# My pups got heartworm



## longbowdave1 (Mar 5, 2016)

She's 1 1/2 yrs old now. Despite having all her shots up to date, and giving her heartworm preventative meds, She was diagnosed about a month ago. She goes for her next treatment this Wednesday. The next few weeks will tell us if she's will get healed up or not. We are doing all we can to pull miss Riley through this.

 Anyone else gone through the treatments with your dog? I have heard some success stories, seems the newer meds are not as hard on the dogs.


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## Cmp1 (Mar 5, 2016)

Many, many years ago was able to save a dog of ours from heartworm, expensive but not too hard on the dog, came through OK,,,, probably even better today,,,, good luck and I hope all goes well,,,,


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 5, 2016)

Good to here it worked out for you! We are hoping for the same. The hardest thing is not letting the pup exercise, run, play, or walking her. She's a bit confused by that yet, we were running her 5 times a week before that.


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## hdgapeach (Mar 5, 2016)

Got an adult Golden Retriever from one of my friends that didn't want him any more.  He kept him outside in a pen for about seven years.  I lived in SC at the time and first time we took him to the vet, he was diagnosed with a pretty bad case of heart worms.  We did the whole treatment series with little hope he would make it.  BUT, he made it through just fine.  Boo lived to be fourteen years old before he passed and had a fun inside life his last seven years.  Sure miss him.  His treatment began in 2000 or 2001 and is considered archaic by today's standards.


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## sjrwinder (Mar 5, 2016)

Did it about seven years ago with a fire breathing lab age of about two. He is still a fire breather today. Just play easy for the rest time the reason being is the treatment kills the adults and it takes a good time till they are out of the blood system. They don't want the dog getting all worked up and breathing hard so the dead worms flow to lungs and clog them. Just take it easy and all should be good.
Best of luck


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## GA DAWG (Mar 5, 2016)

You can treat them yourself. Specially in young dogs with low doses of ivomec. They dont have to stay inactive that way but it takes a good bit longer. I hope she pulls through great for ya.


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## groundhawg (Mar 5, 2016)

Cmp1 said:


> Many, many years ago was able to save a dog of ours from heartworm, expensive but not too hard on the dog, came through OK,,,, probably even better today,,,, good luck and I hope all goes well,,,,



Same for us.  One female and it was over 25 years ago.  Kept her from mating till after we got clear blood work and a second dog a couple of years later and both were fine after treatments and lead healthy lives for several years.  Wish you and your pup the best.


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## Cmp1 (Mar 5, 2016)

sjrwinder said:


> Did it about seven years ago with a fire breathing lab age of about two. He is still a fire breather today. Just play easy for the rest time the reason being is the treatment kills the adults and it takes a good time till they are out of the blood system. They don't want the dog getting all worked up and breathing hard so the dead worms flow to lungs and clog them. Just take it easy and all should be good.
> Best of luck



Agreed, this is so true, those darn mosquitos,,,,


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 6, 2016)

Thanks for all the replys, and sharing your experiences with the nasty heatworm. I'm very glad to hear that your dogs pulled through. 

 Xrays show the pup already had a bit of an enlarged heart, but the Vet is not sure if that will reduce itself when the worms are killed off. Only time will tell.

 We have always given our dogs the heartworm prevenative meds, but "heartworm" didn't mean much until our dog got infected. It will be fatal unless treated.


Please be sure to give all your dogs the prevenative meds, and do the yearly test as well.


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## Cmp1 (Mar 6, 2016)

What a beauty,,,, unconditional love,,,, our healer in my Avatar is gonna be 14 in Nov,,,, great dog, but all our dogs are,,,,here's Lucy,,,,


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## Hokey123 (Mar 6, 2016)

Good luck to you and your pal.  Went thru the process years ago with my yellow lab, molly, it went well, she lived to 16, been gone three years,still miss her


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## JustUs4All (Mar 7, 2016)

Most dogs do well with treatment unless the infestation is severe. We have been through it dozens of times.  will be helping to move 14 dogs tomorrow that are in treatment.


