Heartworm treatment in dogs?

[Stickerbunny]

I know there are treatments for it, but the only dog I was around with heart worms was too advanced to even begin treatment and we lost him shortly after his new doggy checkup, the vet said there was nothing to be done, he wasn’t strong enough for treatment.. Has anyone had any experience in treating heart worms in a dog? How difficult is it on the dog/owner? 

I ask because some may remember I posted before about my grandmother losing her baby, Thumbelina. Well, she’s been deeply depressed since then and staying in bed a LOT. She still has Sugar, her other dog, but Thumby was the “baby” and the one that stayed in her lap and such all the time. A lady my mother works with had a dachshund that she couldn’t care for and was sadly being kept as an “outdoor only” dog, with little interaction. My mother adopted the dog from the lady and gave her to my grandmother, my grandmother has nursed a lot of little abused pups into trusting humans again, so my mother figured the project might snap her out of the depression. My mother thinks the dog may have been used as a breeder, so has a lot of issues to work through, she cowers if you look at her directly. She was kept outside and not on heart worm prevention in Florida, so highly likely she has heart worms. They are taking her to a vet soon to get her checked out to confirm.

Now, I know treatment is a bit expensive, so I offered to help pay for treatment for the little girl. But has anyone ever been around / experienced a dog being treated for heart worms? She is still acting healthy, so if she does indeed have them, they aren’t advanced enough to be showing symptoms yet. My grandmother goes for heart surgery next month herself, so I would prefer this little doggy be made healthy to give her that extra reason to stray strong – she is a Witness, so won’t take blood and it is a VERY risky surgery.

And if anything happens, the little doggy is safe – my grandmother lives with my mother, so she wouldn’t be homeless if she lost her new owner.

[Mandyyy]

I am so against having outdoor dogs. They aren’t lawn oddments, but living beings! Specially with smaller dogs, who can easily be picked up by an outdoor predator. Thank God you guys rescued them!

Heart Worm treatment is doable, but even with indoor dogs you should still buy them the prevention so they don’t end up with it at all. If she seems healthy still and actually has it, good chances are she is strong enough for treatment. Usually adult dogs are, it is a lot more risky for Elder dogs and pups.

If she was bred, I would get her checked out for indications of over bred injuries… since most breeding pups are indeed over bred, and it can cause internal injuries. Also keep in mind, if a dog was banished to be an “out door dog:” doesnt mean they should stay out doors. I know of a Pit that spent 14 years on a chain in some jerks backyard. Then his house was busted for dog fighting, and they rescued the elderbull. He ended up an ambassador for his breed and a therapy dog. Chain dogs just need a lot of assurance and guidance, since it is all knew to them. I think my 3 year old rescued Pit was an “out door dog” in his past life, he had to be house broken and such but is now a lovebug who knows how to behave.

[Stickerbunny]

She’s going in for a “new doggy checkup” so the vet will check for any issues caused by her bad treatment / check for heart worms / vaccines etc. She has been pretty much just thrown food and water. Poor little girl. All my grandmothers and mothers dogs are on prevention, so if she’s negative she will be on it too. And kept up with shots etc. My grandmother will go without food before she goes without care for her doggies, she treats them like children (all the dogs in their house sleep in the humans beds, depending on their attachment, they get more pillows/blankets than the humans ha). She’ll be inside probably like 90% of the time (the other 10% for play time and going potty on my mothers 5 acres of fenced in land).

Do you know how stressful / invasive the treatment is on the dog at all? I can’t find much info on that part of the treatment.

[LBJ10]

You first have to kill the baby heartworms with heartworm preventatives, then you can kill the adult ones. The adult ones are killed with an arsenic-based medication, which is given through injection. The injections are very painful. Then the dog much be confined for about a month with no exercise whatsoever. So I suppose that might be stressful for a dog that likes to run around and play a lot.

[Stickerbunny]

Thank you – sounds like it is pretty harsh on the dog, if the shots are painful. Hopefully she’s negative, but I will let them know in case she’s positive.

[LBJ10]

It’s usually three injections, if that helps you. I was told that they are painful. Sometimes they will give pain medication for it. Oh, I forgot, sometimes they use antibiotics along with treatment because it somehow causes infertility in the adult worms.

[Stickerbunny]

Interesting, thanks. I didn’t know antibiotics did anything to heart worms, good to know. I’ve forwarded all the info to my mother, so she has some background knowledge when she talks to the vet.

[Monkeybun]

Poor pup.

My mom recently got a dog that is mostly outdoors up in Canada. I say mostly, as he has access tot eh backyard through a doggy door, and is constantly spending most of his time playing in the snow. He’s part husky, so loves it He refuses to stay indoors if at all possible, only coming in for food, water, and the occasional scratch.

Luckily, my mom is an animal lover, so she takes good care of him. She isn’t a dog lover though, she got him for protection when up in the mountains from wild critters. She says its hilarious seeing this big dog riding on an ATV. But, she would never neglect any anmal, and does give him lots of attention. She’s more attached to him than she cares to admit I think

Hopefully she keeps up with heartworm stuff so he doesn’t get any. Sounds harsh!

Hope your Grandmother’s pup tests negative!

[LBJ10]

Okay, I googled it. The antibiotics are for Wolbachia, which have a symbiotic relationship with heartworms. I guess if you kill the heartworms without killing the bacteria, then the bacteria is released into the bloodstream in large quantities which causes other complications. So it is best to treat with antibiotics along with the traditional treatment because it will make the treatment less hard on the dog and reduce the likelihood of additional complications.

[Stickerbunny]

Thanks LBJ

I just got off the phone with my grandmother and she’s like a little kid – she was exclaiming over every little thing the dog has done since she got her lol she’s gotten to the point she follows my grandmother everywhere and won’t go anywhere without her and has started giving kisses and wanting picked up. Apparently the “outside” life she had was in a CAGE in the shed 24/7, unheated, alone with just a blanket when they had several bad freezes there last week. They’ve already gotten her house broken after only 2 days and the woman had her 3 months and called her “untrainable and aggressive” so had her stuck in a cage because she tried to bite her kids and would potty inside … because they mistreated her. *sigh* Only bonus is, since she was in a shed, the chance of her having heartworms is slightly decreased.

[Author]

Messages