1 1/2 year old Dog with Heart-worm… Treatment is worrying me?
My wife and I just adopted a 1 1/2 year old Chow/Corgi/Retriever mix. Once we did his check up 48 hours later our vet found that he had heart-worm. So they put him on 2 medications to pep him for his Heart-Worm shots. He has been on Doxycycline and Prednisone for 16 days and I HATE IT! Everything was going fine, nothing wrong, then Sunday he started to form this Cough/Hack up some mucus thing… so we called the Vet who informed us that this IS happening because of the heartworm and should after 48 hours be relieved. Well, the cough/hack has supressed, he still does it in the mornings but it has gotten better. On Monday he had some fairly blood shot eyes, which has also gotten a little better (still a little blood shot), and he has mucus everywhere. always has a running nose and eyes AND for the first time EVER! he didn’t eat all of his dog food. I found out why because just 5 minutes ago he threw up a SOFTBALL size pile of vomit!
After that I HAD ENOUGH! I am looking for someone who has had a dog go through Heart worm treatment before OR another Vet’s opinon. This is scaring me and I do not like it at all! IS MY DOG GOING TO BE OK?!
Ok… first off all these ignorant people posting non-sense on my question need to stop trolling these forums. I have kept with the DR.’s orders to the T! and this is exactly what happened. I am looking for a VET’s repsonse or someone who has experience with a dog who has had Heart-Worm.
Everyone telling me to “return” the dog… You are what is wrong with this world, PEOPLE WHO CAN’T TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING have made this world into the trash it is. I need some CONSTRUCTIVE answers! I am taking the dog to the Vet tonight, I was looking for a little assistance.
Tagged with: Heartworm • Treatment • worrying • Year
Filed under: Dog Worms Symptoms
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try another vet , poor pup , i hope he gets better
You *SHOULD* be!!!
Heartworm treatment is DANGEROUS!!! Uses poison in an attempt to kill the worms W/OUT killing the dog! Not always successful. & can leave permanent damage.
WHY didn’t you just TAKE IT BACK???? There are thousands of healthy dogs out there.
call another vet or go to another vet for another opinon! shouldn’t be wasting time on here asking this question when i boils down to a pet that you love!
It’s always good to get a second opinion… call another vet and explain the situation and see what they say. In fact, I’d call another 2 or 3 and see what the consensus is. Those drugs may just be doing their job in getting him prepared for the real heartworm medicine but they may also be hurting him. I hope everything goes ok and he gets better.
Heartworm treatment is very hard on dogs, unfortunately. I’m sure your vet told you, but your pup needs to remain calm and have a quiet recovery area to avoid and stress on his heart.
I understand this is stressful for you, it is not easy seeing your little guy in such a rough state. You absolutely have the right as a patient to consult another vet, maybe you would feel better just talking to another vet on the phone to confirm his symptoms are normal? here is a link that might be helpful:
Heartworm is very serious – have you ever see a dissected heart from a dog with an advanced case?
Treatment is very rough and not always effective.
The result is almost always less dog than you thought you had.
Sorry – it is tough for owners as well.
Wow you really should get him to somebody else! I work at a vet as a vet tech and have never even heard of this method of treatment. The best and most effective way to treat is with something called Immiticide. It is essentially a type of poison but is what is necessary to kill off all the adult heartworms. I know it sounds scary thinking about poisoning your dog, but if its done properly it has a very good success rate. The usual procedure is as follows and patient usually has to be hospitalized for 2-3 days: First an IV catheter is placed to keep him well hydrated through the treatment. The Immiticide has to be injected into the muscles in the lumbar region so a small patch will have to be shaved on your dogs back. On the first day, they do injection number 1 and give aspirin to help thin the blood. Then on the beginning of day 2 your doctor will do a blood chemistry to make sure your dogs organs are withstanding the immiticide okay, if all is well, they will proceed with injection number 2 and more aspirin. On third day, another blood chemistry is done and hopefully will show your dog is healthy enough to go home. The usual discharge instructions are to keep on aspirin to help thin the blood to he can pass the dissolving worms. Again, I know this whole procedure sounds a bit overwhelming but it is VERY effective. I have been a vet tech for 3 years now and have always seen this be successful. Good luck!!
http://www.heartwormsociety.org/
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=610
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=609
I am sorry you are having to go through this. It sounds like your vet thinks your dog is not healthy enough to go through the treatment, and I would be asking a ton of questions so you understand fully his course of action and why, in addition, to knowing what to expect in EACH stage of the treatment.
Heartworm treatment is very dangerous, and needs to be done right. If you do not have complete faith in your current vet, I suggest you find another.
The above links explain quite a bit about Heartworm and how it is treated. There are several different techniques out there now, so if your vet is using Arsenic, he is not keeping current.
Good luck and stay positive!
Heart worm treatment is evasive. Sometimes the dog comes out of it, sometimes they dont
It seems your vet is doing the right thing, and you doing the wrong thing by taking him off his MEDS?
Now you need to call the vet and tell him what u did!
Sometimes the treatments last for 3 days or MORE> depending on the infestation.