# Help, Possible Heartworm



## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Okay, so here's the deal...


I just adopted Koda, a GSD from a lady who found him as a stray. I took a fecal sample in to the Vet a few days ago, it came back negative for worms. I took him in to get his shots today at Vetco (Petco's vet clinic) and they recommended doing a heartworm test, so I did. He came back with two faint positive tests. I'm really scared. I made an appointment with my regular Vet on Monday to get him tested again and make sure he really has Heartworm, and if he does, start treatment.

I started doing some research and I'm finding horror stories about dogs dying from the treatment. Apparently it puts a tremendous amount of strain on them, and the treatment contains Arsenic to kill the worms. I'm scared of losing him. I've only had him for a week and a half and I'm already so attached to him, this is really worrying me. Not to mention the cost of treatment, I was reading that it's going to cost upwards of $500, if not way more. Does anyone know if it may be cheaper if I'm able to find a Vet School in town? I'm really stressing about the whole thing, not so much about the money, just the fact that my dog could die from treatment. I don't even know how he could have contracted heartworm in Arizona, we don't have mosquitoes here! The Vet at the clinic said that since we don't really have a history on Koda that maybe he was brought here from another state, who knows, he may have had heartworm for a while, he could be infested.

I don't know, I might be stressing over nothing, I'll find out Monday...


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

Anyone with Heartworm Experience.. Please??? can start you off...cost varies by region. You want someone who has done a number of treatments - I think anyway. 

Hope all goes well and that it was a mistake (never know, doesn't hurt to hope)!


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Hmm, that just brought me to the main page for the forums, not to a specific thread..Try again?


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

I recently (last summer) treated a GSD I took in from a high kill shelter that was going to put him down. I took him on as a personal foster and paid for his treatment out of pocket. It is not inexpensive to treat for HW's. I spent well over a grand on this sweet boy (worth every penny), however he had a few other issues as well so the HW treatment itself was probably approx $750 from initial consultation to the final negative HW test. My vet, however, is not the cheapest around. But he's one of the best and I trust him dearly. I briefly considered using one of the cheaper places, but wasn't willing to risk it.

Many dogs do fine during HW treatment if treated at a good vet. The key is to keep the dog VERY quiet for the first 6 - 8 weeks, give or take depending on how severe the HW's are. This means a lot of crate rest, leash walking, confined spaces only. No running around the house, playing with other dogs, etc.

HW's are typically treated in several stages, so the payment will be spaced out a little over the course of several months.

Also, just to be clear - HW's do not show up in a fecal exam, and the fact that he had two positive test results indicates he most likely has HW's. Do not panic, this is not a death sentence. But it does need immediate treatment.


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## VaBeachFamily (Apr 12, 2005)

Check this forum, but look for that link.. I posted it today I believe, so it's new. 
I have a heartworm positive Pit Bull, and I worry because she's old, but we are going through with the treatment. Things have changed since the original heartworm treatment from what I have heard. I am scared also, so we are just going to do everything we can to keep her calm... I am curious how I know when she can run around and play again??

As far as the price... I know that there is a vet around here that is around 650.. plus xrays and such... Then Banfield is 1500.... and I know the SPCA can do it all for under 500 for everything including the antibiotics, as long as you meet a certain income criteria. That is where we are taking Gizmo, because it was so unexpected, I just couldn't foot the bill after buying the new pup.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Rerun - I mentioned the fecal exam to give some history, I just wanted to let everyone know that he came back negative for any other worms through his stool sample. Vetco did a blood test on him today for the heartworm, that's what came back with the weak positive. As I said, he's going to my regular Vet Monday. I understand the treatment is going to be costly, but he's so worth it. My Dad has agreed to help me with the cost, we have a card we can use (Care Credit) and pay it off over the course of 12 months. Does the fact that it came back as a "weak" positive mean that his condition isn't that advanced? If he has it at all? I know that my regular vet will tell me more Monday and will be able to confirm if he is even infected, I'm just so worried. He doesn't have a cough, he runs around, the only thing that even indicates that there could be something wrong is that he pants more than I'm used to a dog panting. I just though it had something to do with his size, I honestly didn't know there was something wrong with the amount he panted. I'm used to my Sheltie mix who is a lot smaller than he is, I haven't had a big dog around since I was a little kid, I thought maybe, as I said, it had something to do with his size. If he has heartworms, it would explain the panting though, the strain on his heart and lungs, etc...