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## specialk (Mar 7, 2016)

all the best in treating your dog!  I didn't have as good of luck......it was 20 plus years ago.....great coon dog given to me(guy owed me money)....had been in treatments for about a week.....I went to feed one evening, he got excited thinking I was loading him up to go hunting I guess....got all excited and his heart and lungs ruptured right there out onto my feet.....covered me from head to feet in blood, gone in 60 seconds.....most horrible thing I've ever experienced in raising dogs....since that day i have had all my dogs tested and on treatments.....no dog comes in my kennel without a test.....none....


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 7, 2016)

Cmp1   Good looking dogs you got there. You must be in the U.P. with all that snow in thepicture???


Hokey123      Thanks for the well wishes. I had two Goldens that lived to almost 14 each, know what you saying about your loss.


Justice4all       I read in another thread that you do dog recue work, good on you! Riley is a rescue pup.


SpecialK     Woe...... that is a terrible story! That had to be hard to deal with.



Hopefully we can get Riley back to playing by summer time, she misses it. Here she is playing with her buddy Whiskey, the St. Bernard. Nobody told riley she's only 48 pounds, and should back down once in a while! She doesn't like other dogs messin' with her frisbee. She loves to catch a frisbee.


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## Cmp1 (Mar 8, 2016)

Beautiful dogs, allways wanted a St Bernard,,,, but we need another dog like a moose needs a hat rack,,,,   think about rescuing a cattle dog, great dogs, highly intelligent, loyal, very loving and protective,,,,


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 8, 2016)

Cmp1 said:


> Beautiful dogs, allways wanted a St Bernard,,,, but we need another dog like a moose needs a hat rack,,,,   think about rescuing a cattle dog, great dogs, highly intelligent, loyal, very loving and protective,,,,




Big ol' Whiskey is not my dog, He belongs to one of the guys at the dog exercise area we go to. The county park system built a great 8 acre, fenced in, dog run area a few miles from my place. Whiskey is of of at least 50 of Rileys dog buddys. Every dog under the sun there.


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## Cmp1 (Mar 8, 2016)

Lol, thought that was your dog, still allways wanted one,,,, we're not in the up, northern lp, snow belt,,,, where are you at, pm me if you want,,,,


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## Nannyman (Mar 9, 2016)

Hate to see a vet rob you with an 18month old dog. At that age heart worm "preventative" ha,   would take care of them with time. Do your research online by scientists who are not holding their hand out for your money. It's been a scam for years. Your dog will be fine if he survives the poison they are giving him.


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 9, 2016)

Nannyman said:


> Hate to see a vet rob you with an 18month old dog. At that age heart worm "preventative" ha,   would take care of them with time. Do your research online by scientists who are not holding their hand out for your money. It's been a scam for years. Your dog will be fine if he survives the poison they are giving him.



I have done my research, and nowhere did it say that the prevenative medicine would rid the dog of heartworms. Even on the web site for Heartgard, the number one used prevtative, does say it will help an infected dog.

I have been taking my dogs to the same family run Vet clinic since 1986, trust them 100%. Yes, it is expensive, but it is my responsibility as a dog owner to get the dog the care they  need when sick. Maybe you have had a bad experience with a Vet, but there are some very good vets out there.

https://www.msu.edu/~silvar/heartworm.htm


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 9, 2016)

Cmp1 said:


> Lol, thought that was your dog, still allways wanted one,,,, we're not in the up, northern lp, snow belt,,,, where are you at, pm me if you want,,,,



PM Sent.


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## Nannyman (Mar 9, 2016)

Wrong research. Don't read just what the heart guard people say. They are selling the stuff. Look. An 18mo old dog that has been given heart guard can't have a serious case. An increased dose for 18 months along with doxycycline will cure the dog with no side effects and very little extra cost.
Ever wonder why a vet says test before heart guard, you don't want to kill your dog?  If ivermectin won't kill adult heart worms why is there a danger. Truth is there isn't any. Afraid you will overdose your dog?  The cure for Demedectic mange is 1/4cc ivermectin Daily for 6 weeks. MSU also has an article about not immunizing your dog every year. It can cause problems. Are they still doin that to your dog? Look. I don't really care what you do. Just know there are other alternatives to a vet taking money you could use for other things.


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## GA DAWG (Mar 9, 2016)

Hes right. It can very well be taken care of without the high dollar treatment. I posted that way up there but a guy can go either way he wants. Older dog Id do treatments. Young dog the ivomec way.


