Pass The Turkey and the Stuffing, Celebrate The Ones Still With Us, and Remember the Ones We've Lost

Thanksgiving is both a joyous time and a time of reflection.

This year the effort to save dogs from distemper has been a big success wherever those striving to help these dogs in a number of different venues, connecting with owners wherever they are found; on various messageboards, dog-related forums, websites, and blogs, both on the internet, and in the community.

One by one more and more dogs that once would have been considered hopeless will now spend the holidays, happy and healthy with their families.

More vets have begun to venture out and try the body and/or the CSF treatment, and are happy and intrigued with the results.

The broader the base of support for this cure becomes, the bigger its impact. There are many people who have made this possible, some who are highly visible and others working behind the scenes to bring about change, hope, and health, and working to educate the public, each in his or her own way, advancing science in a very tangible way.

Because of all of you who've contributed in one way or another more dogs this year will curl up by the fire, sit next to the table tomorrow night when the big feast is served, and will live to see the lights on the Christmas tree, play in the snow, and sleep securely in the knowledge that they're home with people who love them and will be for a long time.

At the same time though, there is much work ahead of us, and there are dogs and owners that will not spend the holidays together because they didn't know about the treatment until too late.

For the owners of these dogs the holidays this year will be a time of mourning, a reminder that although a cure now exists the vast majority of vets still do not make use of it and many have not even heard of it.

To many dogs and their owners in many parts of the world Dr. Sears' treatment is still out of their reach. They must travel great distances to get to a location in which a vet can perform that more invasive CSF procedure many of these animals need to fully rid them of the virus after it's reached the brain and spinal cord.

Many still have no way to travel these distances, or they do not have the money to pay what it costs to save their dog's life, and/or cannot do it soon enough.

This beautiful black brindle puppy is one of those who didn't make it. He was only 11 weeks old. By the time his owner found out that there was a cure his pneumonia had severely compromised his breathing. No serum was available where he lived, and antibiotics could not knock back the pneumonia enough for him to wait to reach a vet in another state.

Unfortunately, he did not make it through the weekend.

This next puppy in India died despite her owner and vet's best efforts to save her life, but her immune system was too weak and she got the treatment too late. The CSF procedure was performed 5 days after she was diagnosed, but what happens too often is that dogs aren't diagnosed before the disease has taken too much of a toll.

Her littermate survived and seems to be returning to health.

To those of you who have been reading and wondering how you can help, go to the links of the distemper projects on your right and donate, talk to your vet about this cure, send them the link to this blog and the other informational websites, talk to shelters, rescues, the Humane Society, and other dog-related groups and encourage them to get involved too, volunteer to make serum if you're a vet or an owner whose vet is open to this, print fliers, business cards or other written material and hand it out, set up a fundraiser benefit, or if you have the connections see if you can arrange speaking opportunities with Dr. Sears and Dr. Muller someplace where it will really have some impact, pull strings with news media, medical journals, etc. Be creative. There are all kinds of ways to move this forward.

I look forward to the day when a dog is diagnosed and the same day it can be treated with the serum or NDV; a day when no dog has to wait and decline because he or she can't access the care needed, a day when no dog is left with seizures, with myoclonus, with paralysis, or with blindness, a day when this cure is first line for the treatment of canine distemper in every shelter, clinic, and country.

Lets make that day soon! With all of you pitching in we can get there.

This ground-breaking treatment for distemper is really something to be thankful for.

Video By Ed Bond on Cure for Canine Distemper Now on YouTube!

Dr. Sears Gives A Lecture in Houston Tomorrow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqeLrXH19g4

An updated version of the first video is now posted on YouTube. This one has some additional video of Galen, Ed's former dog who was treated in the body in February 1977 with Dr. Sears NDV treatment.

What can you do to help bring this treatment to more dogs?

Share this video with your vet and everyone you can, even blog about it, and be sure to leave comments on YouTube.

Thank, everyone!

Special Announcement:

Dr. Al Sears will be giving a lecture on the new treatment for canine distemper from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, in Houston, Texas.