VABeachFamily - I found the thread, thank you. Looks like we're in the same boat, though I'm really not 100% certain yet that Koda has heartworms, I'll know Monday. I'll share my information here, please share what you find out as well...


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## VaBeachFamily (Apr 12, 2005)

I am taking Gizmo in on the 8th for her treatment, but they will be running another test and another Xray first just to double check, and if its still positive, then her treatment will be the two shots, come home 24 hours after 2nd shot, and then go back in 30 days I believe?


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

There are 2-3 different methods, I believe. Slow kill, then the two ways for the quick kill method. 

For quick kill you can: 

Do 2 shots, 24 hours apart then a month later oral Ivermectin - I believe. Hopefully another rescue person will see this and confirm. 

Or the recommended is for 3 shots. One shot, then four weeks later, 2 shots 24 hours apart. Then the Ivermectin. 

These (Immiticide) shots kill the adult worms - large worms living in your dogs - 6 inches or more in length. So you can imagine when these worms in the dog die, that they might clump and form a clot, which is made worse by movement. Which is why leash potties only, no exercise, and bed rest or leash tethering are so important for 4weeks after each shot (or shots) and another month at least after the Ivermectin. See the Houstin Shelties rescue link in the other thread. 

Check with your vet on all but better safe and conservative in my mind, than sorry. 

The Ivermectin kills off any baby worms at the end. 

Staging can involve urinalysis, bloodwork, and 2 xrays and the HW test. In my mind light positive is less important than what they see in the xray but I am not sure on that. You can go to the rescue section, follow up, and see my foster's xrays posted in stunning bi/black in Lawrenceville GA thread. 

Hope this helps. Will look for a link I like and post it here. Please read that Houston Sheltie rescue thread. Aftercare is huge. My vet has scared the  out of me with stories when I had one other foster undergoing HW tx and again, better safe than sorry!

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_heartworm_treatment.html

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/heartworm.html


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## Spiritsmam (Nov 10, 2007)

Hi

Unfortunately I have a lot of experience with heartworm disease as I have adopted 6 heartworm positive dogs. All had severe worm loads - 1, Snow Princess, died within 12 hours of my rescuing her (caval syndrome), 2 were successfully treated and the other three had disease too advanced to be treated so were just put on a slow kill regime (Heartgard).

The protocol for treating heartworm disease is changing. I have had my dogs evaluated at NC State vet school, and here is what we did last year ...

Diagnostics: CBC, Chemistry profile, urinalysis, heartworm test, chest radiographs and echocardiogram (this for me is very important as it was the echo that showed the heart damage in the dogs that were not able to be treated where labwork and radiographs looked ok).

Pre-treat: Doxycycline (to kill off Wolbachia, a bacterium associated with heartworms, which results in reduction pulmonary effects of dying heartworms) and Heartgard for at least a month prior to adulticide treatment.

Treatment: Immiticide, 1 injection, followed by 2 further injections a month later. Note: My last dog developed a cough after the first injection, so the subsequent injections were postponed two months.

*There is one thing you may want to consider before treating for heartworm disease. One of my GSD's tested positive on her first heartworm test at 18 month of age. She had been on prevention all her life which made us stop and think - either she was resistant to the heartworm medication or, she was a FALSE POSITIVE, which can occur on the snap tests. Apparently some dogs have a protein in their blood that interferes with the snap test.

We sent out a antigen/antibody test to the Animal Diagnostics lab in St Louis and it came back NEGATIVE, proving a false positive snap test.*This test is apparently the gold standard so the cardiologists told me to never use snap tests again, instead to send out a serology each year (great - it's not a cheap test!)

