Heartworms
As I mentioned in my Intro post, we just adopted Godric from the Shiba Inu Rescue of Texas. A week ago, before we finally picked him up, his foster mom took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with a "VERY early case of heartworms." As we were about to finalize the adoption, we opted to take care of his treatment ourselves, instead of having to wait another couple of months.
One of the Rescue representatives said that if Godric's case is "early" enough, he MAY be able to be put on a preventative, such as HeartGuard, instead of having to go through the injection treatment. Is this really possible?
We're taking Godric to the vet on Monday for testing and confirmation of just how serious his case of heartworms is. If he has to get the injections, the vet we're taking him to does the two injection series... Has anyone here dealt with their Shiba while he/she was on this treatment? If so, ANY advice would be appreciated, as we've never really had a dog (had family dogs when we were kids, which is different) much less a Shiba.
I know they MUST be kept quiet and very calm, but what EXACTLY does that entail? Keeping potty-breaks to a strict in-and-out, no travelling, no rough-housing or playing or getting him excited, etc. Right?
I am so nervous and I'm really hoping and praying that it IS an early enough case that we can just treat with monthly preventative, but I don't know if that's even a probability. I'd hate for Godric's first two months with us to be miserable...
Please help!
One of the Rescue representatives said that if Godric's case is "early" enough, he MAY be able to be put on a preventative, such as HeartGuard, instead of having to go through the injection treatment. Is this really possible?
We're taking Godric to the vet on Monday for testing and confirmation of just how serious his case of heartworms is. If he has to get the injections, the vet we're taking him to does the two injection series... Has anyone here dealt with their Shiba while he/she was on this treatment? If so, ANY advice would be appreciated, as we've never really had a dog (had family dogs when we were kids, which is different) much less a Shiba.
I know they MUST be kept quiet and very calm, but what EXACTLY does that entail? Keeping potty-breaks to a strict in-and-out, no travelling, no rough-housing or playing or getting him excited, etc. Right?
I am so nervous and I'm really hoping and praying that it IS an early enough case that we can just treat with monthly preventative, but I don't know if that's even a probability. I'd hate for Godric's first two months with us to be miserable...
Please help!
Comments
It is not going to be easy - but nothing worth having ever is.
This past year we had a foster dog with an early stage of heartworms and the treatment is not cheap by any means.
If you can afford it, ask for an xray to confirm the level of infection. Getting a second blood test is good indication of adult worm presence, but not the load of worms present.
Some people use the wait and see approach with the daily to weekly preventatives only. The thing with preventatives is that they ONLY kill the baby heartworms, and a dog needs adult heartworms to test positive for heartworms... so you see how just doing the treatment saves a lot of "what ifs" and does not allow the adults to flourish, just waiting for them to die out. Many vets will call the preventative only method "slow kill" for a REALLY good reason - it takes a LONG time!
Newer protocols for stage 1-2 heartworms is a course of anti-bacterial to weed out the bacteria that aids the heartworms, then a week or 2 later the first HW injection, then in 24 hrs the second HW injection, followed by a months worth of prednisone (keep down inflammation, helps prevent clotting) and sometimes famotidine (injection really upsets the tummy).
Though, depending on the vet you talk to - some like to do it without the anti bacterials, some like to do the shots a month apart, some go with three shots.. go with the vet that makes you most comfortable and trust their protocol - following it exactly.
That month is CRUCIAL to keep them LOW activity (as the worms die, they breakdown and activity can cause clotting and life threatening complications) - just outside to potty then back inside for rest. Usually the first week they are sore, cranky, and opt to sleep anyway.
Then it gets interesting
We did a lot of massaging, training that didn't require activity or raised blood pressure/heart rate, bonding, grooming. Lots of extra eating, like frozen kongs and bully sticks. Car rides are also an option.. just get in, drive, come back. If you can set up a chair outside and keep the dog on a short leash to nap near you or chew on a bone while you read a book or something. It helps just to keep them quietly occupied!
Heartworm Society: http://www.heartwormsociety.org/
I tried to chronicle the treatment on my blog of my foster, not so well as it was stressful for all of us (and we are in PA, so our vet was as new at heartworm treatment as we were), but in case it helps - Henson is now heartworm free:
http://shibainuspirit.blogspot.com/2009/02/starting-heartworm-treatment.html
****Heartworm treatment seemed to exacerbate his lack of nutrition and immunity, and he developed a pretty bad case of mange. Ask your vet to thoroughly examine Godric for anything that could cause secondary harm before you begin treatment!****
Also thread I started few months back on it, I'll bump it for you:
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3420
Godric went to the vet today and had his first shot. We do the second one tomorrow, and then it's rest, rest, rest for the next 30 days.
Not a lot of info from the Rescue, at least not anything that I couldn't find on the internet, but no worries. This Forum has been a GREAT resource =)
As soon as we got home from the vet, I took Godric out for a quick walk so he could do his business, and now he's sleeping peacefully on the couch. Hopefully he won't have any of the side effects that some dogs can have to the injection treatment.
Hopefully it won't be too hard to keep him quiet over the next month. He seems pretty mellow while in the apartment, sleeping a lot, and when he does play with his toys, it's never full-on crazy... at least, not yet! =) The only time he gets super excited is if he's in public with a lot of people around, but we will be restricting his exposure to the "public" to quick potty breaks.
I did get him a Kong yesterday - the Classic Kong. I went to Whole Foods and got some freshly-grinded, unsalted peanut butter and he went crazy for it. Do ya'll just smear it on the inside and let them go to town? I know some of you freeze the peanut butter. Do you freeze it in cubes and then put it inside the Kong? I'm very new to all this!! =)
The Kong is great. We just smear it in there, freeze and then let them go to town. If we don't have a frozen one, I just smear some in there and give it to them, but it doesn't last nearly as long!
You can also use nonfat plain yogurt, I sometimes throw some carrot shreds in there too and freeze, they seem to enjoy the mix.
This morning, he was happy to see us when we woke up, and he ate his breakfast just as heartily as he did his dinner. Today, he gets his second shot, and then we begin "30 Days of Calm." This should be interesting!! I'm glad, though, that he's not really a puppy anymore. It's so much harder when they're puppies, I'm sure... The thing that's making me sad right now is that his nose is dry =( My poor baby.
KFontaine, thanks for the suggestions on the Kong! I'll have to get some yogurt the next time we're at the grocery store. I did try to give him some pieces of apple last night, but he wasn't interested. Oh well =)