Ruby (whom you met in my park walk blog post back in August) is my approximately 6-year-old boxer mix rescued 2 years ago from a puppy mill. After the Genetic Health Analysis test, we determined that she is actually 7/8 American Staffordshire Terrier and 1/8 Boxer, but she is the perfect dog for our family.
When we adopted her, I knew that she was heartworm positive. I wasn’t aware of her other medical issues (mammary tumor, mast cell tumors, and fractured canine tooth), but we were able to manage those.
Heartworm disease is thankfully not very prevalent at Shiloh Animal Hospital because we have such great owners who really see the importance of giving their monthly heartworm preventative. However, heartworms are definitely heavily prevalent in North Carolina as a whole.
Heartworms are spread through mosquitoes, and we know that even indoor animals are susceptible since we can obviously be bitten by mosquitoes even in our homes.
Through a complex life cycle, the immature stages of heartworms infect the mosquitoes after they have a blood meal from an infected animal. If the mosquito then goes for another blood meal in a non-protected dog, then those immature heartworms progress and have an opportunity to turn into the full, adult form. The monthly heartworm preventative that you give (Heartgard, Trifexis, Advantage Multi, Interceptor, Sentinel, etc.) works by killing the immature, larval stages before they’re able to grow into the adults. Once the adults are present in the animal’s heart and lungs, preventative cannot treat the existing worms (but it will prevent more from developing).
Once we confirmed Ruby’s heartworm disease with a simple blood test, I knew that we would have to proceed with treatment. You might have heard that there is a “slow-kill” method involving giving multiple doses of regular heartworm preventatives. Unfortunately, "slow-kill" is not ever really a good option, as all it does is prevent more from developing and waits for the adults to die on their own which can take 5-7 years! In that time, the damage that can be done to the dog's heart and lungs is irreparable. Ruby’s health depended on getting her body rid of the worms. We submitted a full blood panel to check on the function of the internal organs, and everything looked good. We also performed radiographs to assess if there were any changes to the heart and lungs that we needed to be aware of. For treatment, we started with an antibiotic that actually kills the internal gut of the existing worms and prevents them from being able to produce the immature stages that mosquitoes would then continue to spread. We also had to use a tapering dose of steroids to ensure that her body would be less reactive to the dying process of these worms.
The immiticide injections are a necessary hardship. The product is administered intramuscularly in a series of 3 injections as recommended by American Heartworm Society. The first injection helps to kill off approximately 50% of the worms along with continued steroid use helps to prevent any reactions. One month later, we then administered injections 2 & 3 on consecutive days, which then statistically treats another 50% of the worms each day. These injections can be uncomfortable, so we recommend treating with a cold-light laser, ice pack, and/or pain medications to help decrease inflammation at the site.
Ruby was a champ and really didn’t let the injections change her life at all. The biggest change came from her owners, who had to stop running or playing for the next 3 months. This in some ways can be the hardest part of the treatment, since everyone loves playing with their dogs! But this crucial step helps to minimize the potential for reaction. As the immiticide kills the adult heartworms, the disintegration of the worms in the heart and lungs breaks the worms up into small pieces, and we need to avoid over-exerting the heart in an effort to prevent throwing a clot or blockage of those pieces to the blood vessels.
On January 1st, Ruby got to start the new year by going back to paying and running! We got her a lacrosse ball for Christmas that year, and boy did she love running the yard. There was only one more step in this process. Four months after the last injection, we had to recheck a heartworm test. The 3-injection protocol is the surest way to fully treat the disease, but there is a small chance that there might still be heartworms even after this treatment. Ruby was negative, meaning we were successful and cleared!
Needless to say, we still give her heartworm prevention EVERY SINGLE month both during and after the treatment. There are no winter breaks, since North Carolina can still have mosquitoes all year long. Even as a holistic practice, we recommend one of the commercially available pharmaceuticals since there is no proven natural product at this point, and it’s not worth the risk. All dogs and even cats are at risk, and so we recommend it for every pet we see.
From the moment that a pet gets bitten by an infected mosquito, it takes 6 months to test positive on the blood test, yet at that point, the heartworms are too developed for regular preventatives to have any effect. And even if detected “early,” we would still recommend the same level of care and treatment protocol to give us the best chance of treating the full infection. I don’t wish this infection upon any pet or owner, so keep your pet protected with the simple, cheap, and effective way of preventing this devastating disease.
Comments? Questions? Reply to this post below! We would love to have your input on any and all of our posts.
When we adopted her, I knew that she was heartworm positive. I wasn’t aware of her other medical issues (mammary tumor, mast cell tumors, and fractured canine tooth), but we were able to manage those.
Heartworm disease is thankfully not very prevalent at Shiloh Animal Hospital because we have such great owners who really see the importance of giving their monthly heartworm preventative. However, heartworms are definitely heavily prevalent in North Carolina as a whole.
Heartworms are spread through mosquitoes, and we know that even indoor animals are susceptible since we can obviously be bitten by mosquitoes even in our homes.
Once we confirmed Ruby’s heartworm disease with a simple blood test, I knew that we would have to proceed with treatment. You might have heard that there is a “slow-kill” method involving giving multiple doses of regular heartworm preventatives. Unfortunately, "slow-kill" is not ever really a good option, as all it does is prevent more from developing and waits for the adults to die on their own which can take 5-7 years! In that time, the damage that can be done to the dog's heart and lungs is irreparable. Ruby’s health depended on getting her body rid of the worms. We submitted a full blood panel to check on the function of the internal organs, and everything looked good. We also performed radiographs to assess if there were any changes to the heart and lungs that we needed to be aware of. For treatment, we started with an antibiotic that actually kills the internal gut of the existing worms and prevents them from being able to produce the immature stages that mosquitoes would then continue to spread. We also had to use a tapering dose of steroids to ensure that her body would be less reactive to the dying process of these worms.
The immiticide injections are a necessary hardship. The product is administered intramuscularly in a series of 3 injections as recommended by American Heartworm Society. The first injection helps to kill off approximately 50% of the worms along with continued steroid use helps to prevent any reactions. One month later, we then administered injections 2 & 3 on consecutive days, which then statistically treats another 50% of the worms each day. These injections can be uncomfortable, so we recommend treating with a cold-light laser, ice pack, and/or pain medications to help decrease inflammation at the site.
Ruby was a champ and really didn’t let the injections change her life at all. The biggest change came from her owners, who had to stop running or playing for the next 3 months. This in some ways can be the hardest part of the treatment, since everyone loves playing with their dogs! But this crucial step helps to minimize the potential for reaction. As the immiticide kills the adult heartworms, the disintegration of the worms in the heart and lungs breaks the worms up into small pieces, and we need to avoid over-exerting the heart in an effort to prevent throwing a clot or blockage of those pieces to the blood vessels.
Needless to say, we still give her heartworm prevention EVERY SINGLE month both during and after the treatment. There are no winter breaks, since North Carolina can still have mosquitoes all year long. Even as a holistic practice, we recommend one of the commercially available pharmaceuticals since there is no proven natural product at this point, and it’s not worth the risk. All dogs and even cats are at risk, and so we recommend it for every pet we see.
From the moment that a pet gets bitten by an infected mosquito, it takes 6 months to test positive on the blood test, yet at that point, the heartworms are too developed for regular preventatives to have any effect. And even if detected “early,” we would still recommend the same level of care and treatment protocol to give us the best chance of treating the full infection. I don’t wish this infection upon any pet or owner, so keep your pet protected with the simple, cheap, and effective way of preventing this devastating disease.
Comments? Questions? Reply to this post below! We would love to have your input on any and all of our posts.
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