Wishing you the best with Koda
Joanne


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Melina said:


> Rerun - I mentioned the fecal exam to give some history, I just wanted to let everyone know that he came back negative for any other worms through his stool sample. Vetco did a blood test on him today for the heartworm, that's what came back with the weak positive. As I said, he's going to my regular Vet Monday. I understand the treatment is going to be costly, but he's so worth it. My Dad has agreed to help me with the cost, we have a card we can use (Care Credit) and pay it off over the course of 12 months. Does the fact that it came back as a "weak" positive mean that his condition isn't that advanced? If he has it at all? I know that my regular vet will tell me more Monday and will be able to confirm if he is even infected, I'm just so worried. He doesn't have a cough, he runs around, the only thing that even indicates that there could be something wrong is that he pants more than I'm used to a dog panting. I just though it had something to do with his size, I honestly didn't know there was something wrong with the amount he panted. I'm used to my Sheltie mix who is a lot smaller than he is, I haven't had a big dog around since I was a little kid, I thought maybe, as I said, it had something to do with his size. If he has heartworms, it would explain the panting though, the strain on his heart and lungs, etc...
> 
> 
> VABeachFamily - I found the thread, thank you. Looks like we're in the same boat, though I'm really not 100% certain yet that Koda has heartworms, I'll know Monday. I'll share my information here, please share what you find out as well...


Gotcha on the fecal. I understand now!  Just wanted to ensure that you realized that, as many people think a clear fecal means their dog doesn't have heartworms. Regarding symptoms - I've had a lot of fosters I was fostering while being treated for heartworms, and as said I had one I pulled and vetted on my own dime. None of them displayed any of the symptoms because it was caught while in the early stages. None of the dogs ended up having any kind of organ damage or long term health problems relating to the heartworms, since it was caught early and treated. I have never seen a dog have two positive tests and not have heartworms, but I'm sure somewhere out there it has happened. I would definitely have your regular vet run the test again (I'm sure they would anyway even if not requested). It sounds like he, unfortunately, does have heartworms. Many dogs can appear completely healthy for years before displaying symptoms. But it will catch up to them eventually, and often with long term damage as a result.

I'm glad you are taking this seriously and having your vet do a workup immediately, so you can begin treatment if the test is indeed positive. I am sure he will come through just fine.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Yeah, I'm just worried about him, he's not showing any symptoms really, no coughing or anything, so he may not be completely infested if he does have it, it may not be that bad, again, I'll know Monday...

The first test that they did came back with a weak line in the positive area, so they did another one. The second test they did came back negative at first, then I was on my way out the door thinking, "Okay, I'm going to have my regular Vet test him, not just Petco's Vet clinic, just to make sure", and the second test started to show a weak positive line as well, so they confirmed what I was thinking and said to take him to my usual Vet and have him tested to ensure that he's not heartworm positive.

As I've said, I've only had Koda a short time, but I'm so attached to this dog, and anything he needs treatment wise, for ANYTHING, is so worth it, he's such a good boy. He follows me around the house, always wants to be by my side, he's so gentle, and my other dog loves him. He waits for me outside the bathroom door until I'm done, if I'm using it, haha, then follows me to whatever room I go to...he's funny 

He's such a beautiful boy, I have a good Vet that I trust, I'm sure she'll tell me what's up on Monday...


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Spiritsmam - Do you think you can find out what it's called when a dog has a protein in their blood that interferes with the snap test? I tried googling it and I couldn't find anything on it, I'd like to bring it up to my Vet on Monday...


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## LJsMom (Jan 6, 2008)

Here's another website to check out: American Heartworm Society | Canine Guidelines


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Thank you for all the information, it really is appreciated, I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow...

This is a question that just occurred to me: Does having heartworm affect a dogs prey drive? I don't mean their ability to play and run around, I know it affects that, I mean, does it affect their want to go chase a ball or a toy in general? One thing I noticed about Koda is that he doesn't seem to be toy oriented. He's more than content to chase a dog around the dog park and sniff its butt, but he doesn't really want to play fetch, he doesn't seem to have a high prey drive. Could that be a product of heartworm infestation, the lethargy, etc? As I said, he'll run after a dog, but not a ball or a toy. I've just know Shepherds to be total toy fanatics, from what I've seen, I've never owned one until him, are there one's like Koda that just have a low prey drive, or could it possibly be the heartworm?


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

I have a Koda! When he was taken in by his foster he had NO IDEA what a toy was, much less how to play with one. i don't know if the heart worms would affect it for your guy, but my Koda just had to learn how to play and find out that playing with me with toys was FUN!

