[Gimpdiggity]

Alright, so I took my dog in to see the vet the other day because he has an ear infection. They did the works on him, and they did a heartworm test because he hadn't had one since we got him (a few months ago).

Well, he tested positive for heartworm, but he has no microfilarie (sp?) in him. The microfilarie are the heartworm babies.

The vet told me that this means one of two things. He either has heartworms that haven't reached sexual maturity and haven't begun reproducing yet, or he has a heartworm infection that is all the same sex.

Either way, something needs to be done. We've only had the dog a few months. He's about 2 years old. He has become a member of our family already. I can't just put him to sleep knowing that there is treatment for his disease. I also can't just let him have the heartworms and die slowly from them. The problem is, the treatment is pretty expensive, and there's a slight chance that the dog may die from the treatment.

What they do to treat, is put an arsenic based poisin into the dog, which is a small enough dose to not harm the dog at all, but to kill the pesky little worms trying to kill him. The problem with the treatment is, after the worms are dead, they basicly have to decay inside the dogs body. While they are decaying, they will travel throughout the dogs body. They can cause blocakages in small blood vessels, and the worst vessels they could block are the ones in the lungs. Those vessels getting blocked would mean the dog could sufficate to death.

The treatment costs anywhere from $600 bucks on up. Depending on if there are any complications. I paid $52 bucks for the dog when we adopted him. I know it seems a bit outrageous, but I HAVE to try to treat him. From what I've read, the chances of him dying are between 1-2%. That's extremely low, and those are only in VERY severe cases. From what I've read, my dog's case is probably mild-moderate, because he is showing ZERO signs of a heartworm infestation (i.e. trouble breathing, coughing alot, not wanting to run around at all). He is acting like a normal, healthy dog...which makes me think he won't have any complications...

All that said, I'm still extremely worried about him. I love this dog. He's become one of my best friends. Not only would my wife and I be sad if we lost him, but our other dog wouldn't know what to do without him around.

His name is Gordon, and he has been a basket case since we got him...he was pretty abused by his former owner, and it took a while for him to fit into our family...but now he's our loving coonhound that likes to move around as slowly as possible, just enjoying his new life he has. I'd hate for him to have to end up losing his life just after he started to live the life he deserves.

I take him in on Monday to have the X-rays and blood tests done to see how severe the problem is. If it's not a severe case, they will do the injection that morning, and I can take him home Tuesday morning. He will have to be VERY quiet for a few weeks (which shouldn't be an issue, considering he's already about as lazy of a dog as can be), but it will be hard for him not to get into any tussels with his "brother."

I hope he makes it. I'm really worried about losing him.

 

[fierospeeder]

if you got a paypal account, and your legitimate foundation
ill donate


I was gonna be a vet, and seen some heatworm pics. Pretty nasty shit. The heart will be flooded with worms. I think it is one of the top 5 parasites that are the worst for dogs.

 

[Orange]

Alright, so I took my dog in to see the vet the other day because he has an ear infection. They did the works on him, and they did a heartworm test because he hadn't had one since we got him (a few months ago).

Well, he tested positive for heartworm, but he has no microfilarie (sp?) in him. The microfilarie are the heartworm babies.

The vet told me that this means one of two things. He either has heartworms that haven't reached sexual maturity and haven't begun reproducing yet, or he has a heartworm infection that is all the same sex.

Either way, something needs to be done. We've only had the dog a few months. He's about 2 years old. He has become a member of our family already. I can't just put him to sleep knowing that there is treatment for his disease. I also can't just let him have the heartworms and die slowly from them. The problem is, the treatment is pretty expensive, and there's a slight chance that the dog may die from the treatment.

What they do to treat, is put an arsenic based poisin into the dog, which is a small enough dose to not harm the dog at all, but to kill the pesky little worms trying to kill him. The problem with the treatment is, after the worms are dead, they basicly have to decay inside the dogs body. While they are decaying, they will travel throughout the dogs body. They can cause blocakages in small blood vessels, and the worst vessels they could block are the ones in the lungs. Those vessels getting blocked would mean the dog could sufficate to death.

The treatment costs anywhere from $600 bucks on up. Depending on if there are any complications. I paid $52 bucks for the dog when we adopted him. I know it seems a bit outrageous, but I HAVE to try to treat him. From what I've read, the chances of him dying are between 1-2%. That's extremely low, and those are only in VERY severe cases. From what I've read, my dog's case is probably mild-moderate, because he is showing ZERO signs of a heartworm infestation (i.e. trouble breathing, coughing alot, not wanting to run around at all). He is acting like a normal, healthy dog...which makes me think he won't have any complications...

All that said, I'm still extremely worried about him. I love this dog. He's become one of my best friends. Not only would my wife and I be sad if we lost him, but our other dog wouldn't know what to do without him around.

His name is Gordon, and he has been a basket case since we got him...he was pretty abused by his former owner, and it took a while for him to fit into our family...but now he's our loving coonhound that likes to move around as slowly as possible, just enjoying his new life he has. I'd hate for him to have to end up losing his life just after he started to live the life he deserves.

