Bear got his first immiticide shot yesterday. WARNING, this may be slightly difficult for people to read due to the medical nature of it. Just giving a head's up.
*All advice here about giving heartworm pills is for people who live in an area where heartworms are possible. If they don't exist (legitimately) in your area, congratulations! But they exist and are very common in my area and in many areas.
Quick backstory on Bear -
Bear was found by my coworker wandering the streets with no collar, no ID, no microchip, etc. Fully intact and heavy heartworm positive. He was neutered on the day that I met him; I watched him get neutered. I agreed to take him home for monitoring after anesthesia, fell in love with him, and decided to keep him.
Heartworms background:
As stated, Bear is heavy heartworm positive. This means that there are heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) living and reproducing within his heart, and a lot of them. They look kind of like long, thin spaghetti. They suck blood. They can live for years and grow up to a foot long (females). The stuff of nightmares, right?
Testing for heartworms:
The way that we find out if a dog is heartworm positive (generally) is by doing a SNAP test. We get some blood from the dog being tested, then drop 3 drops of their blood into a little vial. Then we put 4 drops of conjugate with the blood and mix it up. The blood/conjugate mixture is then dropped into the bank of the SNAP test. The fun way I was taught to remember is that RED has three letters, so three drops of blood, and BLUE has four letters, so four drops of blue conjugate. After the blood/conjugate travels up the SNAP test, we either press down on the test or have a machine do that for us. Then we wait for the results.
The SNAP test will be positive if it detects any antigens from a female heartworm. This means there are heartworms actively breeding within the dog. Sometimes there can be male-only heartworm infections that wouldn't show up on a SNAP test, but this is really rare, and in that case, they would not be breeding. Sometimes in a blood sample from a heartworm positive dog, you can see baby heartworms, called microfilariae, swimming around. Microfilariae, ear mites, and ringworm are really strange under the microscope, if anyone was wondering.
First steps of treatment:
After being tested, the first step was that Bear's vet put him on an antibiotic called Doxycycline, or 'Doxy' for short. This helps to kill a bacteria that lives in heartworms, called Wolbachia. He was on Doxy twice daily for a month. He had no side effects besides vomiting if he didn't eat enough/soon enough after taking the pill. I started telling Bear that the antibiotic would kill his 'Wolbacheerios'. He in turn would roll on his back and flail around with his mouth wide open. He's a silly guy.
The month of fun and walks to the mailbox is now up. Yesterday Bear got his first treatment. There will be a total of three treatments.
Bear's first immiticide treatment:
When it came time for Bear's appointment, he had a slow-ish heart rate. He always does; it usually hovers between 68-72 beats per minute. But just to be safe I opted for X-rays. His heart looked surprisingly good. There was a bulge due to the heartworms, but he was clear for treatment. They brought him out, and I distracted him as they shaved his thick hair off his back in a little square for the injection. The needle injecting the immiticide went in at a nearly vertical angle. Think epidural. He wagged his tail the whole time. I love that dog.
Bear was then forced to eat a pill pocket with Prednisone hidden in it ('Pred' is a steroid for inflammation). Still wagging his tail. Thirty minutes later, he wasn't feeling very well. He pooped in his run (not like him), was panting and pacing, and limping on the leg closest to the injection site. He was prescribed Trazodone for pain. This makes him really loopy, but it helps him not be in so much pain. He is now on strict bed rest. If he wasn't so calm naturally he'd have to get tranquilizing drugs to keep him calm.
Treatment at home:
Bear has a leash tethered to a table in the living room, and a leash tethered to a dresser in my bedroom. Any time he is not on that leash on his bed, he is on his martingale collar with a 1 foot leash. He can't walk except to use the bathroom. He can't be off leash, run around, play, run up stairs, or get excited. If his heart sped up too much, it might dislodge dying worms and create a blockage in his heart. This could be deadly. The Trazodone makes him loopy and the Prednisone makes him pee rivers.
Continuing treatment:
In a month, Bear will have two back-to-back shots of immiticide, then another month of bed rest. He may not be able to be off-leash again in the house until Christmas. After his treatment is over, he'll get heartworm pills like a normal dog would. Six months after his treatment is done, he'll get a new heartworm test. If the test is negative, we throw a celebration. If he's still positive, he has to go through yet ANOTHER round of immiticide. Low chances of this, but a possibility.
Cost:
I am lucky to work at a vet's office. My vet was kind enough to offer me services at-cost for Bear. Even with this, his treatment will come to somewhere between $400-$700. Without this discount, treatment would be at least double. So think $800-$1,400+ normally. This doesn't even include costs if there are complications. This is just treatment.