My guy still is pretty picky about what toys he likes. He has become quite attached to his green good cuz (we have recently graduated to him being able to search it out and he will bring it over to play...when we first got it for him, he would only hold it by the feet because when it sweaked, it scared him and he would drop it), and a skineez squirrel, and he has become quite good at catching a tennis ball, but we have a bin full of dog toys but most are never touched. 

So to answer your question, yes, some german shepherds can be like that, but some can learn to become more playful, if you give them the chance.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Sunshine - Now that I think about it, Riley, my Sheltie mix didn't know what a toy was when I first adopted her either, so maybe it's a combination of both not knowing what toys are and having issues with heartworm (If he has it, I'll know later today, the appointment is at 3:40). I bought Riley all these toys when I first got her home and she just looked at me like, "Mom, what do I do with these?", haha. It took her a few weeks to really go run after her rope toys and balls, she didn't even know what a leash was at first! Now whenever I get the leash out she gets so excited, it's wonderful.

If I hand Koda a tennis ball or a plush toy he'll pick it up in his mouth, but he'll usually walk about 10 feet and put it down, so as I said, it could be that he doesn't know what to do with it, in combination with the fact that he's lethargic from possible heartworm, I don't know. Either way, if he does have heartworm, it's probably a good thing that he doesn't have much of a prey drive right now because I won't have to worry about too much movement during treatment, he's usually very mellow around the house. I've only gotten him to play fetch in the back yard once so far.

I'm so nervous about what we find out at the Vet this afternoon. When I woke up this morning, Koda came over to the side of the bed and put his front paws up on the side, then layed his head next to mine as if to say, "Mom, I'm gonna be alright". He's never woken me up like that, it was really weird, but comforting. He's such a sweet boy, whoever let him go is missing a darn good dog.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Well, I just got back from the Vet, they're sending out the bloodwork, so I get to bite my nails for another day. Aside from that, she said that Koda looks to be in good health. She pegged him for between 1 and 2 years of age (whereas Vetco said between 2 and 3, so that's cool that he might be younger). The Vet said that he also doesn't really need to put on weight, which I thought he did, but I'm not an expert. She said he could put on 5 pounds and it wouldn't hurt him, but he doesn't need to, she said he's a good, lean weight. He did, however, put on 2 pounds since the last time he was there, which is odd, haha. Though it could be muscle since he's been running around the dog park so much. He's up to 67 pounds. Either way, I'll find out the results from the heartworm test tomorrow, until then, i'll anxiously be sitting around...


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

If your dog has such a light case it is barely registering on the test he probably qualifies for just starting him on the ivermectin preventive and letting it kill them off over the next year and a half.

Such a light case likely does not affect him at all, no symptoms.

I believe the statistics on the 3 shot immiticide treatment is about a 5 out of 100 kill rate for dogs who get the treatment.

A heartworm is a 6-12" worm that lives in the main artery and heart, your boy likely only has a couple of them, not dozens like more severe cases.

My latest rescue was positive, and not so light a case. She came through the treatment with flying colors over a month ago.

They classify the cases into four levels I believe, the lightest of which can simply use the ivermectin preventive for a slow kill with less risk, but a small risk of embolism over the next year if exercised hard.

Worse cases like my dog are at a much higher risk of embolism from the dead worms as they break up in the blood stream, but only for a month after treatment.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Rider - Hmm, even if he only has a light case, wouldn't it be better to do the quick kill method and then only worry about and embolism for a shorter period of time? I'd rather be able to have him in confinement for 2-3 months then be able to take him back to the dog park, you know? I'd rather not be horrified that my dog is going to keel over at any second for the next year. What would the pros and cons be of the slow kill vs. the quick kill? If we did the slow kill, it would be less invasive, no? But he could be at risk for an embolism over the course of the next year? Whereas with the quick kill, it would be rougher on his body, but the time length during which the chance an embolism could occur would be shorter?


