Innisfree Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 (edited) Our much-loved little dog, adopted about a year ago, will be getting treated for heartworms in about a week. Doggy tested negative when adopted, but was apparently already infected with worms which couldn't be detected until they were six months old. The vet says the test was a weak positive. We've been administering the preventative like clockwork and monitoring, hoping the worms would die on their own, but now have a second positive test and started on antibiotics close to a month ago in preparation for treatment. The dog is two or three years old, normally active, and seems generally healthy other than the heartworms. He does seem to have slowed down since starting the antibiotics, and I'm not sure if that is to be expected or is more due to summer heat or something else. Any btdt advice? I'm really worried about the little guy, but I don't want to scare the kids. I know heartworm treatment can be dangerous. The vet said not to be surprised if we see him coughing up blood. I know he'll need to be very quiet for the duration of the treatment (probably two months). He is used to sleeping in his crate, and the vet said she'd prescribe sedatives. This dog means the world to dd11, who has autism and is not good at controlling her emotions. I need to keep the dog safe and calm, and dd calm too. She is worried already. Any advice on looking after the pooch through this process would be very much appreciated. Edited July 13, 2016 by Innisfree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Advanced untreated heartworms in our beloved adopted dog. She survived the treatments and is still doing well 3 years out, despite some minor heart damage from going without treatment for an extended period. She was sluggish at times during treatment but I don't recall anything severe like coughing up blood. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 Did you have to keep him crated for the duration? I'm not sure how much activity is a problem. What about a kid picking him up for a hug? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Oh your poor little dog. Sorry to hear that you're having to go through that. fwiw, I know a woman here in BC who rescues dogs from a US shelter which is very high kill & she picks the ones that are hw+ (because they're first on the list to get gassed), gets them treated, well & then flies them up here & places them in forever homes. (She pays for all the treatment out of pocket. She's a pretty special woman)Her dogs all seem to do very well & get through the treatment with little problems. Keeping the dog calm & on crate rest is the difficult bit. Here's a video of 20 crate rest activities which tire their minds and keep them from getting bored but won't get the heart rate up too much. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 Thank you, hornblower! I'll watch that and then show it to dd, if it seems like a good video for her. We've been accumulating puzzle toys and such to try to keep him busy, but haven't been sure of how much activity is too much. Like, is practicing shaking hands okay? Or rolling over? Or not? He's a smart dog, and dd loves working with him, but I don't want to do any harm. So the video may be just the information we need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 We didn't crate but we were home a great deal of the time and my kids were older so they understood keeping her calm. We just held her and petted her and played some very gentle games to keep her mind occupied. I think teaching your dog to shake hands would be fine as long as it isn't causing undue stress. DS taught our dog how to sit using a you tube video for assistance and it worked beautifully and didn't stress her much at all. She enjoyed the interaction. I don't recall the video now but I'm sure you can find many that would work. The hardest part was with our cats. Cats adore this dog, for whatever reason, and she adores cats. Even the feral stray that used to just wander through our yard to get to the other part of the neighborhood now stays here full time (we got him fixed and vaccinated) and they play chase. He adores her and will sleep with her. The cats all wanted to play with her and rub all over her. We had to keep them from getting her too excited. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 We didn't crate but we were home a great deal of the time and my kids were older so they understood keeping her calm. We just held her and petted her and played some very gentle games to keep her mind occupied. I think teaching your dog to shake hands would be fine as long as it isn't causing undue stress. DS taught our dog how to sit using a you tube video for assistance and it worked beautifully and didn't stress her much at all. She enjoyed the interaction. I don't recall the video now but I'm sure you can find many that would work. The hardest part was with our cats. Cats adore this dog, for whatever reason, and she adores cats. Even the feral stray that used to just wander through our yard to get to the other part of the neighborhood now stays here full time (we got him fixed and vaccinated) and they play chase. He adores her and will sleep with her. The cats all wanted to play with her and rub all over her. We had to keep them from getting her too excited. Your dog must be so sweet for the cat to love her like that. :-) Thanks for the information. We just got an appointment for Tuesday, so this is coming pretty fast. I really appreciate hearing from you and hornblower about dogs who have done well with this procedure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Hugs and good luck, Innisfree. I know this can be stressful and a bit scary but honestly dog medicine has come a long way. I have a friend who is a specialist in veterinary medicine and the improvements and changes she has seen over the years have been amazing. There is a very good chance your dog will do just fine. Best wishes... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 I think most vets say you don't have to keep the dog on strict crate rest. Just keep them calm. Very slow leash walks only, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 When I worked at a vet eons ago, we treated several dogs for heartworms. Most of the dogs did very well and fully recovered. I'm sure treatment protocols have improved since then, but yes, keeping them calm was probably the hardest part for owners. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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