E-mail savedistemperdogs@yahoo.com for more info.

If you love dogs and will be in the Houston area I encourage you to attend.

Distemper Activism Continues- New Video Produced By Ed Bond

I want to share with you a wonderful public service message that Ed Bond wrote regarding the new cure for canine distemper discovered by Alson Sears DVM.

It's in the rough draft stage but you have got to see this! It will definitely move you, (and keep your eye out for Carmella; she's included in it!)

Be sure to listen closely to the perfect lyrics of the two songs in the background.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=156398649871

Songs by Margaret Owens

"Tryin"

"Keep The Faith"

The full lyrics can be found on her website:

"Tryin"

http://www.margaretowens.com/newsite/site4/third_web_project/clip_Tryin.html

"Keep The Faith"

http://www.margaretowens.com/newsite/third_web_project/clip_Keep_the_Faith.html

Distemper Cure Successes-Latest News!

On Monday, March 9, 2009 a 4 month-old puppy in Texas by the name of Maya with severe abdominal spasms was treated in both body and CNS and came through it successfully!

As of March 28, 2009 these 2 dogs were treated by another vet in Texas with Newcastle Disease Vaccine (NDV) in both body and Central Nervous System;

A little dachshund was in what is considered "end stage" Distemper. He was showing the characteristic "chewing gum" seizures for months, yet was still able to be saved! This is another great example showing that it's never too late.

Next, on Monday, May 11, 2009 a 5-month-old Border Collie mix named Hunter from California traveled with her owner to Texas and received the life-saving treatment in both body and CNS. Her nose started softening within about 24 hrs, and amazingly her pneumonia disappeared fairly soon after both injections. This sudden resolution of the pneumonia rarely happens without Baytril and Pennecillin G administered over a 7-day period, and the result implies that the NDV might cause an overall immune system improvement in some dogs! The owner was elated and had this to say:

"There is a huge group of people in LA who are mostly pet rescuers and they can't wait to see the results. They have been emailing me all day in the last 5 days."

Then on Monday, May 18, 2009 Dr. Muller here in Atlanta treated another dog, Sammy, a mixed-breed terrier of about 1 year in age who traveled by air from Florida. The body treatment and the CSF procedure were done back to back, as this dog had had a turn for the worse in the days preceding their arrival. I met with the couple while they were here in Atlanta and am happy to hear he is doing well. Sammy had reached the "chewing gum" stage and was starting to progress to Grand Mal seizures before he got treatment. His owners were greatly relieved when Dr. Muller stepped up to the plate. Their dog now has a chance at a normal life!

Sammy

The success of the above 5 dogs combined with those previously treated is beginning to gain the trust of more vets. In all there are 9 or 10 dogs to date who have been treated in both body and CNS with Dr. Sears' treatment and are doing well.

In Texas the very first donor dog created 60ccs of serum! His cytokines will help sick dogs beat this deadly disease.

Next, a beautiful yellow Labrador whose former owner gave him up was taken in by the small rescue operation owned by the family who had the Dachshund and the Boston Terrier, treated by their vet. The family who took him in named him Alson after Alson Sears, the vet who developed this cure. He is healthy and of the optimal age to donate the dog-based serum used in place of the manufactured NDV that will save even more dogs from Distemper. The procedure for him poses no risk, utilizing his natural cytokines stimulated by the bird-based NDV and then harvested, seperating the serum at the exact time-frame necessary.

Texas is one of the biggest hot spots for Distemper in the US where epidemics are running rampant, and there are many dogs in need in that area. This is a wonderful thing that these people are doing to help their local community!

Carmella continues to do well. Her mange has gotten better and better since she started on Ivermectin and she has not had any more opportunistic bacterial infections!

She still looks a little as if she was shot in the butt with some buckshot, but the fur is gradually growing back and the itching is much less frequent.

