Most who I emailed didn't know anything about Dr. Sears.  The woman who had originally referred him to me had only heard from a friend who had a friend who knew someone who knew someone...Some said there was absolutely no cure for distemper and anyone who told you otherwise was suspect.  One rescue person was even downright hostile about him, calling him a "quack," and questioning his integrity.

Then the vet wrote me back.  She said that although she did not know about Dr. Sears' serum, she DID know of one documented case of his and she included the URL to Terri Haase's site and said there was a link on there to the case.  I ran as fast as I could to get my boyfriend - I knew he'd be just as amazed as I that there was something written about Dr. Sears!

From that site, we went to Ed Bond's site, and read voraciously his story of Tug, Selkie, Shadow, and Galen.  We both felt much better after reading it (thank you Ed!), knowing that someone out there had a good experience with Dr. Sears' treatment.

We could not wait until Monday.  We decided to go see the little Dot girl that Sunday (thankfully, Dr. Sears' office is open 7 days a week).  We decided to bring our other two dogs, Lula (a golden retriever/wolf-malamute mix) and Lorca (Lula's son - golden retriever/wolf-malamute/chow mix), so that the good doc could take a look at them and see if they were ok.  When we got there, we were both walking on eggshells, praying Dot had not gotten worse!

After Dr. Sears gave our dogs a clean bill of health, he brought out Dot's file.  She indeed had distemper.  Her Titer tests had come back and she was 1:360.  Too much to be simply from a vaccine.  We were crestfallen.  We had been hoping it was only kennel cough.  Dr. Sears told us not to worry.  He said he thought we had caught it in time and that the serum was already working for her, and we could take her home the next day.

He brought her out into a separate room so we could visit.  We couldn't believe what we were seeing!  She was so much better!  And so happy to see us!  I guess after all she'd been through, being incarcerated, then scuffled off to one vet for surgery, then to another vet where she'd had to stay in a cage all weekend, we were so afraid she would think we had abandoned her!  But it was a very happy reunion.

Her eyes had cleared up and she seemed more energetic.  She still was not eating though, and that worried us.  We asked him to put her on an IV!  Dr. Sears calmed us down and said she was going to be ok.  She was drinking her fluids fine and wasn't in danger of dehydration.  After a very emotional visit, so jubilant about her recovery, yet still so scared and confused, we finally left.  I was so worried about her not eating that dragged my boyfriend to In-n-Out Burger to get her a hamburger patty, since she had shown some interest in hamburger before.  Risking looking like pampering pet owners, we drove back, patty in hand.  They were closed, but the vet tech was nice enough to indulge me and take the patty for her.

That night, I posted Dot's progress to all who were interested, so excited about what seemed like a miraculous recovery.  I got a response back from the skeptical one.  Although she was nice and helpful in other ways, she just would not accept that Dr. Sears was not a quack.  She questioned the lab tests - did I see them?  How did he get them so fast? I told her that actually, when I took Eskimoty to Beverly Oaks, they'd been able to get a next day result too - I assured her I would get a copy of the lab tests.  I wanted them anyway so that I could alert the shelter of the second distemper dog, but again, she pretty much burst my bubble and got me scared again...was this the right thing? What if she gets worse...etc.

The next afternoon we came to collect Dot.  Again with the pins and needles, the fear not completely gone and a sense of anticipation of seeing her again.  Dr. Sears was cheerful.  He said she had made a good recovery, and had even eaten a little of the hamburger we had left for her!  She was bouncy and exhuberant and was so happy to see us again!  We could not believe our eyes.  Here was a dog that should have been in the throes of distemper and she was frolicking and licking our faces, happy as a clam to be in our arms again - and coming home - no seizures, no mucous, no sneezing.

He could not give us a guarantee that Dot would not develop symptoms later in life, or that she would not be a carrier and could never pass it on to unvaccinated dogs, but for now, the virus had been stopped.  He said our dogs were safe, being vaccinated, and that we shouldn't worry about them socializing.

I asked for the lab test and a vet tech gave it to me, no questions asked.  It was from a bona-fide lab in Irvine.

And although it helped to negate the negative feedback, we didn't need that to be convinced - the proof was in the pudding, so to say.  One look at Dot told us what we needed to know.  We were amazed.  It was as if the sneezing, vomiting, sad little creature she had become had been had been replaced with the healthy, springy rabbit-dog I'd first met at the shelter.  And she had only been with Dr. Sears for 54 hours!