:

  1. Veterinarians using NDV
  2. Dog owners, caregivers or rescue groups.

Every case reported to us has been included in our statistics. We are not selective in compiling our information.

Kind Hearts In Action contacted veterinarians using NDV with either a mailed survey, through the Internet and e-mail and sometimes by phone. They were asked:

  • Do you use NDV to treat canine distemper?
  • Do you use NDV serum?
  • How many dogs have you treated with NDV serum?
  • How many of those dogs survived?
  • Do you use NDV in an IV?
  • How many dogs have you treated with NDV in IV?
  • How many of those dogs survived?
  • Have you used the NDV spinal tap?
  • How many dogs have you treated with the NDV spinal tap?
  • How many of those dogs survived?

For this survey, the diagnosis of distemper relied on the judgment of each vet. Very often, the dog owners did not want to pay the additional expense of a lab test. So, the vets would make the diagnosis based on their experience, the apparent symptoms and in the context of whether they were in the midst of a distemper outbreak. The reports from owners and dog caregivers was largely tracked by e-mail.

Because the means of diagnosis is inconsistent, we do not claim that these numbers prove canine distemper can be cured. Our work to prove the effectiveness of these treatments is not done. But we gathered these numbers as an attempt to give a sample of what is happening around the world. We hardly think that all distemper cases are being reported to us, and very often we are told that the cases we do know of are just a handful of examples out of a population where dogs are dying in overwhelming numbers.

Very often, much of the resistance about Dr. Sears’ theories comes from the conclusion that vaccination alone has the problem of distemper under control. While vaccination is essential to fighting this disease and we strongly encourage all dogs to be vaccinated, the numbers of cases that have been reported to us show that distemper is still a problem. Shelter outbreaks, exposure from wild animals and unvaccinated puppies allow the disease to continue.

It would be useful if a U.S. or international agency took on the role of compiling reliable statistics on how many dogs are dying of distemper. The veterinary community may not even fully realize how big the problem of distemper is.

Still, we feel these numbers at least show that there is hope, and our plan is to gather the kind of detailed, consistent data that will stand up to scientific review as part of Project Carré. If this treatment can be published and accepted in a veterinary journal, we believe the lives of countless dogs can be saved.

Any vets who have information about dogs they have treated with NDV-induced serum are asked to e-mail Ed Bond at ed.bond.new.york@gmail.com. These statistics will be updated routinely as we receive further reports.

Report on outcomes from veterinarians

According to 20 veterinarians who have reported outcomes to Kind Hearts In Action, 522 dogs infected with the distemper virus have been treated with at least one of the NDV treatments. Of those, 368 survived (70.5 percent). Twelve of these vets reported treating 225 cases with the NDV-induced serum of which 194 survived, for a survival rate of 86 percent.

It is important to note that 150 of these dogs were treated in 2010 with NDV-induced serum by a Houston area vet as part of Project Hope. They report that of the 150 dogs that were treated with NDV-induced serum, 90 percent survived – 135 dogs. Combining these numbers with the efforts of other vets, Project Hope reports saving nearly 200 dogs from canine distemper.

The other cases include 157 dogs that were treated with NDV as an IV injection, of which 109 survived and 140 treated with NDV spinal taps of which 65 survived. Two of the surviving dogs treated with NDV as IV in Puerto Rico were also treated with NDV-induced serum.

Here is a report on a dog treated with the NDV spinal tap by a vet in Alberta, Canada.

In one of the spinal tap cases, a vet in South Africa injected the NDV-induced serum in the spinal canal — instead of the straight NDV vaccine — and that dog was reported to be doing well.

Vets who had reported on the effectiveness of the treatments were from Florida, Texas, California, Virginia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Mexico, South Africa and the Philippines. One vet in the Los Angeles area reported treating five dogs with NDV as IV, but did not learn the outcomes of those cases. Another vet in Southern Florida reports having used NDV on distemper dogs 27 times since 2009, but did not have the reports on outcomes available. These cases where the outcomes were unknown have not been added to the totals from the vets.