Over the past week while I'd been house-sitting she has been very rambunctious, nosing around, investigating the new surroundings, and trying to chew my shoes as I put them on in the morning. The people I was house-sitting for had two cats and one dog. All had to be kept seperate or it would have been pandamonium. Carmella has never been around cats so she was captivated looking out the sliding glass window at them on the second-floor balcony enclosed in lattice-work. She whined with anticipation and stuck her head between the bamboo blinds to stare at them (I'm not sure if she wanted to pounce on them and eat them for dinner or just play with them) but I wasn't taking any chances.

Once home, she settled back down and curled up on her black fuzzy pillow in the kitchen after chomping on her rawhide stick and playing with her stuffed rabbit. It was a long week over at the other house, as the quarters were cramped and I had to watch her like a hawk to make sure she didn't chew up anything. I'm happy to be home myself, to sleep in my own bed, and have access to my computer files, and jewelry supplies.

Before I left to house-sit last weekend I created a poster about the importance of early detection and NDV treatment of dogs with Distemper that can be printed and hung in vets' offices. I included the photos of 4 dogs who have died because they didn't find this treatment in time or the owners were unable to get their vets to do it before the disease overtook them. The file was so big in png format that I couldn't send it by e-mail so I have saved a copy in jpg and uploaded it to Flickr;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/giftbearer/3563218569/

If you have a vet for your animals please share the link to this poster and my blog with him or her and encourage them to follow what we're doing on behalf of these dogs. As more and more people adopt dogs from shelters it becomes evident just how vital and needed such a cure is. Preventative vaccination alone clearly is not eradicating this virus, and in a shelter environment where many dogs are housed close together all it takes is one infected dog to infect the others, as Canine Distemper is an airborne disease. The numbers of dogs saved by NDV continues to increase, and with them, the evidence that it is indeed is a real cure!
http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

The Struggle To Save More Dogs From Distemper Continues

For awhile all is quiet and then suddenly the mortal combat between life and death starts anew; in Indonesia a puppy fights for its life, its owner frightened and trying desperately to keep it from fading away.

Then two more emergencies pop up; one in Houston, Texas, and another in California. They all need swift and decisive action in an arena filled with doubt and trepidation, where most vets would sooner see a dog die than to undertake the rare treatment that might save its life. Technical assistance is often too little, too late when there are not enough NDV-knowledgeable vets to go around, and with multiple time-zones, all too often these dogs and their owners fall through the cracks.

In these crucial hours is where the rubber meets the road, courage is tested, and so is faith. It is at such a time when one really finds out what his/her own vet is made of. Will he or she have what it takes to follow written instructions in the absence of the man who wrote them, or will this person who is to administer the treatment buckle under the strain like a chance passer-by, a stranger faced with delivering a newborn baby on a New York subway?

I remember this well. It was just a few short months ago when I was fighting for Carmella's life this way. Now other dogs are embarking upon the same perilous journey and their owners stepping out and hoping their foot comes down on solid ground; following leads, sending e-mails, and making phone calls in hopes that they can patch together enough resources to get across the finish line.

Due to the amount of flash on Dr. Sears' website, people seem to be having difficulty posting there and sometimes accessing it at all. It is still under construction. I have e-mailed him regarding some of these emergencies but have been unable to get a hold of him for the past few days. With Distemper each day and in some instances each hour is crucial while a dog owner tries to mobilize the support and practical help he/she needs. It is quite literally a race against the clock.

Not too long ago we lost one in the fight against Distemper. This is tragic because each one of these is a dog that somebody loved. Often in was because they just couldn't reach the right help soon enough. Some of these owners give up, thinking it's just too difficult, and the odds of finding a vet who can do what is needed just too low.

We need to change that!

Never again should a dog have to die because the cure comes too late!

Part of this outcome can be changed by all the owners out there who get their dog treated and then disappear into anonymity. All of you whose dogs have been treated are resources, and your vet can prevent another dog from becoming a statistic.

A database and a network of survivors who come back to help the ones who come after is badly needed. If your dog has been successfully treated with NDV please let us know your vet's contact information so that we can add it to the list and don't drop out of contact. We need to know your dog's progress as it heals.

