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Camden came down with HOD about 1-2 weeks after his rabies vaccination. He was about 14 weeks at the time, he was 12 weeks when vaccinated. (please note: his breeder did not want to give him the rabies so early, but it was required to ship him. She was VERY apprehensive).

Originally, the HOD was misdiagnosed, now it seems clear that it was the beginning of Vaccine/HOD. Originally he presented to the vet with a mild front limp. The vet though he had hurt himself squeezing out of our fence, we thought that too. He was treated with Rimadyl. He was treated that way for a few weeks, the symptoms went away. Then, they came back. The vet treated with Rimadyl again, he was better.

About a week later he went to the vet with a high fever and very swollen joints. He was sent to the ER. They ruled out septicemia and dx HOD with radiographs. They gave him Rimadyl, vitamin C and an antibiotic. He stayed with them for 2 days. When he finally came home, there was improvement. He gradually improved over the next 10 days, then he went down again. The treatment was the same. This cycled continuously. We would get our hopes up, then he would have another episode.

As a last ditch effort, we contacted you. You told us about your Blackwatch Feed Program and what to start him on. So, we followed it to the letter. He also received an injection of dexamethazone and started taking dexameth tablets, per your suggestion. He improved dramatically, we thought we were out of the woods. About 2 weeks later, he had another episode. This was the worst ever. As a matter of fact, we thought we were gong to have to put him down. We took him to the vet. He got another shot of the Dexameth. The vet and I decided that maybe we weaned him off the dex tablets too quickly. He stayed on for 21 days. The vet was apprehensive to keep such a young dog on the steroid that long, but he felt given the state Camden was in, we had little choice.

He monitored his blood work closely while he was on the daily dosage. We also continued your feeding/supplement program. 2 months later, here we are. He has not had an episode in 2 months. He is now 7 months. He also does not have any malformation. He is a happy and healthy puppy. I have attached a picture of what he looked like during an episode. Again, I just wanted you to know that you may actually have 2 success stories when it comes to surviving vaccination reactions.
Thanks Again,
Courtney & Camden

Camden Before (left) and Camden 2 months after (right) notice reduction in carpel/wrist joint swelling in all back joints.