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

I just looked it up and this is what I found:

"Heartgard (slow kill)

The "slow kill" method, which is a newer approach, is the one prefered by us for treatment of dogs who are in Stage 1 of the infection. It consists of giving the dog Heartgard on a monthly basis. This heartworm preventative medication has some effect against the adult worms and should gradually eliminate them over a period of one to two years; without treatment, the worms can live up to five years. The earlier the treatment is started after infection, the more quickly it will work to eliminate the adult worms. Note that only Heartgard (ivermectin) should be used, as Revolution (selamectin) affects far fewer adult worms, and Interceptor (milbemycin oxime) almost none at all.
Although this method is gentler than the use of Immiticide, the danger from the dying worms is still present, and for a much longer period. A recent Italian study showed that pet dogs (as opposed to the caged laboratory dogs this method had been tested on before) did get pulmonary emboli and some of the dogs died of it. The more active the dog, the higher the risk"

Edit:
I found this website too, how odd is this, another GSD Koda with heartworm:
http://www.kodasheartwormtreatment.com/heartworm/slow-kill-heartworm-treatment-for-dogs.html

*One more edit quote:

"Definitely the "long slow kill" does work, but with many risks. There was an Italian study presented at the American Heartworm Society Symposium this year (2004) that followed actual client owned dogs treated with this approach, and the incidence of pulmonary changes and other problems was very high - higher than with the standard "fast kill" protocol.

If you use the "slow kill" method, which takes around 18 months to three years to kill the worms, you have to keep the dog quiet for the whole time. It might be safer than the immiticide (it's basically just giving the regular preventative dose of Heartgard once each month - not a higher dose) from the point of view of drug reactions, but the risk of emboli is the same, or even worse, since you're stretching it out over a much longer time."


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

Melina said:


> I just looked it up and this is what I found:
> 
> "Heartgard (slow kill)
> 
> ...


Yes everything I read says the risk is there for embolism either way, if my dog was not very active I might go the long route.

My sister adopted an older dog with a light case and did the ivermectin route, her dog did fine but she was an older not very active dog.

I did the 3 shot method, worse case though, it cost me about $700 and she had to stay calm inside for 2 months. She stayed at the vets overnight for one shot, then home for a month of no activity (though she wanted to) then a two night stay with two shots and another month of no activity, and she's free to do anything now, and gets monthly heartguard.

I would think that the risk of emboli would be fairly low for light case either way, you should talk it over with your vet.

My vet also told me they don't use arsenic any more, they used to, my dog as a kid in the 60's got a bad case, an the arsenic did harm her health, but she still lived to 16 but with health issues. 

My vet said they isolated the particular chemical in arsenic that kills the worms and separate it out and that's what is used now. Unless the dog has some kind of allergic reaction they usually do fine.

If you want to see what they look like, watch this... if your squeemish don't watch it. This is a worst case where they have to physically go in and pull the worms out of the aorta and heart itself.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Rider - He's very calm at home, but the Vet thinks he's only a year or two old, and I don't want to deprive him of a year of the dog park and hikes if I can only deprive him of two months, you know? He's a young dog and I'd like him to experience life, it doesn't seem like his previous owner let him to much, if you ask me. When I got him home, his coat was disgusting, which leads me to believe he had been left in the back yard (I don't think he was on the streets for too long because he wasn't too skinny), he also had no clue how to get into a car and was getting car sick the first few times we went anywhere due to the stress of it, he's since gotten over it because he now associates car rides with the dog park and Petco  This tells me that whoever had him before me never brought him anywhere in the car, you know? I just feel like with the slow kill method I'll be scared he could suffer an embolism at any moment over the course of the next year, or even longer, and he won't get to do anything or go anywhere. My Vet didn't really get into the slow kill method anyway, she just talked about the 3 shot method, so I don't know if that was even an option for her. I still haven't received a call yet from her, so I'm not even certain he's positive on the heartworm test yet, I'm still crossing my fingers that there's a possibility he'll come up negative. When I get a call later today, if it's positive, I'll be talking to her about both methods of treatment, the fast and slow, and see the pros and cons to both...


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

I just watched the video, sorry it took me so long to finally watch it (I'm not squeemish, just wanted to take the time to watch the whole thing), and my god, that was incredible the amount of worms! I still haven't received a call from my Vet, I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm calling her first thing tomorrow morning...