Report from Korea

A study on the effectiveness of the NDV-induced serum was also conducted in Korea in 2003. According to Dr. Kim Hee-Young, DVM, MS, PhD, the senior researcher for the Korea Animal Blood Bank, that was when he discovered the website about Dr. Sears’ treatment. He reports:

“In 2003, 102 dogs (from 12 vets) were diagnosed by ELISA as Distemper infection. Of them, the 54 dogs (52 %) were recovered completely on the check-up 6 weeks after the Sears treatment. In Korea, the success rate of conventional treatment in cases confirmed as Distemper (ELISA) was usually lower than 8 %.”

Dr. Sears’ serum has been available on the inventory of the Korea Animal Blood Bank since 2004.
 [http://board-1.blueweb.co.kr/board.cgi?id=vet20&bname=news&unum=14&action=view]

Dr. Kim Hee-Young writes:

“We have used Sears plasma (serum) in Distemper cases and found it works wonderful. … But, cases more than 5 days after symptoms or with neurological symptoms did not show any improvements. Some of the vets reported deterioration after injection. Thus, we don’t recommend to use it in cases which had shown distemper symptoms more than 4 days.”

Report on outcomes from dog caregivers

Since December 2008, dog caregivers — owners, fosters and rescuers — have reported the outcomes of 827 distemper cases to the Save Dogs From Distemper project. Of these, 536 dogs with distemper were treated with an NDV treatment and 337 survived (62.8 percent survival rate).

This includes:

  • 170 of 227 distemper dogs treated with serum that survived (74.8 percent).
  • 75 of 109 distemper dogs treated with NDV as an IV injection that survived (68.8 percent)
  • 92 of 200 dogs with neurologic distemper treated with the NDV spinal tap that survived. (46 percent)

There were also 291 cases that were not treated with NDV, of which 69 survived. (23.7 percent.) Also, 64 cases initially thought to be distemper were later diagnosed with a different disease. Of these, 51 dogs lived and 13 died. These were not included in the 827 cases listed above.

On Nov. 8, 2011, a dog owner from Monterrey, Mexico, reported that her puppy died shortly after being treated with NDV-induced serum. She wrote that before the NDV-serum treatment, another vet had also treated the puppy with a variety of treatments including Zylexis. After the death, the vet told the owner, “It was a shock MAYBE because of the serum mixed with the Zylexis.” Zylexis, which is used to boost the immune system of horses, is not part of Dr. Sears’ protocols.

Additional photos, videos and owner testimonials of dogs successfully treated for canine distemper are available at http://kindheartsinaction.com/

If you have additional reports to share with us, please e-mail ed.bond.new.york@gmail.com and we will update these numbers as we receive them.

Conclusions

If anything, the numbers above show that distemper can be a treatable and survivable disease. Even without using NDV, about 23 percent of dogs can survive the initial infection of distemper. However, those dogs that do survive without treatment often have done so through the extraordinary efforts of the owner or caregiver. Such dogs often survive with neurologic problems, damage to teeth, organs and other issues. But these dogs are also at risk to continuing and advancing neurologic problems that may lead to death later on.

The timely use of NDV can greatly increase the odds of survival and limit the damaging effects of the distemper virus. According to caregivers, the overall survival rate for dogs treated with one of the NDV treatments is 62.8 percent. According to vets, the overall survival rate is 70.5 percent, but that climbs to 86 percent when considering only those cases treated with the NDV serum before the onset of neural problems.

Our position continues to be that treating with the NDV serum before the dog goes through the sixth day of symptoms is the most advantageous way of treating distemper. The report from Korea recommends treating within four days of symptoms, and that also seems to be a reasonable goal. The sooner a dog can be treated, the better.

As to why these treatments work, our theory is that the NDV causes a reaction within a dog’s immune system that produces a previously unknown material or group of interacting materials, that is able to neutralize the invading virus. However, finding the answer would require extensive scientific research.

The IV injection of NDV does exist as an option for treating distemper if the NDV-induced serum is not available. The NDV vaccine can be acquired and given to a sick dog as an IV injection very quickly. So, many dogs have been saved that way, and it spares the dog owner from an agonizing delay as they would have to persuade a vet to make the NDV-induced serum with a donor dog.

