Heartworm Treatment Question

[hamsterjill]

Over the Thanksgiving holidays, our rescue group took in a badly malnourished dog. We normally only deal with cats. This dog belonged to a neighbor of one of our members, and suffice it to say that the situation was horrible. Don't even get me started on the morons who allowed this dog to almost starve to death in their backyard!!! I could probably not put into words the anger that I felt upon seeing this dog!

She is heartworm positive. She is an absolute sweetheart. A dachund mix.

The vet advised us to wait on the heartworm treatment until such time as the dog gained some weight.

The dog has been painstakingly fed (bad diarrhea and vomiting at first as her body reacquainted itself with having food!) and is now at a point where she needs to undergo heartworm treatment. I'm told that it is a 48 hour vet visit with an intramuscular injection the first day, she stays overnight, gets a second injection the morning of the second day, and then goes home at the end of the second day.

She will need to be confined for 4 weeks.

My question is this: Has anyone had actual experience with heartworm treatment for a dog? After the injections, what can we expect as far as behavior and activity level, etc.? Yes, of course, we will be in close contact with the vet and follow his instructions regarding confinement, etc., but the treatment won't be performed for another week or so, and I was hoping to get some information and wisdom in order to kind of prepare for her recovery.

Thank you!

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Kudos to you and your group for helping this little unfortunate pup.

I do not have any experience in this, but jsut wnated to giv eyou someprops...

and perhpas you can do a Google and find out more info.

PS. The people who did this to the little girl should be prosecuted. There really needs to be better laws against the abuse of animals....

So often the animal is the one who ends up being put down, when in fact, it is the owner/s who should be executed.

[hamsterjill]

2. Thank you for the kind words.

Yes, I agree as to prosecution, but in Texas, it is nearly impossible to get animal cruelty charges to stick. I know for a fact that animal control had been called on these people at least twice, and had done nothing.

Our group had been working to get this dog out of her situation for some time, and it was quite the celebration when we finally got her to safety. I don't know how anyone could allow one to go hungry. I will never understand it. Why have them if you are not going to take decent care of them???!!!

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Questions for which we will never know the answers......

:(

[livetohike]

4. In 1980, our dog Smokey was positive for heartworm

We had just moved to Houston from S.Carolina where we had an old vet....we didn't know anything about heartworm. We never heard of it, having moved to S.Carolina from Pennsylvania. I don't remember how we found out Smokey had heartworm, but the old vet gave us the preventative medicine instead of treating the heartworm! At that time, it was a daily dosage of preventative medicine.

We moved to Houston and immediately found a vet who gave the treatment as you described, so I guess things have not changed much in the heartworm treatment field in thirty years. We had to keep Smokey "quiet" for 30 days. No running - leash walks only. Also, no excitement that would cause him to jump around. Otherwise, Smokey was fine throughout the treatment, eating and drinking normally. You have to be careful to keep the activity level low key because the heartworms will be dying in the heart and if they dislodge they could cause a stroke. Anyway, I think that's what we were told at the time.

I'm sure everything will be okay. A big :hug: to you all.

[phylny]

5. Our dog Jack, who was a rescue, was heartworm positive.

We found out only because when I got him in March and brought him in to be neutered a few days after we got him, the vet and I were having a discussion whether or not we should vaccinate him for Lyme. The vet suggested doing a full blood panel, which I agreed to.

In any event, my $200 rescue dog then became a $750 rescue dog. He had two treatments (injections at either side of his spine) at the vet's, which is said to be painful, and then when I brought him home, as has been stated above, we had to keep him generally confined, take very short walks, and keep him quiet. We did as we were told. He really wanted to play and walk, but fortunately, he was new to our house, and for all he knew, the crate was going to be his life (little did he know~!!!) He coughed very little (we had been advised to report if the coughing got bad), and in general, did fine.

He's now heartworm free, neutered, and very healthy. He's a very good boy :)

Good luck with your dog.