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.
Dogs with no signs or mild signs of heartworm disease, such as cough or exercise intolerance, have a high success rate with treatment. More severe disease can also be successfully treated, but the possibility of complications is greater.
There is some risk involved in treating dogs with heartworms, although fatalities are rare. "A new drug is available that does not have as many side effects, allowing successful treatment of more than 95% of dogs with heartworms."
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.
Some dogs live with heartworms for a long time with little to no outside indicators of infection, especially if they don't have many heartworms. That said, heartworms have a lifespan of five to seven years, so unfortunately they have plenty of time to wreak havoc on your dog's system.
Once mature, heartworms can live for 5 to 7 years in dogs and up to 2 or 3 years in cats. Because of the longevity of these worms, each mosquito season can lead to an increasing number of worms in an infected pet.
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.
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.
What health criteria must my dog meet? We require all dogs who stay here to be current on the usual core vaccinations, as well as receiving a vaccination for Bordatella (kennel cough). Your dog must also be protected against heartworm and fleas, with no signs of parasite issues in his fecal sample.
Usually, your dog can slowly resume activity at this time. Remember that every dog living in an area where heartworms exist needs to receive regular heartworm preventative (usually once monthly, given orally at home).
After a dog receives a positive result on the heartworm antigen screening test, further testing is required to confirm actual heartworm infection. These tests include additional blood collection with the samples subjected to any of the following analyses: A different manufacturer's heartworm antigen test.
Heartworm treatment is undoubtedly expensive. It is also uncomfortable for the dog, has significant side effects, and requires prolonged activity restriction. Melarsomine treatment must be preceded by a series of diagnostic tests and treatments that may cost anywhere from an additional $100 to over $1,000.
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.
With heartworm disease treatment can be extremely difficult even for the young otherwise healthy dogs but our senior dogs can see more severe side effects and death if progressed disease is present. Know that 1 in 10 dogs will develop some form of heart disease as they age.
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.
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.
Heartworm disease is a common disease in dogs, cats, and ferrets that is preventable and treatable (if caught early).
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.
Many people believe that thanks to advances in heartworm prevention in the past decade, heartworm is rarely found in Australia.
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.
Proheart SR12 heartworm prevention yearly injection:
Up to 20kg – $141.00. Up to 35kg – $186.75. Up to 50kg – $232.50. Heartworm test – $67.50.
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.
Since the mosquito is needed to carry the microfilariae, heartworm disease is not contagious from one dog to another dog. People also cannot get heartworms from dogs. Dogs and humans can only get heartworms from infected mosquitos.
If exercise or excitement cause the treated dog's heart rate to rise, pieces of decomposing worms can be forced into the tiny blood vessels of the lungs, causing further complications. The more pronounced the clinical signs of heartworm disease are, the more restricted any activity or excitement need to be.
These injections can cause pain and soreness to spread throughout the lower back causing temporary difficulty getting up because of the muscle soreness. Some dogs experience nausea and are lethargic. These symptoms will usually ease over a couple of days.