Puppy With Facial Distortion

I have been treating a puppy for sudden-onset facial distortion and have had very little success. I would be grateful for any suggestions.

The puppy is a purebred cream-colored retriever. When he was 3 months old, he awoke one morning with the left side of his face distorted; his entire left cheek was drawn back and up, elevating his left ear higher than normal. This condition had appeared overnight with no prior signs of illness, and there was no sign of injury. Initially, his left eye was significantly narrowed although neither mouth nor eye was paralyzed; his mouth moved normally while eating, the eye could blink, and there was no watering from the eye. His behavior was unchanged, and there were no other symptoms. He had had his second round of vaccinations about 1 month prior to the onset of this condition. The owners had not noticed any symptoms after the vaccinations.

I have treated him for nearly a year, trying several remedies for Bell’s palsy, facial distortion, and vaccinosis, but there has been almost no change in his condition.

He was part of a large litter (the owners are breeders). Because there were many puppies, it was difficult to elicit specific information about his personality from the owners. The individualizing features I observed were that he would periodically withdraw from play with the other puppies and sit quietly by himself on the sidelines. He did not seem in any distress and would simply decline for a period of time when other dogs tried to initiate play. It was not clear to me whether he was resting because he was physically tired or wanted a break from the contact with other dogs or for some other reason. Once when he came to my home office so his owner could pick up a remedy, he seemed very shy about exploring the new surroundings and remained near his owner and me. He did not exhibit particular aggression or passivity with his litter mates; he seemed relaxed, playful, and even tempered though he would respond sufficiently to get other dogs to leave him alone if he was being ganged up on or asked to play when he did not want to.

About a month after I started treating him, the distortion in his face increased (following a dose of graphites), drawing his nose off center to the left, which is where it has remained. There was no further response to graphites.

The only other changes were that, after receiving some doses of Thuja 30C, his eyelid was able to open wider, and he appeared to me to gain more ability to lower the position of his left ear although the owners thought perhaps he had been able do this prior to receiving Thuja. He had no further response to Thuja, even after several days of higher potency.

He has had the following remedies for this condition, all 30C unless otherwise indicated. In each case, the doses were given 2x or 3x per day over several days followed by a waiting period to observe the response:

Hypericum, Belladonna, Graphites (12C), Causticum, Thuja (200C & 1M in addition to 30C) Silicea, Cadmium sulphuratum (200C), Calc. carb, and Plumbum (1M).

Aside from the slight response observed after Thuja, described above, he showed no response to any of these remedies. He appears otherwise to be a happy and seemingly healthy puppy. I recommended to the owners not to give him any more vaccines, and they have chosen to follow this recommendation.

I would be grateful for any thoughts or suggestions.

1 member likes this

Attachments:

PB2Feb2011.jpg, 30 KB
PBFeb2011.jpg, 34 KB

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by carole sanders on August 28, 2011 at 2:47pm

My suggestion would be from experience if e.g. it is paralysis simliar to Bells Palsy that you need a high potency e.g. 1m three times daily for at least 5 days to se if theere is response if no response try another remedy - otherwise if there is any response at al keep going for two or three weeks - s o maybe you need to repeat the thuja in a 1m - I always find Caust is a great remedy for this but is right sided - does he have any problems associated with this? - He seems such a happy chappy and goldies are my favourite dogs - would love to help . So maybe look at the left sided paralysis rx cad sul is one youve tried but you need to go 1m and repeat 3 x daily - what about Phos or Puls knowing how loving they are - does he have any fears ? carole

Permalink Reply by Nan Wishner on August 28, 2011 at 4:19pm

Thanks, Carole and Debby for your thoughts! I forgot to mention the very last remedy I tried with this pup, which was sulphur. After the slight positive changes in response to Thuja 30C 3x a day, I tried Thuja 1M twice a day for 9 days but saw no response. Regarding your question about caust., to which he did not respond in 30C, he has no right sided sxs. He does seem happy and otherwise normal - not bothered in any way by the condition of his face The only fears I observed were of the new and unfamiliar - getting into the car, and then being here at my place. That plus the hypothesis that the vaccine was the cause and the facial distortion rubrics in which they appear led me to try sil. and calc. carb. The owners have not noticed anything that frightens him. I am really stumped by this case! Debby, what chelation foods would you recommend? I don't have much experience with chelation in animals. Thanks again to both of you!