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Well, it came back positive. He's going in tomorrow for bloodwork and X-Rays to see what stage it is and then we're going to decide what course of treatment to pursue.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Does anyone know the difference between treating with Melarsomine (Immiticide) and Ivermectin? When I talked to my Vet on the phone, she only mentioned the Melarsomine, which I looked up and found out was the Immiticide. I'm trying to find out some information on Google right now, but I'm not finding anything in layman's terms. I want to be able to have some idea of what I'm talking about at the Vet's office tomorrow...

She did mention that the Melarsomine doesn't kill the adult worms, I think? Just the microfilaria? So it wouldn't be an effective treatment if Koda has adult heartworm, right?


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

Melina said:


> Does anyone know the difference between treating with Melarsomine (Immiticide) and Ivermectin? When I talked to my Vet on the phone, she only mentioned the Melarsomine, which I looked up and found out was the Immiticide. I'm trying to find out some information on Google right now, but I'm not finding anything in layman's terms. I want to be able to have some idea of what I'm talking about at the Vet's office tomorrow...
> 
> She did mention that the Melarsomine doesn't kill the adult worms, I think? Just the microfilaria? So it wouldn't be an effective treatment if Koda has adult heartworm, right?


Melarsomine kills the adult worms, that is the arsenic based compound. It is injected into a back muscle, is quite painful and starts killing adult worms immediately.

The Ivermectin (heartguard) will NOT kill the adult worms, however it does shorten their lives. It is simply a standard heartworm preventive medicine.

Many vets will not even talk about a choice of using a slower method of ivermectin over about 18 months, and will always recommend immiticide treatment..

As I said if it's light case, and the vet says you can go the Ivermectin route, it would be the dogs activity level that would make my decision point.

If the dog is going to be getting a lot of hard exercise over the next year and a half the fast kill immiticide is probably safer.


Here is the clearest info page I have seen....

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_heartworm_treatment.html


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Rider - Thank you, I didn't realize that the Immiticide is the fast kill method and the Ivermectin is the slow kill, thank you for clarifying that. It sounds as though she wants to go the fast kill method, but we need to determine what stage he's in and how many shots, 2 or 3. We're going to see where he's at tomorrow. She did say that there's a Vet in Gilbert that she's going to refer me to that has more experience with treating heartworm after we determine how bad the worm load is.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Koda went in for bloodwork and radiographs yesterday, they weren't able to tell me exactly what stage he's in (my primary vet is working in conjunction with the other vet in the practice there, then they're both in contact with another vet in Gilbert AND the Humane Society because apparently they treat more cases of heartworm there and have more experience), but they were able to tell me from the x-rays that they can tell that his heart his strained, but it isn't too bad. This is their course of treatment right now, but they're going to talk to the other vet in Gilbert and the Humane Society and see if they have another recommendation, if not, this is what they plan to do:

First, get him on Heartgard to take care of some of the Microfilaria and treat with Doxycycline for 30 days (There's 120 pills. 2 every 12 hours = 4 a day. 120/4 = 30). This is where I'm a little confused though, she showed me a little chart that we're going to follow with a timeline of the treatment of a 4 month period, it looked kind of like this (I used my great Photoshop skills):










HG is the Heartgard treatment, which he will be on the rest of his life obviously, DX is the Doxycycline, which we started now in M1 (Month 1), then in M2 and M3 (Months 3 and 4) is when the IC (Immiticide shots) come in (We're going to figure out if we want to do the 2 or 3 shot method when we get there), but what I'm confused about is, what's going on in month 2? And should he be on Heartgard at the same time as the Immiticide treatment? I just wanted to check with you guys and make sure this sounds right. I don't think I misread the chart that the vet showed me. I'm going to call her today and make sure I got the timeline right, but if I did, again, what's happening in month 2? Is the Heartgard still working on the Microfilaria? I think I'm just missing something...


