Imagine if you will, a mosquito takes a liking to your arm and gives you a nice bite.
You think nothing of it.
You may swell up.
You may itch.
But you don’t give it a second thought.
But what if the mosquito bites your dog.
And this mosquito is infected with the “heart worm” virus.
Your dog’s heart is then infected with actual worms, feeding on the dog’s heart as a host.
The dog’s heart and lungs become enlarged.
Their lungs can fill with fluid.
They have zero to no energy.
They cough all the time, and when they do, it is like they have mucus on their lungs. They might even spit up the mucus.
That is what I faced with Oreo when I adopted him from the Mansell Road Humane Society in Alpharetta, Georgia.
No one wanted to adopt him because the treatment is very expensive; and even if you pay to have the treatment, there is no guarantee that the dog will be healthy afterwards.
In Oreo’s case, not getting treatment was NEVER an option.
Some adoption agencies help with the cost of the treatment if you agree to go to their veterinarian.
I met the vet, and she explained that it is a six-month treatment that usually costs over $3,500. Heartworm severity is usually classified from a number 1 to a number 5. 1 being the least damage already having been done to the heart. 5 being the most damage. Oreo’s number was a 4. The treatment is an IV of an arsenic based derivative that they administer three doses of. He would be in great pain, and he could not exert himself the entire treatment time. Just leash walks outside to potty, and that was it. He was also to receive prednisone for the fluid buildup, tramadol for the pain and antibiotics in addition to the IV.
I had a choice to leave him at the vet for six months while the treatment was administered Or bring him back every month for six months so the vet could perform the treatment. It would be my responsibility if Oreo was with me to administer the pain medication, steroids and antibiotic.
This was the first week I had adopted Oreo. I could not imagine what he would think if after I adopted him, I abandoned him for six months. He had already been brought back to the shelter four times before for being “aggressive”.
I placed my credit card on the counter and responded, “show me what I have to do”.
For six months, I was a nurse. I slept on the floor with him next to the back yard door since the steroid made him pee every 10 minutes and the antibiotic gave him diarrhea. I rocked him to sleep when the pain kept him up at night. I tried to entertain him without getting his heart rate up.
Needless to say, Oreo and I were not “strangers” anymore. We had an immediate bond because he knew I was trying to help him. As you see from the photo, treatment was successful. He has scaring on his heart, but no one would ever notice from his “zoomie” activity that anything was ever wrong with him.
Lesson: get your dog tested for heartworm every year; purchase the heart worm prevention pill that you should give your dog every month. This action and treatment will keep your four legged friend heart worm negative for his entire life.