Conclusion/Rant:
I'm sure everyone here does, but if someone is reading this and is debating whether or not to give their dog heartworm pills each month, if you are in an area that has any chance of heartworms (which is a lot of areas), please just give your dogs the pill each month. I know it's inconvenient, I know they're not super cheap, but if I can spare any dogs from going through what Bear has to go through, this'll hopefully be worth it by the end. I do know that some dogs, like Bear, were adopted already heartworm positive. Hopefully this will be something helpful to read. I will continue to update as Bear's treatment progresses.
Give your dog heartworm pills. On the compassion for living animals side of things, your dog will not have to deal with foot-long blood-sucking monsters reproducing in their body, causing them to become exhausted easily and possibly drop dead if the infection gets bad enough. Heartworms reduce dogs' lifespans. They can cause irreparable damage to the heart and lungs. Your dog will not have to deal with a giant needle being vertically pushed into their back. Your dog will not have to deal with side effects of the drugs they have to take. Your dog will not have to be forced basically to not move for three months.
On the price side of things, basic Heartgard (or whatever you want to use, but this is a cheap-ish good one to use as a baseline), is only around $10 a month for a 70lb dog like Bear, or $120 a year. Generally, heartworm treatment for dogs is usually priced at around $1,000-ish if all goes right. For the amount that the treatment costs, you could buy over eight years of heartworm medication, and this is just breaking even! Bear is this bad off and he's only estimated to be three years old. He couldn't run without getting winded, and couldn't walk half a mile around my neighborhood without sprawling out and panting for half an hour afterwards. I can't even imagine a dog that's been positive for eight years.
Give your dogs heartworm pills at the recommended interval (usually each month for most brands) and make sure they're from a reliable source/brand! Avoid all of this mess if you can!
Food, water, shelter, core vaccines, heartworm medication, preventing fleas/ticks (if applicable to your area), enough money to euthanize a pet if needed, and love are some of the basic needs for responsible dog ownership. Even a healthy Bear (my dog) will cost $850+ a year just for upkeep. His food (nothing super fancy, just Purina One) is around $425 per year. I budget $50 a year for toys, treats, towels/blankets, etc. Heartworm meds once he is better will be $120 a year. His flea meds will be around $150 per year. We're already at $745, and we're not even talking basic core vaccines, exams, and any 'splurging' for him. Even if he was eating something cheaper, like Dog Chow, and I never bought him toys/treats/blankets, we're still talking around $600 a year at least. Dogs aren't cheap. Are they worth it? I would say yes(!), but I am biased, because my dog is clearly the best. 😇
TL;DR:
Give your dogs heartworm pills(!).
Okay, I will get off my soapbox. But don't forget those heartworm pills!
*All advice here about giving heartworm pills is for people who live in an area where heartworms are possible. If they don't exist (legitimately) in your area, congratulations! But they exist and are very common in my area and in many areas.
Quick backstory on Bear -
Bear was found by my coworker wandering the streets with no collar, no ID, no microchip, etc. Fully intact and heavy heartworm positive. He was neutered on the day that I met him; I watched him get neutered. I agreed to take him home for monitoring after anesthesia, fell in love with him, and decided to keep him.
Heartworms background:
As stated, Bear is heavy heartworm positive. This means that there are heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) living and reproducing within his heart, and a lot of them. They look kind of like long, thin spaghetti. They suck blood. They can live for years and grow up to a foot long (females). The stuff of nightmares, right?
Testing for heartworms:
The way that we find out if a dog is heartworm positive (generally) is by doing a SNAP test. We get some blood from the dog being tested, then drop 3 drops of their blood into a little vial. Then we put 4 drops of conjugate with the blood and mix it up. The blood/conjugate mixture is then dropped into the bank of the SNAP test. The fun way I was taught to remember is that RED has three letters, so three drops of blood, and BLUE has four letters, so four drops of blue conjugate. After the blood/conjugate travels up the SNAP test, we either press down on the test or have a machine do that for us. Then we wait for the results.
The SNAP test will be positive if it detects any antigens from a female heartworm. This means there are heartworms actively breeding within the dog. Sometimes there can be male-only heartworm infections that wouldn't show up on a SNAP test, but this is really rare, and in that case, they would not be breeding. Sometimes in a blood sample from a heartworm positive dog, you can see baby heartworms, called microfilariae, swimming around. Microfilariae, ear mites, and ringworm are really strange under the microscope, if anyone was wondering.
First steps of treatment:
After being tested, the first step was that Bear's vet put him on an antibiotic called Doxycycline, or 'Doxy' for short. This helps to kill a bacteria that lives in heartworms, called Wolbachia. He was on Doxy twice daily for a month. He had no side effects besides vomiting if he didn't eat enough/soon enough after taking the pill. I started telling Bear that the antibiotic would kill his 'Wolbacheerios'. He in turn would roll on his back and flail around with his mouth wide open. He's a silly guy.
The month of fun and walks to the mailbox is now up. Yesterday Bear got his first treatment. There will be a total of three treatments.
