POSITIVE?? POSITIVE. NEGATIVE!!

Okay, dog story. Back in April, our sweet little Charlie went in for his regular check-up and heart worm test. It came back-brace yourselves- POSITIVE?! We were so devastated! How could it be? Our newest little family member was, as I saw it, terminally ill. And yes, I had grown to adore him so tears were shed. We told the kids what was going on with him and the little we knew about the disease and of course, they burst into tears as well. Livi was the one to say,"Mom! It's not our family if Charlie isn't in it!" That sent us into "super parent" mode, vowing to save this animal if it was at all possible. With all the upheaval and uncertainty we'd been experiencing, the last thing we needed was to lose the dog. Many hours of research were done and lots of phone conversations held with our vet. Since Heart Worm is something that simply is not seen in the South Dakota climate, we felt very fortunate to have a vet who had been trained in Ohio, a state very familiar wit h Heart Worm. Additional tests were done to confirm the positive result...yep, definitely POSITIVE. Chest x-rays were also taken and physicals performed. Charlie checked out very well. Very little organ damage, all of which would be reversed with treatment. Although he proved to be a good candidate for treatment, it was going to be a long three months of some awful regimens and medications. We got started and were told to give him HeartGard (a HeartWorm prevention medication) for five months prior to starting the courses of antibiotics, arsenic treatments, and narcotics. In the middle of the five months, we ended up moving here to Missouri. I found a good vet and, within a day, she had us in her office for a physical and extensive blood work. Her feelings were that the sooner we got him treated, the less damage he would incur. The day following our appointment, she called with some wonderful news. The preventative medication had worked a miracle in Charlie and he was now NEGATIVE for Heartworm! Yes, it is true. The disease had been reversed and cleared from his system without all of those awful medications! We feel so lucky. This little dog is a sweetheart and we want him to be a part of our family for a very, very long time!