Max the Miracle

This is no ordinary dog -- Max is special -- very special. He came from a shelter in Lake City and his name was Popeye - but his name was changed to Max. Max came to us as a foster dog through a rescue organization and stayed with us for a while. If you notice in the picture, Max only has one eye. We don't know what happened to it. When you look at him, it is not apparent immediately that he has only one eye because of his fur coloring. In addition, when Max came, it was evident that Max may have been in some fight or had something happen to his ears since we kept on pulling out metal which seemed to be sutures.
Probably the most serious problem Max had was that he was heartworm positive, but his age and condition kept him from having the most traditional treatment for dogs that have heartworms. It's a treatment that is hard on dogs, similar to chemotherapy on people. His course of treatment was to give him heartworm medicine and hopefully it would eventually kill off all of the heartworms over a period of time.
Max stayed with us for quite some time and there was a time that I thought that Max would be a permanent foster at our home, which was fine, because he was a great dog and got along with the other dogs in our home.
Then.... some friends came over.... long time friends.. and Max took to Scott like they were long lost buddies. And.... Scott took to Max in the same manner. Scott and his wife Beth have another "child" at home - Buddy. Not knowing how they would get along, we talked about Max going to spend the night to see how things would work out. And though there was an adjustment period, Max and Buddy made a good pair, good enough that the adoption process began. Of course there was no doubt in my mind that this adoption would pass muster with the rescue folks. If there were ever a canine heaven on earth, this place was it. (For example - Max had his own special ramp built so he could get on the bed without jumping - that was difficult for him.)
The vets were skeptical over the course of treatment that Max was taking, but in consideration of his age, they didn't think he would be able to handle the more invasive treatment. So Max became their "guinea pig" and over the course of several years, they continued to test to see if he was heartworm positive or negative. Well, today, they received the good news that Max is NOW HEARTWORM NEGATIVE --- and this is cause for celebration!!! The vets were especially excited over this! And there are a bunch of folks who have watched Max grow healthier over the past couple of years.
A big celebration is going to occur over at Max's house today!!!!
Max will be more famous one day as his "MOM" writes stories about Max and Buddy's escapades. For right now, his fame is with those of us who have seem him blossom and grow with good health!