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## Joe Overby (Mar 9, 2016)

Doxycycline is $75 a month now...not exactly cheap....I am treating one now for HW...NO IVOMEC...advantage multi and doxy till the test comes back negative. She is too old for the imiticide treatment. FWIW, the imiticide treatment which is a series of 3 injections, is only about $300...including the office visit... 4 months of doxy alone gets you to the exact same cost. Do what y'all want but HW isn't something to play around with much less self treat without vet guidance.


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## GA DAWG (Mar 9, 2016)

Ive never heard of using doxy to. What's that do for a heart worm?


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## Joe Overby (Mar 9, 2016)

It's an infection too...the advantage multi kills the microfilaria so the adults can't reproduce and die off while the doxy treats the infection. Certain breeds can't have Ivomec...collies for example...with this being a mixed breed ID be hesitant giving it anything with ivomec in it just in case the dogs chemistry reacts adversly with it.

Oh yeah...18 months of doxy at $75 a month is $1350...so much for a low cost treatment option....


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## Nannyman (Mar 9, 2016)

If you have read the info the use of doxy is not recommended for the entire period. They give a schedule that is much less.


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## Joe Overby (Mar 10, 2016)

I have read the info....im doing it right now...my point is this...its no less expensive to do the slow kill versus the imiticide...AND, Ivomec is not safe for all breeds...this is not so.ething that should be done without vet supervision and to tell someone they can do it themselves without "some high dollar treatment" is irresponsible. The only one that suffers is the dog when uninformed decisions are made based on internet suggestions and money.


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## GA DAWG (Mar 10, 2016)

If you have a collie mix or full breed. Dont use ivomec. It will kill em dead. You dont even have to use doxy if you have a breed that can handle ivomec. If you wanna talk to the best vet in Ga. I can point you in his direction


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## JustUs4All (Mar 10, 2016)

See a vet.  Shepherds and collies can not tolerate Ivomec.  Mixed breed dogs can have anything in their background.  They are seldom what they appear to be.  Please don't use Ivomec if there is any white at all on the dog's paw area.


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## GA DAWG (Mar 10, 2016)

I guess I can say for sure. Aint no collie or Shepard in any dog I've ever owned.


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 10, 2016)

I am a fix it yourself, build it yourself guy, but I'm not a Vet, and didn't want to take a chance without the help of my Vet. 



 Got Riley back today from her second phase of treatment this afternoon, and she is quiet but doing real well! Hopefully she will get the "all clear' on April 23rd, and we can put this behind us.


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## Nannyman (Mar 10, 2016)

Points taken fellas. My main issue is a young dog, on heartworm medication. The infection cannot be severe enough to warrant such and extensive and expensive procedure. Where did you get the heartworm meds? The same vet you trust so?  Are they taking some of the responsibility?  Sorry if everyone is so offended.


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 12, 2016)

Nannyman said:


> Points taken fellas. My main issue is a young dog, on heartworm medication. The infection cannot be severe enough to warrant such and extensive and expensive procedure. Where did you get the heartworm meds? The same vet you trust so?  Are they taking some of the responsibility?  Sorry if everyone is so offended.



 No offense taken Nanny. Just glad she's doing well.


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## mguthrie (Mar 15, 2016)

We rescued a pup a couple years ago but couldn't afford to keep him. A friend ended up taking him and we told he may have HW just because of the environment he came from. Sure enough he took him to the vet and has them. He's spent north of $2500 in 6 months so far and they still haven't cleared up. Don't know what he's treating with but it's through a vet


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## longbowdave1 (Mar 18, 2016)

mguthrie said:


> We rescued a pup a couple years ago but couldn't afford to keep him. A friend ended up taking him and we told he may have HW just because of the environment he came from. Sure enough he took him to the vet and has them. He's spent north of $2500 in 6 months so far and they still haven't cleared up. Don't know what he's treating with but it's through a vet



Ouch. 2400$ is a lot of cash. Hope they can fix the pup.


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## mauser7mag (Mar 19, 2016)

Don't give up hope.  We rescued a shepard mix from the local shelter were we live and she had heartworms.  Treatment cost us $1200, she came through it well and was with us another 14 years before she passed.  It wasn't cheap but it was worth every penny, she was one of the best dogs we ever had.


