Help Nara and Khaleesi survive
Hi everybody, my name is Jo and I have two puppies name Nara and Khaleesi. They are Doberman pinscher puppies and currently 15 weeks old. They are so playful and LOVE to eat. They have received all sets of the vaccination shots, their last shot was given 3 weeks ago on 8/12/21. I always took them to the vet regularly as they were growing up and they have been healthy up until now.
So 4 days ago (8/29/21), Nara (pink collar) suddenly had a seizure where it started off as facial seizures, then became a full body seizure that lasted around 30 seconds. She had foam in her mouth and was drooling excessively. It was probably one of the most scariest moments of my life. I called every emergency vet in my area, but almost all of them were over capacity so they were unable to take her. Eventually I found an emergency clinic that would take her, and when they heard her symptoms, they first thought Nara had canine distemper.
* Canine distemper is a disease that is highly contagious and potentially lethal. A paramyxovirus causes distemper in dogs, and it is closely related to the measles and rinderpest viruses. It causes severe illness in the host by attacking multiple body systems, resulting in a widespread infection that is difficult to treat. I did my research and learned that distemper unfortunately has no cure.
When the vet saw Nara in person, she started to think that it might actually not be distemper because of the way she was still eating/drinking water very well, playing, energetic, running/walking, etc. Usually seizures are the final stages of the disease which means Nara should have been very lethargic and not able to walk and eat/drink. So she sent us home with fluids, and recommended seeing a neurologist.
The next day, Khaleesi ( no collar) started having a seizure at around 8-9 in the morning. I obviously rushed to the vet again and the emergency told us that it would take 4 hours to see a vet because they were so busy. I went to another vet and He saw that both Nara and Khaleesi were walking okay and said there's always a chance it could be distemper, but It could also possibly be idiopathic epilepsy. If the puppy has idiopathic epilepsy, it can't really be cured but the seizures can be controlled with anti-seizing medications, but they might have to take it for the rest of their life. The vet is hoping it's idiopathic epilepsy, not distemper because there would be nothing we could do besides support them for as long as possible. When Khaleesi came home, she ended up having one facial seizure then one full seizure AGAIN a couple hours later. We had to take her to to an emergency clinic around 30 miles away because again every hospital was over capacity. We had to leave her there overnight to control her seizures and that itself cost $1,400, which I expected because emergency vets are always very expensive.
The more I read about distemper and the symptoms, I started scaring myself because so many people talked about how they had to put their pet down with euthanasia and how there's no hope. Every vet recommended seeing a neurologist to get an MRI done or to receive consultation to see if the puppies could possibly have brain related infections or other issues and not distemper. I asked the hospital around how much it would cost to see a neurologist for Khaleesi since she had more seizures than Nara because Nara only had one so far, and they told me it would roughly cost $7,000 (!!!!). I prepared myself financially for emergency visits, but I was not expecting a neurologist visit to add that much more onto my shoulders.
I've been monitoring them every single minute of the day, but I'm scared they are going to get worse. This has been mentally exhausting for me, so I decided to ask for help. I want to do everything in my power to help them before the vet gives me tells me that putting them down would be best.
I've had to put my dog of 13 years down alone almost two years ago and had to watch a neighbor's puppy seize and pass away in front of me just three weeks ago. I don't think I would be able to handle losing two more without trying every single thing possible. I appreciate ANY help at all no matter the cost, absolutely anything. Even just sharing the post would be amazing!! Thank you for taking the time to read this desperate post.
