Interestingly, the immune systems of some dogs are able to wage war, to a limited extent, on the heartworm cycle. An immune mediated response is thought to be responsible for some dogs ability to remove microfilariae from their circulatory system.
No one wants to hear that their dog has heartworm, but the good news is that most infected dogs can be successfully treated. The goal is to first stabilize your dog if he is showing signs of disease, then kill all adult and immature worms while keeping the side effects of treatment to a minimum.
Dogs with heartworm disease can live high-quality lives as long as they are given appropriate care. After completing treatment and following your veterinarian's recommenda- tions on heartworm disease testing and prevention, the chances of any long-term effects are very low.
If owners can't afford treatment at the time of diagnosis, Dr. Herrin recommended delaying melarsomine therapy but still initiating treatment with both a preventive and doxycycline. This will prevent further infection and remove the dog as a heartworm reservoir.
They can be controlled naturally with citrus oils, cedar oils, and diatomaceous earth. Dogs needing conventional treatment may benefit from herbs such as milk thistle and homeopathics such as berberis; these minimize toxicity from the medications and dying heartworms.
Dogs in this condition are not likely to live more than a few weeks or months. Your veterinarian will advise you on the best treatment approach for dogs diagnosed with advanced heartworm disease. Treatment to kill adult heartworms.
The heartworms will die over the next 6 weeks. As they die and are broken down, pieces of them could lodge in other parts of the body's blood vessels, causing unnecessary complications–if your pet's activity is too strenuous. THE FIRST 30 DAYS AFTER TREATMENT ARE THE MOST CRITICAL!
Many people believe that thanks to advances in heartworm prevention in the past decade, heartworm is rarely found in Australia.
Most dogs can be safely leash-walked during the treatment recovery period and providing appropriate chew toys can help relieve some of that stored up physical energy.
n The majority of dogs clear all heartworms with the standard treatment, but treatment is not always 100 percent effective. The label reads 90-99 percent effective; this is due to variation in each individual animal.
Heartworm disease causes lasting damage to the heart, lungs and arteries, and can affect the dog's health and quality of life long after the parasites are gone.
But can your dog feel heartworms? In a way, yes. Your dog can feel the discomfort that goes hand-in-hand with the heartworms hatching from larvae stages into adulthood. They can also feel them migrating from one spot to another inside their body, specifically if they're affecting your dog's lungs and breathing.
Not every aspiring pet owner is equipped to provide the extra care a special-needs pet requires; however, with proper treatment, heartworm-positive pets can be excellent candidates for adoption.
With the three-dose adulticide protocol described above, in conjunction with doxycycline and macrocyclic lactones as recommended by the American Heartworm Society, 98% of dogs will be cleared of heartworm infection.
“Remember that the heartworm can stay alive up to six years in the dog,” she states. “In early stages without lung and heart failure, 98 percent of dogs will be cleared of heartworm with an intensive three-dose protocol. But the very best prognosis comes from regular prevention year-round.”
There is no reason to allow running, jumping, or other physical activity at any time for 8 weeks after the start of the injectable heartworm adulticide treatment.
Use Food as a Distraction
Without regular levels of physical activity, it is important not to overfeed your dog during heartworm treatment.
Dogs become infected with heartworms through mosquito bites, so if you live in a climate with cold late autumns and winters, why worry about giving your dog preventive medication every single month of the year?
Heartworm disease can also lead to liver or kidney failure. Dogs that are exposed to a large number of infective larvae at once are at great risk of sudden death due to massive numbers of developing larvae bombarding the vascular system.
If you forget a month of preventative, make sure to give the next 2 doses on time to "catch up" for that missed month. If you miss several months in a row, you should give your vet a call for advice on when to plan for the next heartworm test and how to get started back on preventatives.
The dog's immune system must break down the dead worms, an elimination process which is very effective but does take some time. While that immune process is taking place, fragments of dead heartworms are circulating in the blood stream.
Even if heartworm infection is treated, we all know it does serious, permanent damage to the body. This in-depth look at that damage will renew your commitment to consistent prevention recommendations for your veterinary patients.
Myth #3: If my pet has heartworms, I will see them in her feces. Although many worm types, such as roundworms and tiny hookworms, are shed in your pet's feces, heartworms do not live in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and are not found in feces.