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Could just be differing opinions on treatment, but my foster was not on the HG until after all treatment was completed.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Koda's treatment is chugging along, he's been on Doxy now for a while, and I do understand what the Vet's course of action is as it was explained more fully to me, but if anyone can give me their opinion on this, that would be great:

I understand heartworm is expensive, I didn't think this was going to be cheap, but thus far we've spent $500 something on his diagnosis (radiographs, bloodwork, etc.), and the Vet says that the Immiticide is going to run $1,000. That's $1,500 thus far, plus on top of it, he's going to have to stay overnight when he gets the shots, I'm sure, that costs, plus any pain meds he needs, pretty soon he's going on prednisone. It sounds like this is going to make it's way into the $2,000 range. I know heartworm treatment varies in cost from state to state, but does this sound excessive to anyone? The reason this is coming up is that my Father spoke to someone he works with who is apparently in contact with some rescues here, and when he told him what it's cost us thus far and how much we still need to do for Koda's treatment, he said that sounded high. In reading about the range of cost in treatment, it don't remember it going above $1,200, really. Whatever we need to pay, we're going to pay it, I just want to know if around $2,000 sounds weird to anyone...


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

That sounds really excessive. If you were in a big city in Cali, I could see it being that high. But unless Phoenix, AZ is an otherwise "expensive" area to live in, that is a very high quote. My vet is middle of the road to expensive price wise, for this area. But they are very good and I trust them and have used them for my own pets and a ton of fosters over the years with various issues.

I believe my fosters treatment was in the ball park of $750 just for the heartworms, but I do not remember the exact cost because he had a host of other issues that were all being treated as well so it was well over a grand total. In this area, I could go to the crappier sides of town and get HW treatment done for a couple hundred or so. But I wouldn't trust those vets as far as I could throw them. I have actually never heard of HW treatment going as high as the figures you are quoting. I might start getting second opinions and calling around if I were you to find out if that is normal for your area.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Yeah, that's what we're going to do, because that sounds ridiculous to me too..Thank you for confirming that. We started him on the Doxy with this Vet, how would it work to just, well, switch in the middle of treatment if we decided to? He's not at the point where he's getting the Immiticide injections, it's going to be a little bit before that. I guess the Vet we've been seeing should send any information obtained thus far (radiographs, bloodwork, etc.) to a new Vet if we decide to go somewhere else, correct? 

This is my Mother's Vet that she's seen for her dog for years. I had my own for my other dog out in California while going to school that I really liked, but obviously that's not an option. I have told her that I never liked her Vet, but I wasn't in a position to argue with her about Vets to go to as I don't know any here and we wanted to get him seen ASAP. One of the many reasons I don't like her Vet, and it may seem silly, is that I had a cat (I was living at home at that point, taking a break from school) who at the time was overweight due to the dry food I was feeding her. Well, we brought her in to assess what to do as it seemed exercise and reduction in her food wasn't helping, and she said to put her on Prescription Science Diet. It did absolutely nothing. Later on I moved back to California to finish school and went to MY vet for the same issue, she said, you need to be feeding your cat wet food as it contains fewer calories than dry food. What do you know, my cat lost weight! I told her about the other Vet's suggestion and she said it was basically like "feeding your cat 'light' cookies, they're still cookies". It just goes to show that all my Mother's Vet cared about was making her money off the Science Diet, not about helping my cat get to a healthy weight. I've kind of had a grudge against her practice since then, and now hearing the price she's quoting for the heartworm treatment, it just sounds way too high.


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## lisac (Mar 26, 2010)

When I got my dog as a puppy and I took him to the vet he had worms and also an infected ear and it didn't cost me that much. I get the 30 day pill every month for him and that's only 20.00 and when I took him for his yearly heartworm test he came back negative. I wouldn't worry about it I'm sure he'll be fine.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Alright, so I looked up some Vets (not all of them in the area, some are a bit of a drive, over an hour) to get an estimate on what they charge for heartworm treatment, and called them based on the reviews they received. Anyone who didn't get good reviews, didn't get a phone call, obviously. I called about 5 places. Two of them still need to get back to me. One of them said that $2,000 "Sounds about right", I didn't like that answer. Another quoted at around $1,000 for the remainder of Koda's treatment, that's still $1,500. The last place quoted somewhere between $300-$400 for the remainder of his treatment. That would be the visit, Urinalysis (Why our current Vet didn't do one, I don't know), Prednisone, two shots of Immiticide (Possibly a 3rd if needed, they would need to look at the information our current Vet sends to them), 2 day stay with them, and pain medication. That puts the total cost of his treatment with the $500-ish that we've put into it thus far no more than $900 dollars. That sounds a heck of a lot better than 2 f'n grand. As I said, I read reviews about this hospital and they sound great, plus the lady I talked to sounded extremely nice and caring. I was reading about the cost of Immiticide and apparently some Vets are reasonable and charge a fair price for it, while others like to jack it up, sometimes to 4x the amount to make as much as they can off unsuspecting patients who don't know any better and are fearing for their dogs life. It's really starting to sound like that's what our current (Maybe soon to be former) Vet is doing.


