I recently rescued a 2-3 yoa Chihuahua from the local Humane Society. She is Hi positive for heartworms. I took her to the vet the next business day for an exam and to discuss treatment. All I am reading is that her outlook is quite bleak and I wonder if there is anyone with a tiny dog that was successful treating them with the injections. Her vet only prescribed once a month iverhart plus (preventative) and will see her again in 30 days. But, she has a cough the vet said is from the worms…someone please enlighten me…should I be looking for a new vet or what?
recently rescued a 2-3 yoa Chihuahua from the local Humane Society. She is Hi positive for heartworms. I took her to the vet the next business day for an exam and to discuss treatment. All I am reading is that her outlook is quite bleak and I wonder if there is anyone with a tiny dog that was successful treating them with the injections. Her vet only prescribed once a month iverhart plus (preventative) and will see her again in 30 days. But, she has a cough the vet said is from the worms…someone please enlighten me…should I be looking for a new vet or what?
I understand that the iverhart is preventative and I think that the reason she is putting off treatment is to let the dog gain weight…but my question was the success rate of the treatment for a 4 lb dog…an euthanasia is not an option. I rescued the dog, cost is not an issue, and I am just looking for some advice from toy dog owners, although I certainly appreciate everyones input.
The way heartworm treatment works (at least the places I've worked), you start with a preventative (ie Heartgard) and then follow with the injections. They usually will have the dog come in and spend several hours if not the whole day (sometimes overnight) at the clinic for monitoring during each treatment.
The dog is given the prevention to kill the microfilaria (baby worms) that are currently in the bloodstream to stop them from developing into full grown worms. You want a vet to monitor them because just giving a heartworm positive dog heartworm prevention can kill them. Especially with a dog that is a strong positive.
If that treatment goes well, they will have you continue to give monthly prevention to prevent the dog from catching them again. And you continue to do this until the dog is healthly enough to have the injections. The injections are VERY hard on the system, and that is why they try to get them as healthy as possible before continuing treatment.
The preventative does not kill the adult worms. The adult worms cause a lot of damage. They clog up the chambers in the heart, making it work much harder to pump blood, the heart enlarges, taking up more space in the chest cavity. This takes vital space away from the lungs, and they inturn have to work harder to get oxygen back into the bloodstream, with less space to expand. This why your dog is still coughing. The babies worms are dead, but the adult worms have to be killed injections or, if it isn't a severe case … SOMETIMES they will leave them to die on their own. I don't remember how long it takes for the adult worms to die on their own without looking it up… but I think it is like 2 – 3 years.
Did your vet have the dog stay while they gave the 1st dose of prevention? Do you have any check ups scheduled in between now and 30 days? Did they give any suggestions on what you should be doing to improve her health?
Its really hard to tell if a dog will be strong enough to make it through adult heartworm treatment. It all depends on how well your dog can handle the drugs used in the procedure. Heartworms is a serious problem, especially during the summer months when the mosquitoes are flourishing.
It sounds like the vet was trying to prepare you for the worse case scenerio. But if you are having doubts and do not appreciate the service you are paying for, it is your right to seek treatment elsewhere. Especially if you are uneasy about everything. Maybe try addressing your concerns with the vet and taking it from there?
Since her infestation is high she needs to see a vet for treatment ASAP.Locate another vet and see if they will accept her
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heart worm pills..its a monthly pill and once u run out u need to keep buying them. we you Heartgard PLUS.
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He might feel the injections are too toxic, but of course the heartworms will eventually kill her if left untreated. You would have to directly ask him why he is holding off on treatment. The preventative will kill heartworm larvae, but not the adults which infect the heart.
Look into a product called Heartworm Free or HWF sold by Amber Tech at http://www.ambertech.com which is a more natural treatment and less toxic, but effective.
Here's the direct link to the product
http://www.ambertech.com/wormf.php
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Heartworm treatments are iffy at best and usually not worth putting the dog through the extra trauma. We were looking at adopting a German Shephard with them and were told that the cure is to give aresenic to the dog. Over the course of about six weeks, the dog takes the drugs and must stay confined to his kennel. The aresenic will kill the worms, but will also damage your dog. You cannot give heart worm meds to a dog with an active infestation – it will kill the dog. If you insist on doing this, I wish you the best of luck, but I think it would be more humane to euthanize the dog and find a healthier one for a pet.