Too many people stop trying because there are so many roadblocks. I recently read a post on one of the pet forums where somebody wrote that all they were able to find in the way of success stories were the same few dogs and that this discouraged them because they assumed that this was all there were out there in the entire world.

That is not the case!

The problem, again, is that too many after they get the treatment and their dog is out of the woods go away and never come back to tell their stories. There are many out there but finding them and bringing that data together has been hard. We absolutely must work together to make this treatment accessible to other dogs. Success stories are very important.

I run across blogs every so often in which it is mentioned that a dog was treated with NDV (sometimes even Blogspot blogs) but then that seems to be the end of the documentation. Once the crisis is over people go back to their jobs, their children, playing golf on Sundays, or posting about the latest musical artist on Myspace. Perhaps some of this is to be expected, but those of us whose dogs have beaten this deadly disease owe it to the others to make our experiences count for somebody other than just ourselves and our families.

We must carry the flame and pass on this legacy, paving the way for the next group of warriors against the disease. If we are doing this correctly then the trails we blazed will not have to be re-visited upon the next ones afflicted. As the numbers grow and the proof continues to be documented it will get easier for dogs to be treated sooner and thus suffer little or no permanent damage because of long waits.

It still bothers me that Carmella had to develop brain damage causing this myoclonic jerking before we could get someone to treat her Central Nervous System. She is alive today but bears a constant reminder that her silent screams and mine (not so silent) fell on deaf ears for way too long.

All the time wasted on certain vets' silly academic arguments about whether or not this treatment was legitimate enough because it wasn't written in medical journals while Carmella was left to languish.

All the times I begged for them to help her, saying "She's getting worse. She's getting worse! Do something!" and they refused, standing like so many deer in the headlights with hands behind their backs.

It still remains to be seen as to whether the damage is permanent, but it may well be. Had she gotten the help she needed only weeks before she would not have any remnants at all.

We can't turn back the clock now, but we can prevent it happening to others. If you have animals tell your vets about this treatment, about Dr. Sears and about the dogs who are still suffering and dying from Distemper. Tell them that now there is a cure and all they need to do is use it. There is no time to waste. If a dog comes in with Distemper use it NOW! Not next week, not in a month, not in six months. Every day one waits can result in more lost myelin.

Distemper causes brain damage, disability, it is crippling, and it kills!

NDV works. It is as simple as that. Leave the point/counter point to the university pontifs to argue, and go ahead and treat. Vets who see these animals have a duty to do everything in their power to help them no matter where it comes from, no matter how it was discovered.

Vets, like the owners also need to network and pass on their positive results to their colleagues and they need to partner with us in writing papers and documenting the medical miracles that come into their practice, and start speaking at conferences about it. Don't assume that somebody else will do it.

To join the cause click here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/176113?m=92eea645&recruiter_id=39891263

We would love to have some open-minded vets join who are interested in being part of the solution!

In The Eye of the Storm

The past few days have been like trying to fill an infinite bucket before all the water runs out a gaping hole in the bottom.

I received another bill from CareCredit and just realized that two charges that should have been on a 12-months-no-interest plan; one from when Carmella had her CSF procedure and another from Dr. Norwood's office two weeks ago showed up on my bill as only allowing 3 months to pay.

Yesterday was spent trying to get it set right, to no avail. It seems that they can refuse to allow 12 months to pay a charge under a certain amount, and in some cases even refuse to allow a 6-month account.

The problem is that nobody told me that and it was sprung on me suddenly. Now one of the halves of the charge from the CSF procedure has a promotional expiration date of 1/23/09 (I've already paid the other half off), and with events happening as they have, the charces of my getting that second part paid off before they decide to tack on interest are slim to none.

I've called CareCredit several times and they won't change it and say there's "no appeal process". Who in the hell has "no appeal process?" I thought all businesses were required to have one. Last night I even wrote consumer advocate Bill Liss on channel 11 who is an attorney to find out whether the law provides any recourse to challenge that arbitrary regulation.

