Miraculous Recovery Of Dogs From Canine Distemper With Efforts Put In By Animal Activists
- Miraculous Recovery of Dogs from Canine Distemper with Efforts put in by Animal Activists-Urjita Parkar, Raau & Marvin Fernandes. Nature heals canine distemper and it might no longer be deadly!
Mangaluru: Recently, while the human race was battling the Covid-19 pandemic and its variants, “man’s best friend” was falling prey to the deadly virus – Canine Distemper (CD). There had been a severe outbreak of CD in the city and it had claimed many lives, with surviving dogs suffering untold misery till death. The fact that the virus is not communicable to humans has made the government ignore Canine Distemper, which could be very well prevented with annual vaccination. The expensive vaccine, available for seven diseases costing upwards of Rs 800, is a bottleneck that prevents most pet owners from immunizing them.
As per a trustee of Animal Care Trust (ACT), the usual winter phenomenon that started last December lasted till March 2022. But shockingly there had been an outbreak in September 2022 affecting a vast population of dogs, even older ones which we thought were resistant,” indicating mutation. The ACT trustee said that the government should subsidize the vaccine so that dogs can be immunized. Another fallout is pet owners abandoning infected dogs on the streets to fend for themselves, according to her. Meanwhile, it is learnt that ACT shelter has seen more than 200 cases last year and 60 this year. Sadly, these numbers are much more on the streets among stray dogs who suffer a lot. ACT’s birth control programme has also been a casualty of this virus.
The ACT trustee also pointed out that when the disease progresses a dog may lose recognition and tries to attack people and shows symptoms of rabies, hence people beat the dog to death suspecting it to be rabid. According to a local veterinarian, the usual symptoms include, losing strength in the limbs, twitching or paralysis of the mouth area. The initial indicative symptoms are watery to pus-like discharge from their eyes, fever, nasal discharge, coughing, lethargy, and reduced appetite and vomiting. Once the dog has been infected nothing much can be done, barring symptomatic treatment and hope for the best, she stated.
Now, this column is about a few animal activists who saved nearly 8-10 dogs affected by Canine Distemper. Animal activist Marvin Fernandes has narrated a miraculous story of eight dogs that will leave one’s heart to experience a sense of oneness and connectivity towards the beautiful creation we have yet to experience. Marvin said, ” In a small village, but not remote, there happens to be a stream of joy and laughter in a house, so peacefully structured and a complete model of living in symbiosis. The place bloomed with the colours of plants and trees and the other sensitive creatures around so vividly that could make one feel an extreme dilemma. This place also shares and comforts eight dogs and life with them feels very complete”.
“The ones devoted to the time they spend on these creatures tend to understand that the bonding goes way beyond words and feelings and connectivity speaks. One understands that the dog doesn’t need any brutal training to tame him/her, in fact with love and freedom, the pet naturally understands human behaviour and how he should play his role. This loyal friend teaches you how to love unconditionally and as a human we can grasp all these and applying it to our daily lives opens our doors to understanding nature in a major way. One attached to these loyal creatures feels excruciating pain, seeing them in hurt and pain” added Marvin.
He further said, “Nature though bold and beautiful in many ways, is cruel to our eyes in some other ways. Our entire pack of eight dogs got infected by canine distemper from a sick wandering dog which we had sheltered for treatment on our premises. Initially, the symptoms were eye-watering and nasal discharge and our pups were so very small, varying from 3 to 7 months and seeing them getting sick started bothering me to an extent that it would keep me awake making it a long tiring day. Being in a village with no proper clinic that could treat emergencies and it was difficult to have the doctors visit our home. So, I and my friend decided to do our best and travel long enough with two dogs at a time and get them checked. At first, injections and tablets didn’t seem to cure them and it started getting worse”.
“The pups started coughing, leading to respiratory tract infection, weakness, no appetite, no water intake, neurological issues, body tremors, convulsions and so on, and all of this happened in a week. This incident shook our ground and bled a sigh of warm shivers seeing them fall apart and we lost one of our beloved pups 2 months old. The place that I lived in started haunting me and with some research figured out these symptoms were all pointing to canine distemper. Then we somehow managed to speak to a very renowned vet, and he said the same and the next thing he said made me cry out in throbbing pain. He said canine distemper cannot be treated anymore if your dogs are less than a year old so their chances of survival are very less, and it’s just a matter of weeks,” said Marvin.
“How would one react to this? My friend was in tears and I couldn’t afford to break down, and from that moment onwards, I decided to put my skills and ability to live a natural-based lifestyle to use for these loyal friends and increase my level of research. Our house became a non-stop study centre in less than a day with boards and charts hanging and all my previous study material of aromatic and medicinal oil that I practised as a perfumer. This was the first time I and my friend started deeply understanding and communicating through their behaviour and pattern, and before we could begin our treatment, our two dogs were attacked by hind leg paralysis, for two and a half months and another seven months. I wondered if the increased level of pain would ever stop walking our path”.
“But already motivated, all we can do is never give up. We started recording and monitoring them for 20 hours a day and trying not to cry in front of them because the pain of seeing them struggle is immense. The first two rounds of Ayurveda and juices and syringe feeding gave them some strength and hydrated their body. (First week) after Ayurveda (Second week) Ayurveda got them back to eating from their bowls, but they could eat very little but it didn’t matter as it was better than before, and towards the end of the second week, they started drinking water from their bowls and passing motions, but it would consume a lot of our time shifting the paralytic dogs as they would always be wet and dirty in their motions”.
“(Third week) we introduced some oils and highly nutritious food in their diet along with medicinal juices and powders and to our surprise, the 2 and a half month pup started dragging herself around and it brought tears and joy in our eyes, but the 7 months old dog couldn’t move yet. In the fourth week, with a lot of nerve-warming massages, oils, Ayurveda, good food and a lot of love and care, they started responding so well, that one day the 7 months dog started barking and howling, and I wondered why and I just didn’t know that on slightly picking her up, I could see movement in her hind legs. So I balanced her and she stood. Hurray!!”
“So, we kept doing what we were doing and today all our dogs are healthy after 35-40 days of juggling. It will take them a few months to be what they were before, but today all our dogs run and eat and drink like how they are supposed to. This journey taught us how staying connected with a natural lifestyle and believing in its ways helps one to understand the true power of nature.
Marvin making a humble request said, “Please support us as we want to bring the natural and loving way of treating the pets out in the open as medical science has no cure for canine distemper and this treatment will save dogs not only from canine distemper but also act as a shield from future illness and it promotes good health and the best part is it has no side effects when given in proper dosage.
To extend support or for details call Marvin Fernandes at 9167735231; 8879784563
