One of my dogs has heartworms

[haggardfan1]

No, I have no experience with your situation. I just wanted to wish you and Ava both the best of luck and speedy back to good health!! I think some of you folks probably know how much I love my Sophie, now 10 months old, so we are with you two and wish you well....

RJ and Sophie
For her veterinary needs I got a Care Credit, credit card, it can only be used at the vet or your personal Dr. It's for medical needs only. I got it for Sophie when she was spayed, it really comes in handy.I can also use it at her vet to buy her food...a thirty pound bag of Science Diet, Large Breed Puppy food is not cheap so again, the card comes in handy!! Just a thought....

I got a CareCredit card about six years ago, when I was facing dental surgery. Believe me, it has been used more at the vet than it has on me since that time!

Thanks everyone, for the information and well wishes. I'll know a lot more in a few hours, after her appointment and initial treatment.

I envision the biggest part of this may be keeping Ava relatively calm (young, otherwise healthy border collie, after all ) and dealing with any gastric distress. I work pretty long hours, and both dogs do exceptionally well in their kennels under normal circumstances; but this might call for some medical boarding from time to time, or maybe having a trusted friend to look in on her. We'll just have to see.

 

[Mike H.]

Sorry to hear about your pup. If you have been using a heartworm preventative and it didn't work, you should report it to the manufacturer, and possibly to the FDA.
I would also think about changing to a different heartworm prevention for your other dog ASAP. ProHeart 12 is an injection that is supposed to prevent heartworms for 12 months.
That's what I have my dogs on and they haven't had any signs of heartworms. Best wishes your dog's speedy recovery.

 

[schmee]

I sure hope Ava gets through this....

 

[moosie]

I have the monthly Heartguard dose on my calendar, but sometimes it still gets missed for an extra week or two. We've never had an issue, with any of our dogs over the years, but I will be more diligent going forward!

Best wishes for a good outcome, for Miss Ava, and you.

 

[Greggorios]

For her veterinary needs I got a Care Credit, credit card, it can only be used at the vet or your personal Dr. It's for medical needs only. I got it for Sophie when she was spayed, it really comes in handy.I can also use it at her vet to buy her food...a thirty pound bag of Science Diet, Large Breed Puppy food is not cheap so again, the card comes in handy!! Just a thought....

Just a quick note on Care Credit. We've used it for our own dental/periodontal work and for the dogs at the Vet. Our experience is that one has to be very careful with them, they can be a bit tricky.

Like some credit cards the enticement is that as long as you make your payments on-time and within the term of the credit, there's no interest charge-if you miss a payment or don't pay it all off within the term, you get smacked with a massive 25% or more rate. Here's the tricky part-the term of the credit extended (6, 12, 18 months etc.) is determined by the vendor (the vet, doctor, dentist) at the time of each charge. A next charge, treatment or visit to the dentist, etc., when you choose to use Care Credit may not be for the same term period. (I got 18 months on a tooth implant, when I went for a different procedure they would only give me 6 months.) As long as you're aware of this it's fine but you must check your statements carefully to be sure your payments are being applied correctly so you don't end up tripping the high rates. The online site and statements are not difficult to read but I always check carefully that I'm not risking those high rates.

 

[Teleguy61]

Check out the info at the American Heartworm Society:

Home

Founded During The Heartworm Symposium Of 1974, The American Heartworm Society Aims to further scientific progress in the study of heartworm diseass, inform the membership of new developments, encourage and help promote effective procedures for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of...

www.heartwormsociety.org

Here's a link to a client education handout:

https://d3ft8sckhnqim2.cloudfront.net/images/2021_HeartwormTreatmentGuide_PetOwnerColor.pdf?1623859996

Treatment of heart worm disease usually involves a drug called melarsamine, in addition to prednisone and doxycycline.

Proheart 12 is a heart worm preventative. While getting an infected pup on preventative is an important step in treatment, I've not heard of Proheart 12 being used for this purpose. Usually, Heartgard or a similar product is used IME.

Make sure the vet you are using is familiar with the treatment protocol -- it's laid out well at the Heartworm Society website.

Good luck, and keep your pets on heart worm preventative -- the southern states are heart worm central!

This^.
The dog must be clear of heartworm before starting preventatives. The preventives will kill the
existing heartworm and possibly cause stroke or heart attack as the worm carcasses flood the bloodstream.
The treatment is rough on the dog, but better than the alternative.
Do it.

 

[Toto'sDad]

Heartworms seem to be more of a problem in the south than out here in California, or at least it was that way when I was hunting with hounds. People were leery of ordering hound pups from the south because of the possibility of heartworms. I hope your doggie gets alright, I do know left untreated they won't make it, I'm glad you're the kind of man who is going to take care of his friend. My best wished for you and Ava, I hope she recovers and is as good as new!

 

[haggardfan1]

Well, here's an update with some good news already. The injection was kind of a non-event, as Ava is a good patient and fairly well-behaved.

There should be no side effects from the ProHeart itself, and it's a slow-kill heartworm treatment so I don't have to really restrict her play or training.

The only worry so far is GI upset from the doxycycline, and I'm prepared to deal with that to a degree already. I can always get something else prescribed to settle her stomach. Fortunately, I'm off work till Friday night which gives me some time to observe how she tolerates the antibiotic.

On we go!

 

[MickM]

Sounds like you caught the heartworms early enough. At her age she should be able to endure the treatment and be a loyal companion for many years. Good luck!

 

[telleutelleme]

Glad your initial results are positive. I believe current treatments are far better than in the past. Best wishes from my dog and I.

 

[Painter644]

Dogs have a calming effect in threads, or so it seems. Other topics often engender some vitriol or at the very least caustic disagreement. Dogs are magic…

 

[1955]

Best wishes for Ava, haggardfan1.

 

[ZackyDog]

I hope she'll be OK. I also hope that you don't mind that I re-posted her picture (?)

She's a cutie. I love dogs.

 

[getbent]

sending positive thoughts and wishes to you, your fam and Ava. She is a sweetie.

 

[teletimetx]

Best wishes, positive thoughts & prayers for Ava! Glad to hear the initial response is promising.

 

[haggardfan1]

Five days in and she's looking and acting fine.

Here she was supervising as I cleaned up my kitchen Sunday morning.

 

[Painter644]

View attachment 976794

Five days in and she's looking and acting fine.

Here she was supervising as I cleaned up my kitchen Sunday morning.

Our little girl (½ Border Collie/½ Lab) “helps” cleaning the kitchen counters.

 

[haggardfan1]

Our little girl (½ Border Collie/½ Lab) “helps” cleaning the kitchen counters.

Yep. I got a Lab that does that! Working on it though.

 

[monkeybanana]

What a cutie. Wish you and Ava the best. I love dogs.

 

[haggardfan1]

I just wanted to update this thread with continued good news. Ava finished her antibiotics with no ill effects. Although I'm understandably on pins and needles until her next blood work in October...she's doing great, acting perfectly normal except for an occasional brief cough, and I am very optimistic.

Here's a picture from earlier this week. Some friends gave me a futon, and Flash is enjoying that in the background while Ava gives us her best old Instamatic grin. (Bonus points to anyone who gets that Hag song reference!)