I'm already breaking my natural gas bill into thirds out of necessity and more will compound next month when the next current charges are due. Higher expenses such as this have thrown a huge monkey-wrench into the works.

When I took Carmella to Dr. Norwood's office to be dipped the second time for mange I spoke with Gwen, the office manager about the problem with CareCredit making the due date for the latest promotional plan earlier than I'd agreed to, and she told me that for charges less than $200 CareCredit won't do a 12-month, but they'll do a 6-month on charges around $100. Nothing really was corrected after all the legwork of today and yesterday.

The pet insurance will help to some extent, but it won't come in time to pay that charge for the other clinic, and yesterday I found out that the claim for the procedure done at Briarcliff Animal Clinic still hasn't been filed. They've had it for about a week now and the vet won't be in until Saturday and is still working on it. His nurse was on vacation last week and had handed it to him before she left.

The insurance company so far has been pretty good about paying claims promptly although I have only really dealt with them for that one claim for Carmella's expenses related to the Distemper. Gwen was unsure whether to include the ointment and antibiotics in the claim or not and I came away unclear as to whether she included those or not because I'm not sure she understood that the two medications were related to that condition, and my brain could hold no more by the time I was ready to bring Carmella home.

I want to thank the kind soul who donated to Carmella yesterday, and ask any others who can afford it to keep these contributions coming. I am working to pay off this bill on faith right now, putting one foot in front of the other.

My own healthcare is currently under attack. Right now I am appealing the denial of one of my medications by Medicare part D for an off-label protocol that saved my life, and at the same time I'm waiting to hear the outcome of an SSDI review. These are uncertain times.

Carmella came home at 3:00 pm looking cleaner but with red-rimmed eyes after her dip. She has been resting comfortably in the kitchen on the dog bed she eviscerated and has been pulling the stuffing out of bit by bit since last week. She has now torn it to shreds. Each day I pick up and throw away more pieces of it. The design of it was great except that they should have made the cover out of upholstry fabric. I'd written the manufacturer online to give them this suggestion and have heard nothing back from them; not even to say "thanks for letting us know your experience with one of our products".

I touched-base the other day with Ed Bond, another NDV advocate whose dog had the body portion of the treatment. He's a former reporter for the LA Times with over 25 years as a journalist. There are some very good ways for us to collaborate to get Dr. Sears' treatment on the map. Ed Bond has started a FaceBook group. Here is where you can read more about it and/or join;

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/176113?m=c091dee2&recruiter_id=39891263

I am trying to find an influential vet that might help pave the way for Dr. Sears and my vets to publish in a medical journal, so if any of you out there reading know of one who might be open to this please give him the above link and the link to my blog, invite him to join the Facebook group and start a dialogue. We need a friend "on the inside" who is interested in seeing this treatment for Distemper given a fair chance. The sooner we can get an article into a respected journal the more dogs we can save.

Right now the outdated understanding of this disease is allowing dogs to suffer needlessly and die a horrible death because too many vets will still not try NDV when given the information about it. Not having that one piece of paper prevents many from reading about it or hearing it out, and many dog owners feel powerless to get help for their dogs, get tired of their pleadings falling on deaf ears, and give up. This is a tragedy because the solution is sitting right there, but only a vet can administer it. There is a cure, and the dogs who need it are worth saving.

I am hoping that Carmella, being the 1st dog in the US to have this complete two-part cure can become the poster-dog for this cause. She's photogenic and there's something endearing about her that transcends the disease, including the damage it causes. It is no accident that I ended up with a dog just as tenacious as I am.

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

Distemper Cure-Letter To The Editor of Time Magazine

Last night while searching on Google to see if there had been any more written on Distemper I ran across an article called "Distemper Cure". I clicked on the link and found that it was on Time Magazine's online news version along with articles about Obama, the Blegojovitch scandel, and various other current events and editorial topics.