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## longbowdave1 (Apr 3, 2016)

An update on Riley. 

Wednesday it will be four weeks since her last injection. Next week we will be able to walk her on a leash to get limited exercise, but no off leash running yet, or full out playing. She is doing great, but definately couped up from the last seven weeks of no exercise. In two more weeks she'll get a blood test for the "all clear' we are hoping for.

 One of the fine members here on the forum contacted me via PM, and told me to call Merial, the makers of Heartgard, and I did. They opened up a case file, and consulted with my Vet on her treatment and records. Merial decided to offer some help with the cost of treatmant. Because each case is different, I won't discuss the amount, but we are very pleased with Merails handling of her case. Great to see a company stand behind their product these days. They are out of Duluth, GA I believe.

 A big thanks to our Vet also, they are doing all they can to bring Riley back to health!


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## rehatch (Apr 15, 2016)

For what it's worth from a vet, I fully agree with your choice of treatment.  Though Immiticide does have its risks and is excessively expensive, it is the fastest way to rid your dog of adult worms.  The "slow-kill" treatment suggested several times on here, with or without doxycycline use, is a perfectly viable option as well.  However, it can take up to 2-4 years to clear all adult worms this way and that is 2-4 years of irrepairable damage to the cardiovascular system. It is also horrible advice to suggest to anyone to just start ivermectin treatment on a heartworm positive dogs.  ALL heartworm positive dogs should be closely monitored and/or pre-medicated prior to starting back on ivermectin or any other heartworm prevention on the first dose after being diagnosed heartworm positive, as anaphylactic reactions can occur when the microfilaria are killed. 

I do not fully disagree with some of the arguments made here concerning these treatments, but do find it unfortunate, that there are people who believe that the money involved is the deciding factor for how vets decide to treat this disease in pets. 

Ultimately, I hope that your pup continues to do well with treatment with absolutely no complications and wanted to commend you on taking the appropriate actions to care for her!  Keep us posted on how she does.


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## longbowdave1 (Apr 18, 2016)

rehatch said:


> For what it's worth from a vet, I fully agree with your choice of treatment.  Though Immiticide does have its risks and is excessively expensive, it is the fastest way to rid your dog of adult worms.  The "slow-kill" treatment suggested several times on here, with or without doxycycline use, is a perfectly viable option as well.  However, it can take up to 2-4 years to clear all adult worms this way and that is 2-4 years of irrepairable damage to the cardiovascular system. It is also horrible advice to suggest to anyone to just start ivermectin treatment on a heartworm positive dogs.  ALL heartworm positive dogs should be closely monitored and/or pre-medicated prior to starting back on ivermectin or any other heartworm prevention on the first dose after being diagnosed heartworm positive, as anaphylactic reactions can occur when the microfilaria are killed.
> 
> I do not fully disagree with some of the arguments made here concerning these treatments, but do find it unfortunate, that there are people who believe that the money involved is the deciding factor for how vets decide to treat this disease in pets.
> 
> Ultimately, I hope that your pup continues to do well with treatment with absolutely no complications and wanted to commend you on taking the appropriate actions to care for her!  Keep us posted on how she does.




 Thank you Rehatch. Riley is doing real well, got all her energy back. She's going to be able to play like she used to this week! I misstated that she will have her next blood test now, but it is actually on 6 more weeks. The Vet says he would not be surprised to see a "false positive" on that test, and may need one more test 6 weeks from then. 

 She is going to go crazy when she can run with all her dog buddys at the dog park again! We gave all her dog toys back to her, and I thought I saw dog tears, she was so happy.


 I hope all the information in this thread is something none of you will ever need with you dogs. Thanks to all for the info and well wishes!


