Heartworms

[Newpiggiemom]

As many of you know and I started a few threads on this forum, I adopted a very sweet and loving Newfoundland/lab mix named Samson in March. He is 8 years old and needed a good home as no one wanted him because he was older. I am actually his third owner, don't know the first but he had been abused and wound up at the shelter. His second owner had to turn him back in because of divorce and her living situation. She cared enough to visit him regularly and came to meet the family when we adopted him.

However, no one seemed to care enough to prevent him from getting heartworms. I took him with my dog, Honey for her checkup and shots since they wouldn't give me firm confirmation (in writing or anything) of his shots so I just repeated them since he would be due shortly and they said they wouldn't harm him. He tested positive for heartworms. My poor baby. He had to stay at the vet's office today and be treated. They're giving him medication at the office today and then I need to conitune his Heargard. The other option was an expensive ten week confinenment and treatment. I can't imagine. Especially with two dogs and a cat that have run of the house through a dog door in they back door.

Has anyone else had to deal with heartworms and what was the outcome? I'm praying for the best for him.

[piggly wiggly]

The treatment and confinement is usually recommended. They should not run around and be too active. The heartguard I believe is just a preventative treatment, I am not too sure but I don't believe it treats heartworms.

Good luck little guy!

[babybunny]

Back in the day my beloved Sparky was diagnosed with heart worms. Our vet clinic was in the process of documenting a new treatment that one of the Vets had developed to use.

(I looked online for info on it and I believe the treatment described is number 3 here:
Gulf South Golden Retriever Rescue )

Back then the cost was very minimal (a total under a $100) and the treatment was low impact compared to the traditional one dose. It was quite a few years ago and I was younger so I can't remember all the details on it. However, you could call the number for the clinic on the link and ask for information on it so you could see if any vets near by do it.

I wouldn't ever get a pet that needed treatment any other kind. It was a success and again, very low impact.

[Newpiggiemom]

That sounds like what they're doing with Samson. They give him meds today, with Heartgard and watch him today to be sure they'll be no reaction. Then we just treat it monthly with the Heartgard. Thankfully, he's not showing symptoms yet because then it might be too late. I wish my vet could give me the "load" which is the amount of heartworms he's got.

[Ziggy&Herald]

They tell you to confine because that treatment is given directly into the spinal cord along the back. It is Immiticide that is actually used, but it does have good outcomes. The heartguard can actually treat the heartworms if you catch it early enough. As long as it's not an overun infestation, the meds in the heartguard will get rid of them. They normally tell you to give them the Heartguard then bring them back to have them tested again in 6 months. Lots of times this does work as well and is lots cheaper then the actual treatment with the Immiticide.

[babybunny]

If that is what they are doing with Samson, then I am sure he will be fine. Best of luck!

[Alusdra]

Actually the injection is in the muscles around the spine- not into the spine. Confinement is for various reasons such as to reduce strain on the heart, etc.

There are various treatment options, though- so long as you follow the vet's instructions it will probably work out fine. Great that you caught it before he showed signs, though. That will really up his chances of pulling through with no problems. It's hard to determine load all that precisely- usually the dot is bluer with more worms on the SNAP test, and you can do chest X-rays which show symptoms of worms being in there, not really the worms themselves... Maybe you can ask your vet how blue the dot was?

And gratz on your new pup! Older dogs rule.

[wickedrodent]

I have a dog that is undergoing the expensive/confinement treatment. So far so good. She got her first dose around the 10th of April and is going back on the 12th of May for her 2nd.

She has been living on our outdoor porch (about 14x20ft estimated) so I would say that keeping your dog (if on this treatment) in one room would be the perfect solution. We take Jypsy on a leash to go out so she wont run.. and only 2-3 times a day.

For my vet.. its $1000 - $2000 (low and high depending on how many treatments she needs, etc)

The other treatment (heartguard) does not kill the adult heartworms. What it does is stop them from having MORE. That way the adults will die off slowly (natural lifespan) and once they are gone.. thats it (as long as the dog stays on the heartguard) I personally didn't choose this method because it is more risky for the long run (since they still technically HAVE heartworms the entire time) and it can take years to work completly.

[babybunny]

As far as I know of they actually used ivermectin to treat it not the heartguard. It was a 6 week process to clear the heartworms, of which the results came back negative for heartworms after that treatment.

[wickedrodent]

Invermectin is the more expensive one (the one Jypsy is currently on). There is, however, the other option of just using heartguard. At least according to my vet. *shrug*