The article painted a very bleak picture of dogs with the disease, stating that dogs who got it were pretty much hopeless, that they were religated to limping around the yard in various stages of wretchedness until they met an inevitable and pathetic death. The article stated that there is "no cure".

I just could not let that stand if there was hope to offer, and so I decided to write in. I sent the following letter to the editor;

letters@time.com
sent by e-mail 1/10/09

Dear Editor,

My dog Carmella has recently had a rare treatment/cure for Distemper. In your article it says a cure does not exist, but Dr. Alson Sears, DVM has discovered one and I can attest that it works. The first two surviving dogs are Dachshunds living in Thailand, and Carmella is the first documented case on US soil (the third dog in the world), then the 4th was recently treated successfully (a Boston Terrier).

This protocol involves the off-label use of Newcastle Disease Virus vaccine (Newcastle Disease virus only infects chickens, so dogs cannot contract it, but because it’s in the same Paramyxovirus category as Distemper it elicits a heightened immune response in the dog, allowing its own immune system to kill the Distemper virus. The first part is given as an IV to treat all symptoms in the body, and then more is injected into the spinal canal at the base of the skull (where spinal taps are done on dogs) to eradicate the virus in the Central Nervous System.

I have carefully documented Carmella’s results in my blog; http://artlifenewsblog.blogspot.com/ and taken photos which clearly show her healing. This was not a spontaneous remission, as she was progressively getting worse until the time at which she received this treatment, first for the body, and the second part for the Central Nervous system.

Dr. Sears has not been able to get the right research facility interested in his cure because too much emphasis is placed on prevention and that’s what tends to be funded when it comes to clinical trials.

I myself contacted several University Veterinary schools including UGA and The University of Florida and both were very guarded about even looking into the science involved. It seems to be a taboo subject but if dogs’ lives can be saved by this discovery then vets should be using it and research facilities should be willing to invest in clinical trials.

As I see it, merely focusing on prevention does not solve the problem. There are always dogs in shelters who were inadequately vaccinated, puppies born in the woods, and even cases where dogs get the disease from the Distemper vaccine itself! My vet who has spent his life educating pet owners about the importance of vaccinations had to admit when the facts became apparent that this approach alone was simply not preventing the disease. Many erroneously believe that Canine Distemper has been almost eradicated in the Western Hemisphere, but in reality many cases are not represented in the statistics due to dogs being quickly “put down” and many dogs that are not ever diagnosed but instead are assumed to have and are wrongly treated for bacterial infections which never respond to antibiotics.

If you would like to do a follow-up article for either your online or printed magazine I would be willing to be interviewed and have your staff include the evidence that exists that Carmella is in fact recovered.

I would also be willing to put you in touch with the man who owns the two Dachshunds in Thailand, and possibly the owner of the Boston Terrier (if she is willing).

Dr. Sears has his e-mail address as contact person on various documents displayed online regarding the protocol and is open to any fair inquiries about how this works and the science involved. He can be contacted at AntiDistemper@aol.com

The two vets who treated Carmella in this two-part process may be willing to speak about this as well, as they are considering writing a case history on my dog at some point.

Within only 2 days after the first part of the treatment Carmella’s hardening and scaling paw pads began healing, and within only 2 weeks they were completely healed! This part was no less than miraculous. She gained weight, started eating suddenly, became active again, her eyes lost their haziness, and she more than doubled in size within a little over a month.

It took so long to find a vet who was both willing and able to do the CNS part of the treatment that while waiting Carmella developed some brain damage which left her with myoclonic jerking in the right, front leg that is pretty pronounced. Although less dramatic than the body treatment, the jerking/neuro symptoms stopped worsening immediately as soon as the NDV was injected into her spinal canal. It was obvious to me because of the almost daily disease-progression she’d suffered prior to the procedure that the NDV had in fact stopped the disease at that point.

She continued to become more and more robust and developed incredible muscle tone in the months afterwards since October 1, 2008 when this was done.