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Oy… the cough is probably due to the heartworm.
I have never heard of treating with Iverhart… From my understanding, Iverhart only treats the microfilaria – the larvae – while it will require something like Immiticide to break down the actual worms small enough to pass through the vessels. Old-school heartworm prevention used to kill the adults, which is why you needed a heartworm test before giving- if the adults are killed to quickly, they will block the arteries and kill the dog. Fortunatly, they don't do that anymore – the flip/side is that you've still got adult heartworm.
Usually you would START with a chest xray to see how severe the infection is, and the condition of the heart and lungs. It is VERY important to keep youe buddy quiet – the harder the heart works, the more chances the worms will break off and cause blockages much like a blood clot.
I haven't seen anyone loose a dog during heartworm treatment. However, it is expensive, and does require very close monitoring by yourself and your vet. The problem with heartworm is that it can cause irriversible cardio damage, which is WHY you'd do the xrays first – to see if the cardiovascular system can even hold up.
This website has information regarding understanding heartworm disease: http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/hw.html
MUST READ: Treating heartworm, including Ivermectin-only treatment – you'll see that proper evaluation of infection is key.
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=610
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I am with a rescue and we have had many dogs treated for heartworm – all successfully I might add.
The exception was an old dog who was very positive and would not have lived through the treatment. We decided to let him live out his life – and he is still alive after a year.
It is NOT true that heartworm treatment is so bad that a dog should be put down instead – that's ridiculous. The treatment for heartworm now is much less toxic than it used to be and most dogs do survive it. If a dog is very run down or starved, we make sure he gets antibiotics for a month and is fed well to gain some weight before treatment begins, but, as I said, we have NEVER lost a dog during treatment.
Heartworm "pills" given monthly are a PREVENTATIVE – they do not cure. A dog who is heartworm positive needs the treatment – that simple.
It can be cured, it is cured all the time – there is not excuse for not treating the dog.
If your vet does not want to do this, find a better vet.
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The way heartworm treatment works (at least the places I've worked), you start with a preventative (ie Heartgard) and then follow with the injections. They usually will have the dog come in and spend several hours if not the whole day (sometimes overnight) at the clinic for monitoring during each treatment.
The dog is given the prevention to kill the microfilaria (baby worms) that are currently in the bloodstream to stop them from developing into full grown worms. You want a vet to monitor them because just giving a heartworm positive dog heartworm prevention can kill them. Especially with a dog that is a strong positive.
If that treatment goes well, they will have you continue to give monthly prevention to prevent the dog from catching them again. And you continue to do this until the dog is healthly enough to have the injections. The injections are VERY hard on the system, and that is why they try to get them as healthy as possible before continuing treatment.
The preventative does not kill the adult worms. The adult worms cause a lot of damage. They clog up the chambers in the heart, making it work much harder to pump blood, the heart enlarges, taking up more space in the chest cavity. This takes vital space away from the lungs, and they inturn have to work harder to get oxygen back into the bloodstream, with less space to expand. This why your dog is still coughing. The babies worms are dead, but the adult worms have to be killed injections or, if it isn't a severe case … SOMETIMES they will leave them to die on their own. I don't remember how long it takes for the adult worms to die on their own without looking it up… but I think it is like 2 – 3 years.
Did your vet have the dog stay while they gave the 1st dose of prevention? Do you have any check ups scheduled in between now and 30 days? Did they give any suggestions on what you should be doing to improve her health?
Its really hard to tell if a dog will be strong enough to make it through adult heartworm treatment. It all depends on how well your dog can handle the drugs used in the procedure. Heartworms is a serious problem, especially during the summer months when the mosquitoes are flourishing.
It sounds like the vet was trying to prepare you for the worse case scenerio. But if you are having doubts and do not appreciate the service you are paying for, it is your right to seek treatment elsewhere. Especially if you are uneasy about everything. Maybe try addressing your concerns with the vet and taking it from there?
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vet tech