Experiences with Heartworm in Dogs

Treatment is fairly to very safe these days (depending upon how advanced the disease is) and most dogs do extremely well and go on to live a normal life. Absolutely treat her.

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My ex is a vet and my dog came down with heartworm. He was a stray and apparently had it when we got him. We did the treatment, and yes it was hard on him, but not THAT hard. He lived a good long life afterwards -- about 12 more years.

How old is your dog? I wouldn't just wait until she's coughing. Heartworm can be painful. I wouldn't want my dog to go through that either. I hope you can do the treatment and enjoy your dog for many more years.

Hi W.,
I work for a Vet and have seen a few cases of Heartworms for in the Bay Area but most of the dogs have traveled from other areas. The treatment for heartworms have changed and is a lot easier on the heart than before. You do want to catch the problem early so it will be easy to treat. You don't want to wait until your beloved pet's heart is being strangled by the worms to put her to sleep. I have seen only 1 dog die from treatment and that was a long time ago when the treatment was different and the dogs heart was so engorged with adult worms that it was too much too quick for the heart to handle. All the others have good lives and are still happy and heartworm free. I hope this helps you. and good luck to your 4 legged family member. K. P

Any amount of heartworm in a dog will affect its health. This is a worm that is living off your dog - it is a parasite. In addition, the longer your dog has the worms, the greater the chance of spreading it. Any time a mosquito bites your dog, it could pick up a "baby" heartworm (called microfilaria) and then pass it on to another person's animal. The treatment, while not the most fun to go through, is effective, and your dog will be healthier afterwards. The good news is that there are many preventatives on the marked that are given monthly which will guarantee you do not have to go throught this again, and certain ones, like Advantage Multi can also help with other parasites your dog could pick up and pass to your children.
The idea of just letting a dog live with this parasite and the diseases it can cause has contributed to a growing heartworm problem in the United States and we are now having possible resistance to previously 100% preventatives because the worms are allowed to live and are in an environment with the medication (preventatives only work on the larval stages of the worm, not the adults).
I am sorry to rattle on, but this is what I talk about on a daily basis and get very frustrated when there are preventatives out there that could stop you and your dog from ever having to go through this in the first place, and unfortunately, the education on this parasite is not up to par.
Please feel free to ask me any other questions you might have about this parasite and I will be happy to answer it for you.

yes, twice. It is very, very expensive to treat. How old is your dog? Her health? Alot of vets suggest treatment options due to the animal’s age and health. Do your research on this...Left untreated, this is a horrible way for animals to suffer.

Our Australian Sheppard (who was 4 at the time) had heartworms when she was five. This was 7 years ago and we paid $400.00 for treatment. We had to take her to the vet twice at the same time each day, they gave her the medicine in the hip, and she had to remain quiet, no exercise, only a leash potty breaks. Next day same thing. She was fine, eating fine. About a month later, we had to have her tested for heartworms, which were negative. She passed on in 2008 due to uncontrollable diabetes and serve arthritis.

My mom’s dog (11 year old Rott) just went through this last summer; she was unable to pay over $1,000.00 for treatment and had to apply for the animal health insurance to make payments. A lot has changed since we went through this and her dog had to be monitored for 24 hours and stayed at the doggy hospital. He came home fine, just happy to be out of his cage. He was not allowed to get excited, exercise, walks, etc. for 4 months. He is now heartworm free.

Hi W.!

My mom's dog had heartworm in Loomis years ago and was treated at Loomis Basin. It was pretty tough on her because she was a big dog and needed to be crated to keep her calm and recovering even though she was used to running all over the place, but I think the crating was harder on her than the treatment meds. She got better over a couple of months and lived many years in fine health. It was a costly treatment, but really worth it.

I think "most people" are wrong in suggesting you let your dog suffer. Consult the vet once you know how far the infection has gone and then go from there. If she's acting pretty fine and strong, I say treat her.

Get well wishes to her! and best of luck to you in what must be a hard time.

As a RVT (veterinary RN) I've helped treat a few dogs. Treatment is usually a series of IM shots (injections in the muscle) that can be sore. If your dog is a decent patient this shouldn't be a problem. The difficult part is your dog will have extremely restricted activity durning treatment. As the worms are killed in the heart we want them to slowly break down and the danger is clumps leaving the heart and lodging elsewhere. Talk to your vet about what they expect during treatment. The phone call won't cost you anything.

Waiting for the disease to progress is not really fair to your pet. The coughing means the worms are interfering with breathing and fluid can be developing in the lungs. So it is kind of saying wait until they are suffering and uncomfortable before you make a decision.

I would talk to the vet. There also may be newer ways to treat this that doesn't affect the dog as much. He or she should be able to give you a good idea on what to expect with the treatment you choose.