Permalink Reply by carole sanders on August 28, 2011 at 6:54pm

in all honesty I would say then that the remedies arent right - you will get a respnse when you get the right remedy but because of the paucity of sx its quite difficult to prescribe on - th eonly other thought is have you thought about usaing the vaccine in potency if theyre sure that was the problem also did he have a rabies vaccination that is particularly nasty?

Permalink Reply by Nan Wishner on August 28, 2011 at 8:01pm

Alas, that has been my thought too, that the remedies are not right though I feel I have exhausted the rxs that are most clearly indicated by the symptoms that are evident at this point. The vaccine that preceded onset of the condition by a month was the DAPP (distemper, adenovirus, parvo, parainfluenza), and he had had a coronavirus vax prior to the DAPP. I do not think he has had rabies because that would not normally have been due until 24 weeks, and they stopped vaccinating him after 12 weeks. I will look into whether a remedy has been made from the DAPP - that is an interesting suggestion. The only other thing I can think to do is spend several hours with the dog myself, observing to see if I can pick up any other clues. thanks again for sharing your experience with me!

Permalink Reply by carole sanders on August 29, 2011 at 2:27am

hi Nan, thats my experience if the remedy is right it will work - and maybe its not the vacc? i have only a few times found that using the vaccinein potency has worked altho in children or people there are other sx and often clinical experience of the remedy to help justify a precription like that but maybe if all else fails its worth trying - it sounds like a good idea to just be with him and observe - thinking outside the vacc box those dogs are usually so happy and friendly and eager to please check out if he is frghtened of noise like bangs or thunder as phos is often a good remedy for them even tho it has no relation to vaccc. if other things fitted .......... may be worth looking at - hope you dont mind my sugggestions but he's such a sweetie and its not an easy case - keep in touch i'd love to know how you get on

Permalink Reply by Nan Wishner on August 29, 2011 at 12:43pm

Dear Carole - I do not mind your suggestions at all! I put the case up on HWC in hope of getting suggestions : ). The diagnosis is part of the dilemma for me - is it a vaccination reaction, Bell's palsy or some other neurological issue for some other reason which could include genetic susceptibility (though the breeders have never had this problem before), or something else? The vet at the clinic where I work - and where the breeder brought him for diagnosis - thought Bell's palsy, but there is no way to know for sure. As far as the owners have observed, he is not frightened of noise, stairs, closed spaces, dark, etc. and exhibits the usual retriever "love me-I'm always happy" behavior. I will update this posting if there is progress in the case, and thanks again for your time and thoughts.

Permalink Reply by Debby Bruck on August 28, 2011 at 2:54pm

Dear Nan ~ My first impression was that the puppy had a reaction to some vaccinations based upon the work on a famous Canadian neurologist Dr Moulden who correlates facial distortion with chemicals and toxins in the brain. Thus, your choice of thuja, silica, graphites, etc seems most appropriate to deal with vaccine side effects. Carole may have good suggestion about changing the potency and frequency of dosage. Perhaps needs very low potency of Thuja and silica like 6C on a physical level and perhaps some chelation foods to remove mercury, etc.

We will be having a special radio show in October with Christina Chambreau. We can ask her at that time. I am not an expert with animals. Typically, spirulina and cilantro are used for chelation. You will need a professional to assist you.

Permalink Reply by Nan Wishner on August 29, 2011 at 12:44pm

Thanks, Debby. Do you know the date of the show when Christina will be on? I'll see if I can find someone around here who knows about chelation with animals.

Permalink Reply by Vaikunthanath das Kaviraj. on August 29, 2011 at 1:48pm