Heartworms in dogs

Sorry about your dog. I've never given mine the HW preventatives, do you have lots of mosquitos where your at?

Yea. I've never given any of my dogs the prescribed heartworm preventatives. I usually give a dose of ivermectin monthly but have not done so in a while.

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Yes, and you're getting off cheap. You're very lucky your dog can be saved.

Heart worm is a serious illness and kills more dogs than just about anything else. The tragedy is that it's so easily preventable.

Please, folks, if you love and value your dogs, give them HW prevention once a month. It's a gruesome way for your loved companion to die.

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All of this.

Another option is giving the dog the medicine it's much cheaper but the dead worms can kill the dog if they get stuck in its arteries. I went that way with a dog years ago and she came out fine.

I would not encourage or discourage someone from going that route.

Girl I know had a puppy she got that had them and the vet just had her use the preventive

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Yes, and you're getting off cheap. You're very lucky your dog can be saved.

Heart worm is a serious illness and kills more dogs than just about anything else. The tragedy is that it's so easily preventable.

Please, folks, if you love and value your dogs, give them HW prevention once a month. It's a gruesome way for your loved companion to die.

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I agree,, 10 bucks a month for my dogs to be on Heartgard and they take it monthly without question. Hell, they even like them and think they are a treat.

The treatment to get rid of them is a pretty gruesome treatment.

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If you are in the South and your dog spends alot of time outside, and you never give HW prevention, it has a 100% chance of getting heartworms at some point in its life.

Northern rescue groups have started banning southern rescues from being 'imported' because of how prevalent it is.

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If you have a dog in the south, get heartworm prevention medication. Beyond just going outside often. If they go outside to piss, give them the medicine.

I have stopped giving mine medication in Colorado. But it's pretty rare around here. Missy of the bad stuff dogs can catch is from coming from rivers or creeks (wildlife waste running off into the nearest stream).

My dog (bulldog) is a rescue, who was very heartworm positive when I got him.

The treatment is the best course, but depending on the treatment, you may need to limit your dogs mobility/excitement level for weeks during treatment.

Basically, as the worms die and break off, they can get lodged in various blood vessels... as awful as that sounds, a regular heartworm preventative stops this (and most kill fleas/ticks as well).

Imagine a bunch of little worms, burrowing around in your heart. It creeps me out. (some worms in dogs can get quite long, but I'm already grossed out enough at this point).

Good luck and best wishes for your doggie!

Especially in the South where there's typically the highest concentration of hot weather and mosquito populations.