However, the problem with giving the sick dog a straight injection of the NDV is that recovery relies on the animal’s immune system being strong enough to create the needed response to fight the distemper virus.

NDV as an IV injection may save a dog or puppy:

  • If the immune system is intact.
  • If it is older than 12 weeks.
  • 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.

If the dog’s immune system is strong enough, this material can be made from the NDV injection and save the animal. If the immune system is too damaged to respond or if the dog is of a breed that does not make the needed response, the straight NDV IV injection will not save the dog.

According to Dr. Sears, breeds that do not have the needed response to NDV include:

  • German shepherds
  • poodles
  • Irish setters
  • Gordon setters
  • English bulldogs
  • Shar Peis.

For puppies younger than 12 weeks, the best option to save them is to use the NDV-induced serum before the neurologic stage of the disease.

It has been with vets who already have the serum on hand that the most success has been seen. The timely diagnosis of distemper in dogs is also critical in saving lives. This is why Dr. Sears came up with a quick and reliable test for distemper by checking the cells of the bladder in what is called a Brush Border Smear.

Dr. Sears was able to save dogs at a rate in the high 90s because he was able to quickly identify distemper cases and treat the dogs before the narrow window of opportunity closed. Similarly, the vet in Houston was able to save a large majority of dogs because of the ability to treat dogs quickly with a readily available source of serum.

However, the use of the serum does not guarantee that a dog will be saved. Distemper often opens up other opportunistic infections such as pneumonia. Vets and caregivers have reported that even though they saw distemper symptoms reverse after NDV treatment, the dog died of pneumonia, another disease or medical problem. Dr. Sears has written a protocol of recommended treatments to give dogs an improved chance of survival.

As to the NDV spinal tap, it does offer some hope for the owner of a distemper dog that has gone into the neurologic stage of the disease. However, the chances of survival are less than 50 percent. For some of these dogs with neurologic distemper, they were saved because the caregivers put in extraordinary effort and intensive nursing care in addition to the NDV spinal tap. So, it exists as a way that can save some dogs. Here are some additional notes from Dr. Sears on measures to take after the NDV spinal tap.

Further information is available at http://kindheartsinaction.com/

We invite any reasonable, skeptical inquiries into this report.

Ed Bond
ed.bond.new.york@gmail.com
Kind Hearts In Action
Feb. 16, 2013

Copyright © 2013 Kind Hearts In Action Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Filed Under: Canine Distemper, effective Tagged With: , ,

Why I care about canine distemper

November 1, 2011 by 1 Comment

I care about this disease because:

1) We lost two puppies in a row to distemper.

2) The next year, another dog of ours, Galen, also came down with distemper, but was SAVED because of the NDV-induced serum discovered by Dr. Al Sears.

3) Even though this serum has saved dogs AROUND THE WORLD, it has not yet been accepted as a treatment by the veterinary profession.

4) Until this treatment is accepted, dogs will NEEDLESSLY DIE of this disease.

We need donations to fund our effort to prove these treatments can work. If you can donate, please do. If you cannot, please SHARE!

Please send our videos and website to your friends or anyone who cares about dogs.

For more information, go here: http://www.kindheartsinaction.com/project-carre.

It all depends on you.

Thank you,

Ed Bond
Kind Hearts In Action

Filed Under: Canine Distemper Tagged With: , ,

Please tell a friend about canine distemper

October 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Thanks so much to everyone who has helped Project Carré.

Our current Microgiving fundraiser, which has added $940 to our total so far, will be wrapping up Nov. 3, and we need help getting out the word to people who have not dealt with this disease. While we’ve raised more than $3,000 in the battle against canine distemper, we still need at least $2,000 more just to get started.

So many people who have helped know about distemper firsthand.

