"The very day she was diagnosed with distemper, me and my husband kept researching about Canine Distemper. I read many many medicalarticles about it saying that it has no cure and the prognosis is very poor especially when the Neurological phase sets in. She was tested and diagnosed on August 31 and it progressed really fast. In less than a week her neuro symptoms first showed on her right front leg, next on her head and then her hind leg muscles started to show subtle spasms. At first it was just bad when she would rest and sleep, then after a day or two, resting or not it was almost non stop. All this happened in a matter of days. ...
"... One morning, a few days after the NDV treatment, I went downstairs and there she was! Greeting me joyfully, jumping, wagging her tail, all excited. She hasn't been this way since she got sick. We can't wait to spread the word and help other dogs."
Respiratory stage
Neurological stage
One week after treatment
Hunter
Photos by Jade
Received May 3, 2009, from Suzanna Urszuly of Southern California: My name is Suzanna and I have read about you on
the Internet. I have a 5 months old border collie mix puppy who
has distemper. She is really sick now, she can't even get up.
... I don't think we have much time left and I am very desperate
for help. .... About 10 minutes ago she got up ate and walked
around the room. She fell down a couple of times but got up. I
am not sure if she has seizures or not but she twitches a little
with her head and front legs. not much just a little bit.
With help from the Facebook group, Suzanna got her dog, Hunter,
to a vet in Austin, Texas,
for a body and spinal tap treatment within a week.
(Thank you,
Jade and Julie.) Here's what Suzanna said after the procedure:
Received May 19, 2009
Thank you so much for checking in. Hunter is doing amazing!!!!!
... She already felt a lot better after her bodily Newcastle shot.
Her nose and eyes were clearer and her pneumonia was gone. Now
it has been about about 9 days since she got her CSF tap. She
can walk really well now, she does not fall like she used to.
She can see at least 60% how, before she was almost blind. She
still has a little bit of the "head tilting and chewing motion"
going on but it is less and less every day. She is such a happy,
pretty puppy. I will send you some photos of her soon. She has
a lot of energy too. She dug out my flowers and brought them back
in the house and then she hid them under her pillow. :-) Thank
you again for your help and I'll be sending her pictures soon.
Received June 2, 2009
Hunter is doing really really well!!! Here is a photo of her.
She has her vision back to100%. Her nose is still a little hard
and dry but it will take some time to get back to normal. She
runs and plays all day long.
Great news, Suzanna!
Thanks for the update.
-- Ed Bond
Photo from Suzanna Urszuly
Update: Oct. 6, 2009
Here's a video sent in by Suzanna Urszuly.
She writes: "Hi Ed,
Here is a video of the little girl.
She is doing so well."
Thanks again, Suzanna!
Sammie
Received May 25, 2009: Ed: This is Sammie's story detailing his treatment
to cure distemper.
We adopted Sammie on April 21, 2009, from Miami Animal Services.
Only two days after we brought him home, he got very sick with
what we thought was Kennel cough. When it got really bad, I took
him to our Vet who diagnosed Distemper. He told us that we could
treat the symptoms and that some dogs were able to survive. He
said there was no cure for Distemper and if it got really bad
with Neurologic problems, we would need to "put him down.'
I wasn't willing to accept this and starting researching the Internet
to see if there were any other options. That's when I found Ed's
site and the Facebook site. By May 5th Sammie was having as many
as eight seizures a day and I was getting really scared we wouldn't
be able to get him treated in time. With the help of Ed Bond and
Pippit Carlington I was able to find Dr. Muller in Atlanta. He
was willing to perform the NDV body and spinal treatment for Sammie.
This was done May 18, 2009, at his Clinic in Atlanta. The next
day we brought Sammie home to Miami. He will need to take medication
for the seizures, possibly for the rest of his life, but we are
also hopeful that he can out grow and repair the damage caused
by the CDV. I have attached three pictures showing Sammie before
the procedure and a picture taken Six days after his treatment.
The third picture shows his head with the hair shaved off for
the spinal injection. You can see from the after picture how well
he is doing now. Sammie is on Phenobarbital for the seizures.
We had some difficulty settling on the correct dosage but since
our Vet made the last adjustment (May 21) he has been seizure
free.
Ed, please feel free to post our story on your Web site.
Regards, Harold & Pamela Allen Kendall, Fl
Carmella
Received Jan. 12, 2009
Dear Ed,
My dog, Carmella has had treatment with NDV both in the body,
and the neuro part (developed later) injected into the CNS.
Her story is very long and is a compilation of months
of documentation, before and after pictures, and IÕve even been
monitoring her on live webcam accessible from my blog. You can read her blow-by-blow account from as far back as early
July 2008 when I got her from the shelter. Here's the link to
my blog;
Her improvement has been pretty dramatic even though
by the time I succeeded in convincing a vet to treat her with
NDV in the Central Nervous System she'd already developed myoclonic
jerking in her right, front leg. That was quickly worsening almost
daily or every few days, and then just in time a compassionate
vet stepped up to do the procedure! That stopped any further disease-progression.
As far as I and Dr. Sears know she is the first dog in
the US to be successfully treated with NDV into the spinal canal.
Several dogs have tried it last summer and have not survived because
of inexperienced vets or inability to withstand a surgical procedure
in their advanced condition. Then after Carmella was successfully
treated for neuro-involvement there was a male Boston Terrier
successfully treated.
There are a lot more vets who are willing to do the body
cure than those who are willing to attempt the CNS part. Every
single neuro-vet I asked in the Atlanta area and in Florida refused
to touch it. Ultimately the vet who agreed to try it was one who
had only done spinal taps years ago and he did it under ultrasound
imaging so that there would be no slip-ups. Carmella had no crises
or side-effects as a result, just a headache for the first few
hours afterwards. I hope that her story can be placed on as many
sites as possible so that other dog owners wonÕt have to wait
as long as I did to have their vet agree to it. Although Carmella
is cured of the virus, the time spent arguing her case because
vets didnÕt want to risk "liability" with it not being
published in medical journals, cost vital brain tissue she may
never regenerate.
Since then she developed Demodectic Mange, but is being
treated for that with Mitaban dips and it is drying up, slowly
but surely.
I've attached a before picture of her taken the first
week I had her and an after picture so that people can see the
dramatic difference. (The headshot was before she developed mange)
and her coat was beautiful at that time!
even get up.
... I don't think we have much time left and I am very desperate
for help. .... About 10 minutes ago she got up ate and walked
around the room. She fell down a couple of times but got up. I
am not sure if she has seizures or not but she twitches a little
with her head and front legs. not much just a little bit.