Bear's first immiticide treatment:
When it came time for Bear's appointment, he had a slow-ish heart rate. He always does; it usually hovers between 68-72 beats per minute. But just to be safe I opted for X-rays. His heart looked surprisingly good. There was a bulge due to the heartworms, but he was clear for treatment. They brought him out, and I distracted him as they shaved his thick hair off his back in a little square for the injection. The needle injecting the immiticide went in at a nearly vertical angle. Think epidural. He wagged his tail the whole time. I love that dog.
Bear was then forced to eat a pill pocket with Prednisone hidden in it ('Pred' is a steroid for inflammation). Still wagging his tail. Thirty minutes later, he wasn't feeling very well. He pooped in his run (not like him), was panting and pacing, and limping on the leg closest to the injection site. He was prescribed Trazodone for pain. This makes him really loopy, but it helps him not be in so much pain. He is now on strict bed rest. If he wasn't so calm naturally he'd have to get tranquilizing drugs to keep him calm.
Treatment at home:
Bear has a leash tethered to a table in the living room, and a leash tethered to a dresser in my bedroom. Any time he is not on that leash on his bed, he is on his martingale collar with a 1 foot leash. He can't walk except to use the bathroom. He can't be off leash, run around, play, run up stairs, or get excited. If his heart sped up too much, it might dislodge dying worms and create a blockage in his heart. This could be deadly. The Trazodone makes him loopy and the Prednisone makes him pee rivers.
Continuing treatment:
In a month, Bear will have two back-to-back shots of immiticide, then another month of bed rest. He may not be able to be off-leash again in the house until Christmas. After his treatment is over, he'll get heartworm pills like a normal dog would. Six months after his treatment is done, he'll get a new heartworm test. If the test is negative, we throw a celebration. If he's still positive, he has to go through yet ANOTHER round of immiticide. Low chances of this, but a possibility.
Cost:
I am lucky to work at a vet's office. My vet was kind enough to offer me services at-cost for Bear. Even with this, his treatment will come to somewhere between $400-$700. Without this discount, treatment would be at least double. So think $800-$1,400+ normally. This doesn't even include costs if there are complications. This is just treatment.
Conclusion/Rant:
I'm sure everyone here does, but if someone is reading this and is debating whether or not to give their dog heartworm pills each month, if you are in an area that has any chance of heartworms (which is a lot of areas), please just give your dogs the pill each month. I know it's inconvenient, I know they're not super cheap, but if I can spare any dogs from going through what Bear has to go through, this'll hopefully be worth it by the end. I do know that some dogs, like Bear, were adopted already heartworm positive. Hopefully this will be something helpful to read. I will continue to update as Bear's treatment progresses.
Give your dog heartworm pills. On the compassion for living animals side of things, your dog will not have to deal with foot-long blood-sucking monsters reproducing in their body, causing them to become exhausted easily and possibly drop dead if the infection gets bad enough. Heartworms reduce dogs' lifespans. They can cause irreparable damage to the heart and lungs. Your dog will not have to deal with a giant needle being vertically pushed into their back. Your dog will not have to deal with side effects of the drugs they have to take. Your dog will not have to be forced basically to not move for three months.
On the price side of things, basic Heartgard (or whatever you want to use, but this is a cheap-ish good one to use as a baseline), is only around $10 a month for a 70lb dog like Bear, or $120 a year. Generally, heartworm treatment for dogs is usually priced at around $1,000-ish if all goes right. For the amount that the treatment costs, you could buy over eight years of heartworm medication, and this is just breaking even! Bear is this bad off and he's only estimated to be three years old. He couldn't run without getting winded, and couldn't walk half a mile around my neighborhood without sprawling out and panting for half an hour afterwards. I can't even imagine a dog that's been positive for eight years.
Give your dogs heartworm pills at the recommended interval (usually each month for most brands) and make sure they're from a reliable source/brand! Avoid all of this mess if you can!
Food, water, shelter, core vaccines, heartworm medication, preventing fleas/ticks (if applicable to your area), enough money to euthanize a pet if needed, and love are some of the basic needs for responsible dog ownership. Even a healthy Bear (my dog) will cost $850+ a year just for upkeep. His food (nothing super fancy, just Purina One) is around $425 per year. I budget $50 a year for toys, treats, towels/blankets, etc. Heartworm meds once he is better will be $120 a year. His flea meds will be around $150 per year. We're already at $745, and we're not even talking basic core vaccines, exams, and any 'splurging' for him. Even if he was eating something cheaper, like Dog Chow, and I never bought him toys/treats/blankets, we're still talking around $600 a year at least. Dogs aren't cheap. Are they worth it? I would say yes(!), but I am biased, because my dog is clearly the best. 😇
TL;DR:
Give your dogs heartworm pills(!).
Okay, I will get off my soapbox. But don't forget those heartworm pills!