Petunia raises up to be picked up. She has no idea that anything is wrong.
But Petunia is a broken toy. She has some neurological damage from having had distemper, a completely preventable disease.
This is what our veterinarian said about Petunia.
"From: <no-reply@app.ezyvet.com>
To: Robin Pressnall <robin@smallpawsrescue.org>
Subject: Rescue Pup at City Vet
Hi Robin,
I just wanted to touch base. Your new rescue dog is doing great with us-- eating well and a happy little girl!
I took x-rays of her left front leg, which seems to be the most pronounced part of her "spasms" and also is intermittently non-weightbearing. I do not see an old injury or fracture so I think it is likely that she had distemper as a puppy and was one of the lucky ones that survived but will likely have neurologic deficits for the rest of her life. Interestingly, her growth plates aren’t closed so I suspect she is actually around 9 months of age.
We updated her vaccines today and she did great-- no side effects. The shelter hadn’t fecal or heartworm tested her so we did that and she is negative for both. I am going to start her on heartworm/flea prevention while here. I am not worried about any side effects from the heartworm/flea prevention as her neurologic deficits are not seizure in origin.
She has not developed a cough but we will continue monitoring since she came from the Fort Worth shelter. The plan is to spay her and remove some of her puppy teeth next Friday.
I will call you if anything concerning occurs otherwise I’ll call after the spay on Friday,
Below is a video of Petunia. She has a tremor. She doesn't know it. She is such a happy girl.
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