Heartworms

[essa]

Does anyone know, how to dignose heartworms.What are the symtoms,does the dog feel stressed.
What are the treatments? recently ive heard the someone treated her adult dog from heartworm with Heartgaurd, and the very next day the poor guy was gone.
Pls send in your comments

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[Nancy Estes]

Diagnosis can only be done by taking a blood sample - at the vet's. Dogs might or might not have symptoms, depending on severity of infection. There's really no way you can diagnose on your own. Also, treatment for heartworms should be done only under the supervision of a vet.

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net

[Volunteer]

Essa -

I recently adopted a 5 year old male Rottie that I had been fostering while he was recovering from heartworm so I am pretty familiar with this disease and its treatment.

Heartworm is a mosquito-born illness and can only be treated by a vet. Heartguard is a heartworm preventative, NOT treatment.

You can't diagnose heartworm on your own, a blood test done at the vets is the ONLY sure way to know. There are some indicators, however, that you can look for:
heavy panting, even after a little exercise;
a decrease in your dog's stamina (tires easily);
general lethargy.

Heartworm tests are usually done by the vet once per year. If your dog tests positive don't despair, most dogs recover from this illness easily. It is expensive, however ($400-$700 here on the east coast). The vet will give your dog 2 injections, within days of each other, into the muscles along the dogs spine. The dog will then need to be monitored and kept EXTREMELY quiet (no exercise except to go out and do his business) for at least 4 weeks. In the first couple of days after each shot, expect loss of appetite, extreme lethargy, elevated temperature. Dog's back will be very sore to the touch. 7-10 days after the last shot, the dog may begin to cough. This coughing lasted about 4 days with my dog. After 2 weeks the dog will probably begin to show signs of feeling better and be more energetic but it is still important that you keep the dog as quiet as possible. After 4 weeks my dog went back in and was given a one-time oral medication to help kill off any macrofilia that might still be present in the bloodstream. Two weeks after that, another blood test to see if the worm is all gone. Some vets, depending on the amount of macrofilia present in the bloodstream at the time of diagnosis, will want to do x-rays or sonograms of the heart to see what damage has been done.

After treatment, and if the dog's blood tests negative, he will immediately be placed on a heartworm preventative, such as HeartGuard or Interceptor.

If you are concerned about heartworms and live in an area that has mosquitos, I would suggest that you save yourself a lot of grief and money. Get the dog tested and if he is OK put him on a preventative. It costs me about $85 per year (per dog - I have 2) for heartworm preventative (for all 12 months). I would much rather spend this money and know my dog is protected than have to spend hundreds for treatment.

Hope this answered some of your questions.

Deb (Teddy's Mom)