I take him in on Monday to have the X-rays and blood tests done to see how severe the problem is. If it's not a severe case, they will do the injection that morning, and I can take him home Tuesday morning. He will have to be VERY quiet for a few weeks (which shouldn't be an issue, considering he's already about as lazy of a dog as can be), but it will be hard for him not to get into any tussels with his "brother."

I hope he makes it. I'm really worried about losing him.

Best of luck to you and your fine canine friend! I like the quote in your signature, too! If only we were the kind of people that our dogs think we are then we'd all be perfect.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

if you got a paypal account, and your legitimate foundation
ill donate


I was gonna be a vet, and seen some heatworm pics. Pretty nasty shit. The heart will be flooded with worms. I think it is one of the top 5 parasites that are the worst for dogs.

Yah, I know. It's gross. It looks like someone spilled spaghetti into it. I really find it crazy that they grow to almost 7 inches long.

Hopefully, because he has no baby heartworms in him, he'll have just a mild case and his whole heart isn't filled with them.

The 1-2% death rate is based on dogs with VERY severe cases. From what I've read, and what the vet told me, the new stuff they're using to treat heartworms is pretty safe...unless the dog is REALLY bad. One vet site I found where the vet answers questions through e-mail said that they've treated about 85 dogs with the new immiticide, and only one of them has died. He said that the one that died came in while having a heart attack from the worms, so he feels that the dog didn't die BECAUSE of the medication, the dog just died because the worms had already basicly killed him.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

Best of luck to you and your fine canine friend! I like the quote in your signature, too! If only we were the kind of people that our dogs think we are then we'd all be perfect.

Thank you. I'm just watching him sleep right now. He looks so peaceful. I know he's gonna be terrified when I leave him at the vet. My wife and I are like security blankets for him. He's usually pretty scared to be somewhere that he's not familiar with and one of us isn't around...

 

[cajunTLR]

Don't bring him back to the vet!!!!!!! Go here http://www.petsnmore.com/ivomec.asp#ivomec order that stuff and give it to him by weight. It will be a very very small amount you will have to use a sryinge. take the needle off and measure it in cc's and inject it into his mouth. Now I know you are saying what the hell does this guy know. Well I have a kennel with 8 dogs and I have also had dogs die of heartworms before I got this stuff. Now my fathers Horse vet that sees small animals too told us to get this and it has worked ever since. Now the only thing I recommend is if the dogs is old then dont use it. It is too strong for a old dog but a younger dog your ok. Hope this help and if you question me than call the vet and pay the 600 buck for him to do the same damn thing. I know I did it and the damn vet I had before killed my dog trying to save him. Hope this helps.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

This is the dog that has the worms, his name is Gordon, but we call him Grody or Doofus.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

Don't bring him back to the vet!!!!!!! Go here http://www.petsnmore.com/ivomec.asp#ivomec order that stuff and give it to him by weight. It will be a very very small amount you will have to use a sryinge. take the needle off and measure it in cc's and inject it into his mouth. Now I know you are saying what the hell does this guy know. Well I have a kennel with 8 dogs and I have also had dogs die of heartworms before I got this stuff. Now my fathers Horse vet that sees small animals too told us to get this and it has worked ever since. Now the only thing I recommend is if the dogs is old then dont use it. It is too strong for a old dog but a younger dog your ok. Hope this help and if you question me than call the vet and pay the 600 buck for him to do the same damn thing. I know I did it and the damn vet I had before killed my dog trying to save him. Hope this helps.

That stuff is just ivermectin. Ivermectin is the stuff used in heartworm preventative. It will kill microfilaria, but it will not kill adult heartworms. The only things that kill adult heartworms are Immiticide RX and Caparsolate Rx. The Caparsolate is quite a bit older than the Immiticide, and quite a bit more dangerous. The Immiticide is the one with the 1-2% death rate in severely infected dogs.

 

[cajunTLR]

It will kill the adults just in a little higher dose ask the vet. And it is safer than the other stuff. That is what they gave my dog when they killed him. But what happened was.....when the heart worm dies they stay in the heart or move to the lungs well he had a bunch die in his lungs (ever heard him whoop cough or dry cough) and they stay there till they are broken up in particles and exhaled out. Well too many died and he as trying to cough them up that resulted in him choking to death on his own blood. Call the vet and ask. Or I can give you my vets number here in LA and you can ask him what to do with a no BS answer and no charge. But he will tell you the same thing.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

^^^

Man, thanks for the advice...but I've seriously put about 15 hours worth of research into this in the last 3 days or so, and trying to kill adult heartworms with ivermectin isn't a good idea. The side effects of it are bad, and it just doesn't work. The ONLY way that ivermectin can be used in a case where a dog has heartworms, is to use it monthly and kill the baby heartworms, and then just hope that the adult heartworms don't cause enough damage to cause heart failure before they die.

 

[cajunTLR]

Well then I would just put him on it and hope for the best. Good luck bro.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

^^

Thanks, I'll let everyone know what ends up happening with him. Hopefully it will be good news!!

