# Heartworm in a breeding bitch



## Jaimee (6 mo ago)

We are in the process of bringing in a new import breeding bitch and discovered that she has heartworms. We understand the treatment process but can't find any info on whether or not this is likely to impact her longterm health or future fertility - including both the vets that we use. Lots of conjecture but no first hand experience. We need to either cancel the sale or move forward soon.

Has anyone gone through this with a female that had pups before and after treatment and to what results . Failed pregnancies? Overall health of pups ? Reduced litter size? Reduced milk production ? or any other observable change.

Info appreciated. Thanks,


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## Rosebud99 (9 mo ago)

The only thing I can tell you is my rescue GSD mix was born from a dam who had heart worms. She was full GSD. Sire was GSD/Chow. I adopted my Jasper at 8 weeks. He is now 11 years 4 months. He just had a Senior blood panel and urinalysis done on Tuesday. Everything came back within normal values. He does have a sensitive digestive system. Who knows why. His mom went through the HW treatment after the puppies were weaned. She was spayed and adopted.

Added: There were 8 in the litter. All found homes.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I think you should question why you are buying a sick dog when heartworm is preventable.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

👆🏽
or why you’d risk breeding a dog with a weakened heart.


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## Buckelke (Sep 4, 2019)

I would think her general condition would be such that breeding would be a further stress on her health. I did find this information





FAQs - American Heartworm Society


Founded During The Heartworm Symposium Of 1974, The American Heartworm Society Aims to further scientific progress in the study of heartworm disease inform the membership of new developments, encourage and help promote effective procedures for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heartworm...




www.heartwormsociety.org




but in your place I would look further for a healthier dog. You are taking on a lot of expense for something that may not be as successful as you hope.


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## Bearshandler (Aug 29, 2019)

I don’t know the answers to your questions. My instinct tells me you shouldn’t go through with that sale. There’s enough females for sale that come without those complications. It’s not like your taking this dog for free.


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## Springbrz (Aug 13, 2013)

I'd seriously question the reputation of a seller willing to sell a heartworm positive female to someone they know intends to breed. I wouldn't go forward.


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## Hopps (Dec 5, 2021)

I would not buy an animal that is afflicted with a very preventable health issue. It says more about the source vs anything else. I dealt mainly with fish, reptiles and mice. Even with these "simpler" lifeforms, no one would consider buying an animal with easily preventable issues. Reputation is everything and it doesn't sit right with me. If they're cutting corners on very basic animal care, I would be worried if they're telling the truth on anything else. Not to be callous but there are so many quality animals, I think it's safe to say you will find another?


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Not a lot is known about how HW disease impacts lifespan. The vet consensus is the damage done to the heart and lungs by the worms is permanent. And yet....some dogs live long lives, and others just don't. 

I have a 14-year-old who came to us in middle age with heartworms, and had likely had them for a while. We treated him as soon as we rescued him. We give him COQ10 (ubiquinol) to support his heart, which we know had some damage. He's the outlier, pure BYB genetics from a rough part of town -- but he's in remarkably good shape for his age. I know of HW+ females birthing litters in Southern shelters that lacked a vet to spay abort in time, and they often survive. Sometimes they don't. It probably depends on how advanced the disease is, and how robust the underlying genetic health is.

Our rescue placed a litter of 6 from a HW+ dam who birthed them in a shelter. All 6 pups were all healthy. Two of them died before 2 years old due to other issues (one got a fungal infection from a pond at a dog park, and the other ate a bunch of plastic and got an obstruction that killed him before his family got him to the emergency vet). The dam is still alive, and it's been at least 5 years.

If I were investing in an imported dog, I think I would actually worry WAY more about the impact of fast-kill TREATMENT on the dog -- this is a very hard drug for the dog to handle. I'm always astonished how northnern vets that don't do much HW treatment act like it's just a routine thing. It's not -- about 10% of dogs die during treatment, and I'm convinced the number is higher for GSDs because they don't handle it welll as a breed. My vet has treated thousands of dogs for HW because of the number of rescues she serves, and the only ones that she dreads treating are GSDs because they seem most at risk for dropping dead during treatment. Once they throw a clot in the lungs and start coughing up blood during treatment, it's nearly impossible to save them. We've had some where we did EVERYTHING right, and the dog still died during treatment: 30 days of doxy, strict crate rest, treatment prep, etc. It's important to understand that the drug is made from a form of arsenic. It's extremely painful -- some dogs are lame for several days to weeks due to pain in the injection site. All dogs are lethargic and sick after the shots because....arsenic. Then there's the crate-rest for 3 months. I would have concerns about what the long-term effect of this drug is on fertility--I don't think is any good data on that. 

You also CANNOT legally transport a dog with microfilariae in the blood. A dog is infectious if there are baby HW larvae in that stage of development -- any mosquito that bites the dog will carry the infection to other animals in the area. Any vet that signs a transport certificate for an infectious dog is lying -- and that tells you a lot too. If they're offering to transport without having treated for for microfilariae, they don't know what they're doing (it takes several months of treatment to be sure they're gone by the way -- one negative smear test isn't going to do it). Moving an imported strain of HW from the country that you are importing from into your neighborhood would risk infecting your neighbors' pets, and your local wildlife -- and being a vector for a strain moving into the U.S. that shouldn't be here. The new strain can become endemic in a single season in the right climate with some wildlife around. 

Since moving an infectious dog could possibly require a fraudulent health certificate, if that's the plan, that would tell you something about the breeder. I don't know anything about importing dogs, but I do know something about humans: if they lie to you about one thing, they'll lie about another -- so if they're willing to "fudge" a health certificate, ask yourself what else is being "fudged."

I think that there is only one possible, acceptable explanation for why an owned dog would have them: the dog was on prevention, never missed a dose, and there was a breakthrough infection. That only happens in the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mississippi Valley where there is ivermectin-resistant HW. I haven't heard of that resistant strain anywhere else in the world. If there's another resistant strain elsewhere, the researchers at Auburn University who discovered the U.S. strain need to be advised so that they can research it -- and for goodness sake, don't import it! 

OTOH, the other possible explanations for why an owned dog would get HW call into question why you are supporting this breeder: neglect.... lack of funds for basic vet care.... ignorance... misinformation. None of those would inspire confidence from a breeder in the business of exporting dogs! Any of those explanations would make me worry a lot that a BYB in another country might have figured out how to sell to Americans.


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## Rosebud99 (9 mo ago)

Magwart, thank you for your informative post. I did not know a lot of the specifics about the drug and treatment. All I knew is that the treated dog had to stay really still for fear of the dead worms moving causing clots.


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