In the book, “Save Dogs From Distemper: The ‘Impossible’ Cure of Dr. Alson Sears,” one of the more engaging stories is that of Nilla.
Nilla was a border collie in South Dakota diagnosed with the neurologic stage of canine distemper in May 2012. Her family, Clark and Jennifer Audiss, and their children Nathan and Rachael, were not given any hope from their local vet. But rather than have Nilla put to sleep, Clark reached out to Kind Hearts In Action, found out about the NDV treatments and persuaded the veterinary hospital at Kansas State University to perform the NDV spinal tap. The full story is in the book, but here are the videos the Audiss family took during their battle to save Nilla from distemper.
Nilla’s recovery prompted Professor Ken Harkin of Kansas State University to conduct a study of the NDV spinal tap between 2014 and 2016. Despite the recovery of Nilla and a couple of other dogs treated at Kansas State, Dr. Harkin did not see improvement in other dogs who were suffering from myoclonus, which is the muscle tremors some distemper dogs experience. He ultimately was not convinced that the NDV spinal tap was beneficial. But he also said that people do give up on these dogs too early. Many can recover if given enough nursing care and support to survive until the virus goes silent.
More about our attempts to document the effectiveness of these treatments and the conclusions from Dr. Harkin are here and in the book. We had also compiled anecdotal information on the outcome of cases here.
“I am 100% certain Nilla would not be here without the NDV treatment,” Clark Audiss wrote in January 2019.
Nilla lived until July 7, 2019 as the neurologic problems become more frequent and her health went into decline.
Clark’s tribute to Nilla on Facebook:
“Thought we lost her once then God gave her back. She’s gone now and our hearts are heavy. Even so, God has been faithful and true! Job 1:21 ‘The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.’ Tears are flowing but Joy
is coming! Psalm 30:5 ‘Sorrow may last for the night but JOY comes in the morning!’ Love you Nilla Bear!”
For more about this and other stories of survival check out the book.
– Ed Bond