Please contact me at (e-mail witheld for public re-print) to let me know whether or not you can do a story about this. I believe this is news that will be of interest and a great help to many dog owners, shelters, and vets.

Sincerely,

Pippit Carlington

Carmella's Mange continues to heal, slowly but surely, and today I found some Borax at Kroger. Surprisingly they did not carry it at Walmart.

Every day that goes by she is looking a little less red and inflamed.

Last night I tried my best to file down her toenails with that Pedi-paws sanding device and although feeding her pieces of kibble from my other hand allowed me to sand some nails down a little bit, it soon became a wrestling match with her chewing on my hands as though they were steak bones.

Then she began trying to tear apart her nice new bed, first with her claws, and then with her teeth. She looked for all the world like a child throwing a temper tantrum when she didn't get her way. I was horrified and yelled at her that she better stop that right now because I just bought that!

I'm glad she did not cause any damage to it and has not tried to do it again. I lucked out in finding such a high quality dog bed and hope it lasts a long time because I don't know how long Sam's Club carries those.

Be sure to take a look at her on the Carmella-cam now, as you will have a bird's-eye view of her in her bed.

The seedpods have been fired, but I need to re-attach new headpins at the top where they'll connect to the chain.

I hope to start the watercolor series on Carmella soon!

***This just in***10:12 p.m. EST

I heard back from Dr. Sears after sending him Carmella's update. He now has a website for questions and answers regarding the treatment with NDV and about the dog-based serum that he invented using cytokines produced by a healthy donor dog after the introduction of Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine, spindown and seperation from red blood cells.

If you or someone you know has a dog with Distemper or you think a dog might have it go to Dr. Sears' website here;

http://www.treatment4distemper.com/

The site is still relatively new but it has a blog, still photos, podcasts, description of the protocol, including the most up-to-date understanding of the science behind it, and several short video clips showing dogs with Distemper-induced seizures. These clips are rather disturbing and have somewhat spooky music in the background, but they are effective.

I've written him tonight after looking at the website and asked if he would like to use any of the pictures of Carmella before and after treatment, and a video clip showing her myoclonic jerking. Once the site fills out some more and is made a little easier to navigate I think it will probably climb in Google position, as it's very nicely done.

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

Another Dog Treated With NDV in the CNS Survives!

The Boston Terrier I wrote about in my earlier post has just had the procedure on Friday, October 24th, 2008 in Texas! Today he is alive and doing well! This is another victory for dogs everywhere, as it will make the job of the next owners seeking this life-saving treatment alot easier!

His owner had this to say in a recent e-mail:

"Thanks for supporting us through this. Carmella's successful treatment and Dr. Muller's willingness to share his experience was a huge help."

Little by little more vets are beginning to see the merits of Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine for the treatment of Distemper and more vets are being added to the list of those willing to treat. This is really exciting! Distemper no longer needs to be a death sentence if it is detected and treated early enough with this method. I've said it before and I'll say it again; Dr. Alson Sears really should get the Nobel Prize for this discovery!

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

Carmella's New Fashion Statement

Things have been pretty uneventful lately for the most part but finally there are a few things of interest to report.

I got Carmella a muzzle at Petsmart for those times when I want to leave her out of the kitchen for awhile with me while I'm in the computer room or when she is on my bed and I don't want her to chew me or the computer wires.

I'm hoping that this will get her out of the habit of chewing (especially on people) when she figures out she can't do it. I put it on her right when she gets too rambunctious and starts chewing and nothing I say is getting her to stop.

I've noticed that although she tries to get it off and looks kind of disconcerted for awhile, eventually she does stop trying to chew.

I'm hoping that if I pet her when she can't chew me and repeat that often enough it will break the habit altogether at some point.

Today when I was outside with her throwing sticks for her to fetch she really chomped down on me pretty hard while she was jumping up into the air indescriminately trying to grab anything she could even if she could not reach the stick. She almost bit through my shoe once.