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## Spence (Feb 19, 2010)

I had one come to me with a "medium" infestation of HW. After talking with my vet and making a decision as to what I wanted to dog for, I opted for the slowwwww kill regimen. It took almost 18 months of keeping him in a 12'x12' pen with no other exercise. I gave him .3 (point 3) cc/ml of ivermectin each month. What this did was kill any filarae (squigglies), thereby stopping the population growth. The adult HW essentially died of old age and I took him in for his test after the 18th month and he was clear. Did this for 2 more months and he remained clear. He is now a narc dog in GA. The cost? Including vet visits and tests, less that $200.00. 

You've got to commit to keeping the dog for at least 18 months and the infestation should not be severe.

Talk to a couple of vets before you decide on this route. 

g'luck


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Well, I'm keeping the dog for (it's) life  But I would like to move out of here sometime, and I'd like it to be sooner than a year and a half, and he couldn't be shuffled around in a move. Plus, the thought of two months of confinement for him is hard enough, let alone 18 months. We've already begun treatment for (and put money into) the "fast" kill method, so we're just going to finish that out I'm sure. I know that the "slow" kill method would be a lot cheaper, but that kind of confinement for that long just, well, sucks.  I just thought our current Vet was trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of this scenario, and it sounds like she is if another Vet quoted the rest of his treatment for much, much less, while continuing to sound very reputable and knowledgeable according to reviews and my talking to them. They mentioned they were treating a case of heartworm now, I believe, and Arizona doesn't get too many cases, although it's on the rise. Our current Vet said it's been quite some time since she's treated it, she had to work in conjunction with the other Vet in the practice, look up information, and call other places to find out exactly how to go about treating this. Then she wants around $2,000 total? That sounds silly to me.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

lisac said:


> When I got my dog as a puppy and I took him to the vet he had worms and also an infected ear and it didn't cost me that much. I get the 30 day pill every month for him and that's only 20.00 and when I took him for his yearly heartworm test he came back negative. I wouldn't worry about it I'm sure he'll be fine.


Heartworms are NOT the same as fecal worms, and he will not be fine without proper treatment.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

I could see how vets around the Phoenix area wouldn't do much HW treatment, since it's transmitted by moquitoes which breed best in wet areas. If you're open to traveling the average quote I got around here was $500 when I had to treat Cash last year. He came through the treatment without a hitch. If it makes you feel better, our rescue treats literally over 150 dogs per year for heartworms and has never lost one due to the treatment.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

I have a Vet Tech friend living in Corpus right now, she says the number of cases in Texas are ridiculous. I figured it would be less there as the incidence of heartworm in Texas is so prevalent, but we've already started treatment here, and it now seems like we can finish out the remainder of his treatment with a Vet who isn't going to jack up the price. Plus, it really wouldn't be feasible to complete the treatment there, I don't know how travel would work after he got his shots, and we certainly couldn't stay in Texas for 2 months  I'm still angry with my Mother's Vet, I told my Mom a long time ago that I didn't like her as a Vet, and this just adds to my dislike of the way they conduct business in that practice.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

I just treated a dog for around $250, which is probably the cost of the Immiticide itself. This was a very nice vet who cares and does not charge an arm and a leg for treating rescue dogs. I had vets flat out lie to me by telling me that the Immiticide costs $600 (this was over 7 years ago), which is definitely not true. Unfurtunately veterinary medicine is a business and you will need to shop around to find quality treatment for a reasonable cost. I find that what you were quoted is excessive. I have treated 20+ dogs and I did lose a wonderful young dog to a reaction to the Immiticide, he suddenly developed massive bleeding from the lungs, 2-3 weeksa fetr the treatment. After that experience I personally would opt to treat my own dog with Heartgard.


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