a. Dogs with clinical signs attributed to heartworm infection should not be transported. b. Dogs that have been treated with melarsomine dihydrochloride should not be transported for at least 4 weeks after an injection to minimize stress and physical exertion that accompany the relocation process.
It is critical that your pet be kept under strict exercise restriction and confinement for 4 weeks after each phase of the heartworm treatment. Life threatening complications may arise if your pet is not confined. Specifically, your dog should not be allowed to run loose, play with other dogs, or go for any long walks.
“No running, jumping, playing or high-impact exercise as these activities may cause the worms to break loose and cause significant harm to the pet being treated.”
Allowing vigorous activity at any time in these 8 weeks can cause the weakened heartworms to shatter, causing a clot of worm fragments that blocks off blood flow to the lungs, brain, or other organs (“shaking the tree” phenomenon). This causes a stroke or sudden death.
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.
Prognosis: heartworm treatment success rates
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.
Heartworm Disease Causes Lifelong Damage.
Strict rest is imperative for 6-8 weeks. This means that your pet can be leashed walked outside to urinate and defecated, but must come back inside to rest. Do not allow your pet to run, jump, climb stairs, or play rough with other dogs or children.
If the dog's heart rate is increased by exercise or excitement, the worm pieces can be forced into the tiny blood vessels of the lungs, increasing the chances of complications.
Heartworm disease is not contagious, meaning that a dog cannot catch the disease from being near an infected dog. Heartworm disease is only spread through the bite of a mosquito. Inside a dog, a heartworm's lifespan is 5 to 7 years.
Cage rest is super important because, when the worms are dying off, they are slowly destroyed by the body. Increased activity can cause an embolus, or clump of worms, to form, blocking the circulation through the lungs. This can cause a stroke or sudden death.
The medicine in the treatment (Immiticide) can cause a lot of inflammation at the injection site. This can occur no matter how smoothly things go and how little it seems to bother the dog at the time. This can range from being absolutely undetectable to a dog that is crying constantly with pain.
Myth: Heartworm disease is contagious for pets.
Truth: You should be concerned if we diagnose one of your pets with heartworm disease, but you do not need to quarantine your infected pet. Heartworms must go through a mosquito to develop into adults, so heartworm-positive pets are safe to be around.
As they break up, they are carried to the lungs, where they lodge in the small blood vessels and are eventually reabsorbed by the body. This resorption can take several weeks to months, and most post-treatment complications are caused by these fragments of dead heartworms.
Yes, there is a cure for heartworm disease in dogs, but know that it's a bit of a lengthy, complex, and expensive process. “There are injections available to treat heartworm,” Dr.
Signs of heartworm disease may include a mild persistent cough, reluctance to exercise, fatigue after moderate activity, decreased appetite, and weight loss. As heartworm disease progresses, pets may develop heart failure and the appearance of a swollen belly due to excess fluid in the abdomen.
The treatment for heartworm disease takes at least 60 days to complete and consists of a series of drug injections that kills the worms.
Treatment Requires a Vet's Help
Once a positive test is confirmed, our veterinarians (in alignment with the American Heartworm Society) recommend treating adult heartworm infections with 3 treatments (injections) of a drug called melarsomine.
Ill effects during the heartworm treatment are related almost exclusively to the dead worms clogging up the pulmonary arteries. The drug that's used (Immiticide TM – melarsomine dihydrochloride) is unlikely to cause anything worse than some temporary soreness at the injection site.
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.
Dogs with heartworm disease, for example, require exercise restriction before and heartworm treatment, as well as for a short time after treatment. Physical activity increases the likelihood of adult worms causing a pulmonary thromboembolism, which may be fatal. Limiting a dog's physical activity decreases this risk.
After treatment, the adult worms die and are carried by the blood to the lungs where they lodge in small blood vessels. There they decompose and are absorbed by the body over a period of several months.
Approximately 6 months after treatment is completed, your veterinarian will perform a heartworm test to confirm that all heartworms have been eliminated. To avoid the possibility of your dog contracting heartworm disease again, you will want to administer heartworm prevention year-round for the rest of his life.
To ensure success during recovery, steps should be taken to provide safe physical and mental stimulation and to meet dogs' needs for social interaction. 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.
Heartworms can also cause nosebleeds, pneumonia, high blood pressure, seizures, blindness, and excessive sleeping.