You know what it’s like to watch as a beloved, furry member of the family gets these flu-like symptoms, then later starts twitching in a leg, shuddering in the head and eventually starts having seizures. Along the way, the pads of the feet get hard. Walking becomes difficult. The nose, already stuffed with mucous, dries and cracks. All the joy in being a dog falls away. It is no wonder so many vets will recommend euthanasia as a kindness to these animals.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Dogs can be returned to health: running, playing, hunting animals in the woods, smelling, living life to its fullest. I’ve seen it happen with my own dog, and people from all over the world have written to me about their success stories.

We’ve got pictures, videos and owners accounts to show this.

However, this remains a little-understood disease.

For most owners, distemper is just one of many diseases that their pet gets an inoculation for during a routine vet visit. Distemper is just a remote hypothetical to them, and they need someone who knows about this disease first hand to explain what it is and why it is so important that a cure be approved.

I’ve put together a Q&A that you might show to your friends and contacts or that you might use to talk about distemper and why a cure is needed. You can find it here.

Please share this with your friends, or send them direct to the page on Project Carré.

Bear in mind just how unique our cause is. How many nonprofits do you know of fighting a disease, trying to find a cure?

We are a cause fighting a disease and we ALREADY have a cure. All that remains is to prove that it works.

With one smart, focused effort — backed by enough donations — we can put an end to this.

Dogs will no longer have to die of canine distemper.

Thanks,

Ed Bond

 

Copyright © 2011 Kind Hearts In Action Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
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Q&A on distemper

October 25, 2011 by 1 Comment

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.
Filed Under: Canine Distemper Tagged With: , ,

Millie’s Story

August 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment

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.
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Another Distemper Survivor

July 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

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.

http://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!

Filed Under: Canine Distemper, Saved Dogs Tagged With: , ,

NDV-induced serum saves Simba

June 18, 2011 by 5 Comments

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

Filed Under: Canine Distemper, Saved Dogs Tagged With: , ,

Project Carré

June 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Help us cross the finish line and prove distemper can be cured


$

PayPal

Project Carré has begun.

While the results of the project will not be released until they are published in a veterinary journal, I can tell you that the project began on March 6, 2012, with the goal of demonstrating whether the NDV-induced serum can save a dog from distemper if treatment happens before the sixth day of symptoms.

The format for the project has changed. Rather than focusing on paying for the costs of the serum, we will be leaving that to the vets to decide how to manage those costs and decide what expenses are passed on to the client. The costs of acquiring NDV and making the serum can be very small, so it is possible for vets to keep the prices reasonable.

Our role will be to ensure that each case is fully documented. So we are providing video cameras, paying for laboratory tests to confirm cases of distemper and maintaining files on each case.

Under this plan, we will be able to invite more veterinary clinics from across the country to join Project Carré and build our case for these treatments even faster. In my mind, I have always envisioned 100 fully documented cases to be our goal. Included in those 100 cases should also be a group of dogs that are not treated with NDV because establishing a control group is part of good science.

So, I am predicting that we can complete this project for about $15,000 to $20,000. We have about $5,000 available now, so we have enough to get started. But we do need donations to pay for:

  • Video cameras

  • Laboratory tests

  • Administrative costs, such as faxing, copying, postage, etc.

So, if you can help, please use the button below the video to donate now. With Project Carré and your support, we can stop the distemper virus and the misery it causes for dogs and their owners. We’re close to the end of the race against this awful disease and can see the finish line: a widely available treatment for dogs that are suffering and dying. For anyone who loves dogs, this may be the most significant contribution to a cause that you ever make.

Your support can make a difference. Help us cross the finish line and stop distemper. Our best friends deserve our very best efforts.

Thanks,

Ed Bond

Have more questions on Project Carré?

Read about the special Halloween treat we received.

