[yorkietalkjilly]

When I was little our dog got distemper and the vet basically sent the Peke home with some type of medication and said "Good luck" but he didn't expect Tippy to live through the night. Tippy had a terrible time breathing and was choking for breath at one point, his little eyes bugged out in terror from struggling to breathe. My dad soaked a rag in turpentine and put it around his neck and sat with him, holding Vicks Vaporub under his nose and the rag in place throughout the night. Daddy would repeatedly dip that rag in the turpentine as the spirits would evaporate and replace it around Tippy's neck. Somehow, someway, little Tippy lived through that night, albeit his eyes were burned by the fumes and the vet, highly surprised he had made it through the night, treated his eyes for the fume burns with ointment and told Daddy Tippy had passed the danger zone, though he was still very sick a few more days. Tippy lived to be 16 1/2 years old - another 11 years after that distemper with no ill effects from the distemper or the eye burns.