 

[Krazy Hawaiian]

It will kill the adults just in a little higher dose ask the vet. And it is safer than the other stuff. That is what they gave my dog when they killed him. But what happened was.....when the heart worm dies they stay in the heart or move to the lungs well he had a bunch die in his lungs (ever heard him whoop cough or dry cough) and they stay there till they are broken up in particles and exhaled out. Well too many died and he as trying to cough them up that resulted in him choking to death on his own blood. Call the vet and ask. Or I can give you my vets number here in LA and you can ask him what to do with a no BS answer and no charge. But he will tell you the same thing.

Thats exactly right, my Dad's Sheperd had bad heartworms and they treated him and for about 5 days he was really messed up and was coughing up clumps of crap almost constantly then it slowly got less and less after about 2 weeks he was good as new. He lived to be 14 years old which for a sheperd aint too bad. We had to put him down because of hip displacement had crippled him to the point he couldn't even walk.

My Mom got a "pound puppy" that had been brutalized by some asshat very severly. It must have been a big guy (I'm 6'3" 220#'s) because when I came over there house the dog would see me and start trembling and roll over on it's back and pee and shit itself
It did this for almost a year before she would trust me. I love dogs and would never think of harming one and having this poor animal react to me in this manner hurt me so much I dam near wanted to cry everytime I went to Moms house. I've beat the crap out of a jackass at a local shopping center because his dog jumped out of the car when he opened the door, the ass started kicking the dog and punching it in the head really hard. The dog was yelping constantly and he just kept wailing away on it. His girl friend was screaming at him telling him to stop it and he started kicking the poor thing. I couldnt handle that and came up behind him and hit him as hard as I possibly could right at the base of the neck. He was a small guy and went down like a rug. When he was down I started kicking him in the ribs, screaming at him HOW DO YOU LIKE IT TOUGH GUY?? I kicked him about 6 really solid ones in the ribs making sure he would remember it every time he breathed for a long time to come.... People at the shopping center that saw him beating the dog were laughing at him when I dropped his ass and gave him some of his own medicine.... dam asshole.

Years later my Moms dog absolutly loves me, Mom knows I'm coming because the dog goes apeshit way before they hear my bike pull up the driveway! Dogs are sooo cool.

Funny thing, DooFus. Hehe thats my dogs name! I have a "Blonde Lab" (yellow) that is 2 1/2 years old and is the best friend I have. She is so funny, loves to terroize the neighbors who are terrified of her LOL
A Lab ain't ever gunna hurt anything! The neighbors are Koreans and must have ate alot of dogs or something cause when I let DooFus out she instantly rushes towards there house and if there out they run in the house and she goes nuts digging in there flower garden ROFL
They stay in the house yelling in Korean and shouting but won't even open there door till i have her in back my house

 

[MattLikesBikes]

I hope your dog gets better man. I remember the post you made when you first got them.

Keep us updated man. He looks like a very cool dog.

 

[Gixxer_Six2003]

Looks like some sort of a Blue Tick, or Blue Tick Mix. Those are very loyal dogs, and good Coon Dogs too. I hope it works out for ya Gimp, I know it's hard to lose a pet. When I was 17, my Uncle had to come shoot my Alaskan Huskey for me, his arthritis had gotten so bad, he couldn't even stand back up, and he had cadaracks (sp?) in his eyes.

Then, a couple years ago, my Rat Terrier died. Now that I took HARD. I took him in as a stray. Just like was mentioned above, the dog had been badly abused, and was scared to death of clothes baskets. He became very protective of me. At night, after I'd go to bed, there was no way anybody was coming in my room. He would meet them in the hallway snarling. So we figured someone had been abusing their kids at night, and the dog was taking up for them, so they took the dog off and set it out. He was with me 6 or 7 years. His name was Spudz. Worms is what killed him, I caught it too late, and when I treated him, he ended up dying too

Now me and my girlfriend have a Jack Russell that is mixed with a Blue Heeler. Talk about active, this dog never slows down.

Here, I'll add some pics. The top pic, is our 9 year old Chiuaha/Fiest mix (sp?). Noticing a pattern here ? I take the dogs a lot of people don't want.

The 2nd pic, is my Rat Terrier. Ignore the goofy collars, I was seeing if he would stay tied while I was gone. That didn't work, he'd slip them right off.

The last two pics, are "Muffin", the Jack Russell/Blue Heeler mix , isnt she a cutie ?

 

[Süsser Tod]

Man, that sounds awfull, how do they catch those worms???

 

[Gimpdiggity]

^^^

They eithere have them as a pup from their mother transferring them, or they get them by getting bit by a mosquito and not being on preventative.

Seeing as we got him as a stray, I'm sure he hadn't been on preventative and just got them from a mosquito.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

Thanks everyone for the comments. He just woke up. He's goofy. He's stretching and running around looking for food.

 

[cajunTLR]

Pic of mine

http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/vbgarage.php?do=view&id=89

Hope this works

 

[Gixxer_Six2003]

Gimp, I heard that if you let their water get old, and Skeeter Larva start swimming around in it, and they drink, then they can get it that way also. So people, keep ur muts fresh water !