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## Jeff Raines (Apr 18, 2016)

I found this to be very interesting.

http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2008/05/billion-dollar-heartworm-scam.html


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## GA DAWG (Apr 18, 2016)

Jeff Raines said:


> I found this to be very interesting.
> 
> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2008/05/billion-dollar-heartworm-scam.html



Well I be darned. Good link. He must know my vet


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## rehatch (Apr 18, 2016)

Jeff Raines said:


> I found this to be very interesting.
> 
> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2008/05/billion-dollar-heartworm-scam.html



just enough factual information to make it seem believable, especially if you do not believe in fact checking! Heartworm infection is not a rare phenomenon in most of the continental united states and is becoming increasingly worse every year.  If you actually do intelligent research, you will find that heartworm infection is exceedingly common in certain regions of the country. In my neck of the woods 1:7 (capc.net) dogs are heartworm positive. This number is based on "reported" tests which are low due to most tests being run in house. At my clinic no heartworm positive cases are reported for statistics and i can guarantee you that 1:7 is low for this area. 
Much of the info in this article i do not disagree with, however, there is much that is left out or plain wrong! In southern states, heartworm transmission is a year round problem! 
Everyone wants to point at the "greedy, money-hungry" vet being out to get you and your money. It is quite obvious that these people have no idea what veterinarians actually make; let alone how much they spent on their education. You should probably take the time to do that research and maybe your eyes would open to how ridiculous this idea sounds. 

Heartworm prevention, or "treatment" monthly, depending on your symmantics, is simply that. Monthly treatment to PREVENT your dog from developing heartworm disease. buying ivermectin at tsc to use as a preventative works great if you want to keep costs to a minimum, as long as you do it monthly. 
I cannot remotely act as if there arent horrible, unscrupulous veterinarians out there. But, if you think that as a profession that we would "scare jar" clients into unneccessary treatment you're insane. Please show me what the point would be! Because financially it does NOT line our pockets as this article and other statements on this thread make it seem. I definitely couldnt afford life on the mere selling of heartworm prevention. 
I hope that those of you reading this do not take this as an assault or fight. I simply chimed in to offer "free" expert advice on something that i deal with every single day in practice and that is very preventable. I do not wish to be argumentative or vile. I just hate to see my profession get bashed by false ideaology. There is no one perfect treatment or preventative for heartworm disease, and, regardless of cost, any veterinarian worth his/her salt should be willing to discuss every option with you. If not, you really should be looking for a new one. I would be more than willing to discuss every aspect of this thread and the quoted article with anyone and be willing to show you any and all data out there concerning heartworm disease, prevention, disease complications and treatment anytime. My only hope is that i help atleast one person prevent this disease from affecting their pet and open their eyes to the fact that caring for your pet is my, and most veterinarians top priority.


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## king killer delete (Apr 19, 2016)

The best thing to do is Prevent, prevent, prevent.


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## Nannyman (May 24, 2016)

Only problem is the OPs dog was on heartworm prevention. The very young dog supposedly had heartworms and then the vet charged the man for a very expensive cure. Sorry but I smell a rat somewhere.


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## Joe Overby (May 25, 2016)

Nannyman, the op has stated that the dog was on heartgard...which uses ivomectin as it's active ingredient. It is common knowledge now that there is an Ivomec resistant strain of HW that covers an expansive part of the southeast and the entire Mississippi flyway. So, just because the dog was young, and on a monthly preventative does not warrant conspiracy theories. This can happen regardless of age, health, environment, or presence of preventative usage.


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## rehatch (Jun 3, 2016)

There are resistant heartworms populations to ALL macrocyclic lactones (i.e. all heartworm preventatives).  However, these worms are only in select areas and resistance is not caused by the use of heartworm preventions, but due to a mutation only within that population of worms.  Any dog on heartworm prevention can potentially develop the disease due to the fact that NO medication is 100% effective.  These cases do happen, but they are rare.  Regardless of how you feel about the veterinary profession, there is no "rat" at play, but a natural phenomenon that happens in ALL facets of medicine both veterinary and human.  Preventative treatment is the ONLY way to offer any form of protection to your dog from heartworm disease!!!


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## longbowdave1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Well, we got the "all clear" blood test back this week! Ol' Miss Riley is back to her good ol' self now, thanks to a good Vet! 

Again, thank you to all for your support!


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## sjrwinder (Jun 20, 2016)

longbowdave1 said:


> Well, we got the "all clear" blood test back this week! Ol' Miss Riley is back to her good ol' self now, thanks to a good Vet!
> 
> Again, thank you to all for your support!



That is fantastic enjoy her and let her play.


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