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Project Hope

In the meantime, you might also choose to support Project Hope, an effort to get NDV-induced serum made in the Houston area. Starting in 2010, vets working with Project Hope helped save almost 200 distemper dogs in California, Arizona, Florida and Texas. If you want your donation to go to Project Hope, use the Network for Good button above and write “Project Hope” in the designation field for your donation, or use this PayPal button below:

Copyright © 2011 Kind Hearts In Action Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Filed Under: Project Carré Tagged With: , ,

10 dogs saved in Florida distemper outbreak

May 31, 2011 by 3 Comments
Above,  eight of the 10 dogs saved from distemper.
Posted to Facebook profile and fan page on May 25, 2011

Just wanted to tell you that we pulled 10 dogs ages 3mth to 3 yrs from Miami shelter during the distemper outbreak recently. All 10 tested positive for distemper. All were given serum along with Interferon injections, ribivarin, vitamin c, multi-vitamins and echneacia. Everyone survived and show no neuro signs!!
Not sure what worked specifically but I know that the combo did work!!! They all beat the odds. Thank you for creating the serum [discovered by Dr. Alson Sears.]

Kelly Huntsinger Chasnov
Wee Waggin Rescue

Filed Under: Canine Distemper, Saved Dogs Tagged With: , ,

Mr. Blue is in the pink

May 31, 2011 by 1 Comment

 

Feb 16, 2011

Hi Ed,

My name is Sam. Im the proud mommy of Mr. Blue, a 2 mos old English Bulldog. I am from Manila, Philippines. I bought him from a kennel last weekend (Saturday to be exact Feb 12). When we got him, I noticed he had a cough and cold. He was up for his 3rd round of shots on Feb 14 (Monday) so the vet came and gave him meds for his cold but she could not give him his shots. By the afternoon on Monday he vomitted and I panicked. We rushed him to the hospital and after a few tests we were told he had distemper. I didnt know what that was and when the doctor explained it to me, I almost fainted.

I know hes only been with me a few days, but I love him dearly and would surely die if anything happened to him. The doctor (Vets in Practice) advised us of this donor dog treatment and I said yes, but needed to find a donor dog, in the meantime, they amped him with medication to treat his pneumonia, cought etc and meds for his immune system. We even got him a nebulizer to help him.

Yesterday we found a donor dog and well, today at 2pm we will getting our first shot. I am hoping that he gets better.
Its been 4 days since we found out he has distemper..Im not even sure how long hes had it…this morning he pooped twice and it was mostly water and phlegm and there was a tinge of blood. I hope we are not too late.

A vet went to visit just an hour ago and she said he had a fever. And looks so weak. He hasnt barked in 2 days. He just sleeps.

Your website has really given me hope that he will get better. Please let me know if you know of other things I can do to make him feel better.

Sam Yen
The Philippines

May 31, 2011

Hi Ed,
My apologies for not getting to reply sooner. I have been extremely busy, not just with work but busy with my GROWING PUPPY!!! :)
I am pleased to report that the serum treatment worked! His treatment started Feb 17 or 18, 3 shots 12 hours apart, he looked really weak after the shots and was really down. In fact, we thought he really wasnt going to make it anymore. But 2 days after treatment, he finally started eating again! I was eating a piece of cheese next to him and I noticed he took interest and he ate it! So then we tried giving him his dog food and voila!
We tested him a month after if he still had the virus and it came out negative! :) We have been going through a series of re-vaccinations and all the other shots needed to protect him before we bring him out to the real world. Poor thing has been stuck at home all these months. He was diagnosed with distemper when he was 2 months old, he will be 6 months on June 12. He can finally go out to the parks and play and go to obedience school (our little pup is a spoiled one and well, we cant seem to make him listen to us, we always give in to his demands). As of yesterday, he is now a whopping 17kilos!
Attached are some photos of him when he was sick up till now. I have some videos as well. Will send in another email :)
I truly believe that without the serum he would not have made it. He had all the bad complications, diarrhea with blood, he was vomitting, he was completely not eating, he had pneumonia and water in his lungs. We kept our eye on him 24/7. It was not easy, and to watch such a small thing go thru such an ordeal was heart breaking. He had tons and tons of medicines, we took him to the vet everyday for 20 days for IV under his skin so he doesnt get dehydrated on top of his vitamin shots. The doctors in Vets in Practice here in Manila are the best. They really care for your little one.
Kind regards,
Sam

Anyone with a distemper dog in the Philippines should read these blogs:

Clarisse’s Site

Adventures of a Beauty Queen

Filed Under: Canine Distemper, Saved Dogs Tagged With: , ,
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