Heartworm Treatment

[Caerus]

I am officially confused, and hoping that some of you can shed some light on this.

 

We have a foster BC from the shelter who tested HW positive. He (Aidan) went through the immiticide (probably horrendously misspelled) treatment two months ago. At that time the tech working told us to bring him back in 4 weeks for monthly heartworm treatment and another hw test. We brought him in almost one month ago exactly, and he tested positive. The tech working (not the same person, he's hasn't seen the same vet twice either according to his medical records) said that testing positive after only a month is common and to give him 2-4 more weeks of crate rest and then come back in to be tested again. After the extra weeks, what they said was a precaution, he could come off crate rest.

 

Took him back in today and they didn't see him, but sent out a kennel worker to talk to us. He said that there wasn't a point in testing him again yet, that the test would come back positive for about six months. He also said that Aidan would need to continue crate rest and being super calm until he tested negative.

 

I've never taken care of a dog through heartworm treatment before, so I don't know what is the norm, but six months on crate rest seems like a whole lot. Especially since he would presumably be unadoptable throughout the treatment, as a majority of their foster adoptions happen through adopt-a-thons at various pet stores (he is not allowed to "get excited" and you can bet that meeting a bunch of people would do it). I haven't been able to actually talk to the vets personally, but we are taking our foster/soon-to-be-ours kitten in to get spayed next week so I am hoping to get a chance to ask then. All of the instructions have come through vet techs, the kennel worker, and an informational handout (that said 3-5 weeks of crate rest after immiticide, and nothing else). We have an upcoming appointment for our dog with our vet, so I'm planning on asking him too.

 

All of this to ask, what would you do? I'm one of those "rather be safe than sorry" people so I'm going to keep him on crate rest for now, but I don't know what else to do. He looks great, hasn't coughed since the treatment (was hacking up a storm before it), and is really raring to go. And I'm pretty sure that Aidan will not be a tough dog to place, as he is very laid back, sweet, and intelligent, but I'm having trouble doing it without taking him to adopt-a-thons. Not to mention, would this mean that the new owner would have to continue crate rest for several more months as soon as they adopt him? Yuck.

 

I just wish I could get one set of instructions, preferably from one vet, but I understand that shelter vets are extremely busy and may have differing opinions from each other. Still, they are kind of radically different instructions. Crate rest for 1-2 months or crate rest for 6 months?

[painted_ponies]

Never heard of six months of crate rest after immiticide treatment. The last dog I treated with immiticide (and it will be my last, too!) was restricted to my small back porch and the house and not allowed to play with other dogs for a month afterward. After that, I didn't let him get too excited for a few months, but then he had some pretty severe complications.

 

Anyway, I think the vet tech has her facts mixed up, and you probably need to talk to the vet. Can you call and leave a message for him to return your call and answer your questions directly?

[PSmitty]

I disagree with what you've been told. Yes, you should wait at least 4+ months before retesting, since it can take that long for a negative reading to show. My vet waits 6 months. I've been through heartworm treatment with a dog of my own, and have dealt with several rescues that had the treatment through the rescue I used to work with. None of them was ever told to wait until a negative test before resuming normal activity. Certainly not a total of 6 months of crate rest! They were all given the OK to return to normal activity one month after their last treatment. Of course depending on the severity of the disease, you may want to ease him back into anything too strenuous, but I simply haven't heard of making them wait so long to be active again.

 

I believe if you look up the treatment protocol from the American Heartworm Society, it just mentions the standard one month of rest after the last treatment.

[MaryP]

Those vet techs need to go back to school. I've treated several dogs for HW (just brought another one in today) and pretty much everything they told you is incorrect. You should wait at least 6 months to test the dog again otherwise you will get a false positive. The vet that I went to today suggested waiting 9-12 months before re-testing. Usually, it is a month of crate rest after the shots. Some vets might recommend more crate rest or at least limited activity for another four weeks. If I had a high positive dog that was showing clinical signs of the disease, I would probably rest the dog for a couple of months with some restricted activity after that. But, mostly, they are pretty much good to go after a month. The most critical rest period is about a week to 10 days after the first injection.

[lrayburn]

My vet recommended two months of crate rest after the treatment. (I'll admit that I started to fudge it after the first month - either the heartworms were going to kill him or I was .) He was retested at 6 months and still showed a positive which is considered normal. He tested negative one year after the treatment.

 

He had Lyme disease next (yes - he is "The Dog Who Gets Everything"). Testing after treatment for Lyme disease is a similar deal. He had it last year and at this year's check up he tested "slightly positive". We expect he'll test negative next year and haven't worried about doing a titer this time around.

 

So try not to worry and make an opportunity to talk to your vet directly. I'm really suprised that a kennel tech spoke to you about a medical issue - that seems like a poor reflection on the vet's practice management to me.

 

Lisa

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

We've only had a light positive dog Both vets started to declare her neg untill the faint line showed. She really had to rest the first week of her treatment (2 shots ) and then take it easy till the 3rd. after 1 month from the 3rd she tested negative. In fact she was adopted today.

 

I'm not sure I could go through it with a high positive dog. She seemed to be in alot of pain with the first 2 shots.

[Caerus]

Thank you for the information everyone! Certainly reassured me.

 

I'll definitely continue to make an effort to get in touch with one of the vets, but yeah, I got the feeling they almost never talk to foster parents directly. I guess if I just call them enough I'll eventually get a call back.

 

Thank you again! Aidan is going to enjoy our trips to my grandmother's acreage much more when he doesn't have to stay in a crate (after almost 3 months of being crated he's about sick of it).

[painted_ponies]

Thank you for the information everyone! Certainly reassured me.

 

I'll definitely continue to make an effort to get in touch with one of the vets, but yeah, I got the feeling they almost never talk to foster parents directly. I guess if I just call them enough I'll eventually get a call back.

 

Thank you again! Aidan is going to enjoy our trips to my grandmother's acreage much more when he doesn't have to stay in a crate (after almost 3 months of being crated he's about sick of it).

 

Poor dog. Not your fault of course - you were doing what you were told was best. Anyway, be careful about letting him out to run after three months in the crate! I'm sure he'll want to go nuts, but it's best to gradually work back up to normal activity.

 

What part of the country are you in? It doesn't sound like those vet techs have had much experience with HW dogs.

 

FWIW, I'm never doing immiticide again.