There are these berries she loves to eat that grow on the ornamental edging grass that surrounds my back porch and she alternated between eating those and chasing sticks. Luckily they aren't poisonous. She seems to like those even better than her dog food, LOL. I think she might be a vegetarian by nature. It's interesting that she loves things like apples and berries.

A woman posted on one of the Distemper messageboards who is from Texas and she and her husband have a small animal shelter. Several of their dogs have Distemper and one dog has died from it. They are worried that all the others might catch it too because they have not been able to get a vet to do the NDV injection into the Central Nervous System of their own dog, (a Boston Terrier) who was diagnosed almost a year and a half ago.

I gave her Dr. Muller's contact information and they have been in contact but so far their local vet who did the part of the treatment for the body has not been willing to inject the NDV into the CNS, so her dog has been getting worse and worse. He has signs of impending blindness and is starting to have some problems with coordination.

Since she is not able to travel here, I sent her some listings of vets in Texas and also told her to point out to the vets there who are reluctant to do this that Carmella is a living example proving that this treatment will stop the disease and that there can be no negative effects as long as the procedure is done as directed.

If any of you readers live in Texas and know of a vet who might be willing to try this please let me know and I'll pass that contact information onto this woman. It will be great if her dog can have the same chance as Carmella to overcome this disease, and it could prevent her other dogs from catching it also.

I am working on developing a list of vets who will do this so that when newly diagnosed dogs come along they can get help quickly without having to wait until it's too late.

A few days ago I made a small sale in my Etsy shop; a pair of my Haiku earrings made with nicely polished wood, oxidized copper wire, and (in this pair) Turquoise.

I am now down to 3 pairs remaining and I would love to sell the rest of them and make some new ones. If you like these and are interested in a particular stone at the bottom please don't hesitate to ask. I am glad to do special orders. These are great if you want something really nice for a good price. They are reasonably-priced enough to get a pair for several friends and/or family members. Just think; you could have alot of your holiday shopping taken care of.

I offer free gift-wrapping to those who would like it throughout the season. Just convo me on Etsy and let me know in the comment section when you purchase that you'd like them gift-wrapped. I just bought 3 nice rolls of ribbon today in moss green, rich bright red, and a white with sparkly irridescent blue and pink speckles.

I also got an interesting knitting spool that is a little wider than the wooden ones I have for wire and am planning on trying some new and interesting things with that while I wait for my rubber stamps to be completed, and in-between construction of the seedpods.

One more donation has come in for Carmella's vet bill recently. I will need to put another payment towards it again soon, so thank you everyone who has contributed, and those who haven't, keep it coming! Every little bit helps. You can also buy jewelry for your loved-ones in my Etsy store, and/or buy a $5.00 ad slot on my blog to help Carmella.

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

More Love For Carmella

Jennifer of BrownBag Studio has generously donated for Carmella's vet bill this lovely necklace made with Swarovski crystal set in brass in a hot Vintage Victorian style. Flaming orange Carnelian faceted ovals dangle at the bottom and the necklace is draped with several layers of antiqued chain. This will make an elegant gift for that special someone on your list!

The Coronation Gift - Necklace in Swarovski Crystal, Filigree and Stone

(To purchase click on the link below)

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14982942

Thanks, Jennifer and I hope this is only the beginning of a great season of sales for you!

Carmella's fur is starting to grow back on her neck and it looks like peach fuzz, a light cream color, and is very soft.

I am keeping her active, as this will help her to create the necessary pathways in the brain for new myelin to form and build her coordination. The brain needs challenges in order to stay nimble just as the body needs regular exercise. Many studies on disorders such as stroke and Alzheimers have shown that keeping the brain stimulated can slow the effects of aging, increase overal function, and create new neurons.

Carmella has fallen a few times in the kitchen today, and there is a possibility that over the next 3 weeks she could have some minor setbacks, but then it should level out.

I will probably contact Dr. Norwood about starting her on an anticonvulsant soon. That should help her jerking until the brain heals and takes care of it on its own, and also calm down the nervous need to chew on people.

Even so she let me hold her several times today without trying to eat my hand, so that may be progress!

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/