We just found out today that our dalmation has heartworms. She had been coughing for several months and we just got the money together to take her to the vet along with getting the cat fixed. Anyway now I have to decide whether to get her treated or not. That may sound like an obvious Yes but there are a few problems. Number one being money. It will probably cost upwards of $500.00. Number two, she is ten years old so I'm not sure how many years she has left in her. Number three, she is pretty far along in the disease so her chances of complications are increased. I would be pretty upset if we spent 500$ and then she dies anyway. But still she is my baby. Has anyone else gone through this? What happened? Did the treatments work? Thanks for any advice.

-- Buffy in Dallas (buffyannjones@hotmail.com), February 13, 2002

Answers

Response to heartworm problem

Our vet told us she learned the hard way to give her dogs each a heartworm pill once a month as a preventative. This sad lesson came when her favorite dog died as a result of having heartworms, and she said she never wanted to see that happen again.

So sorry to hear about your dog... It is never an easy decision to make, but if it were me, I would not spend $500 on my dog, even though I love him a lot. I would spend $500 on people like my children, a local charity, etc. A dog's life is not much longer than 10 years, and it sounds like you gave your dog a good life.

-- Liz Rhein (merhein@shentel.net), February 13, 2002.

Response to heartworm problem

Yes, our dog (Allie) has heart worms, we got her from the shelter. They told me she had heart worms. That was over five years ago. I asked the vet a few years ago about this, he said that they can live a long time with heart worms. She is blind now (because of cataracs and runs up and down these old stairs to be with me. She is not in any pain, wags her tail often (especially for scraps) Hope this helped some.

-- Judy (inhishand65@yahoo.com), February 13, 2002.

Response to heartworm problem

Unless your dog is a working or hunting dog who is very active I do not think your dogs life will be prolonged with heartworm tx. A vet told my husband this and the dog untreated lived another 5 years and no problems.He was about 12 when he died. Terry

-- Terry Lipe (elipe@fidnet.com), February 13, 2002.

Response to heartworm problem

We found a stray and adopted her. While at the vet, they discovered she had heartworm. We did have her treated. The vet let us make payments on the bill because they knew it was a lot of money. After the vet treated her, we left her for one day, we had to keep her very quiet so as not to overtax her heart. This was supposed to be for six weeks. She fell in love with our other dog and was anything but quiet trying to go on walks and be in the pen with our other one. I decided to just put them together and let what happens, happen. Lady did great and is in great health. I do not regret the money or the extra care. I would definitely see if the vet would work something out with you. I do understand, though, that your family comes first. Good luck with a hard decision.

-- Maureen in GA (volfamily52@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

Response to heartworm problem

There are alternatives to the injections for heartworm. I will not go into detail here since their are risks involved I do not want to be responsible for any problems. Talk to your vet about monthly treatments, they should know. Heartworm is easy to prevent with monthly doses of ivermectin, which also helps with internal parasites.. You must be careful with dosing Collie breeds, they have a sensitivity to it and even a sma;; over dose can cause seizure and death.

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), February 13, 2002.

Response to heartworm problem

This is a tough one. If it were me (and I have treated countless dogs for heartworm over the years), I probably would not treat her. The treatment does not seem to faze some dogs, but others really suffer from it, and they can even die. If you treat her and she dies, you'll wish you had just let her be. Dogs can live for some time with the disease, and she may end up lasting her natural life span regardless pf the heartworms.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

Response to heartworm problem

Our dog, who was 7 yrs. at the time, was diagnosed with heartworms. Not only were we not able to afford the treatment at the time, I was reluctant to put him through such an ordeal anyway because he wasn't in strong health. Our vet suggested putting him on a monthly preventative to prevent new eggs from hatching (or reaching maturity, or something). The current worms would die and with no new ones to take their place, he would be heartworm free within a few years. Of course there was still a chance that the dying worms could cause his death, but at least it was also a chance for him to live. He is still alive today (8 years later) and just now starting to feel his age. But he's been free of heartworms for 4 years now and still taking his monthly meds.

-- Melody (realworld3d@hotmail.com), February 13, 2002.

Response to heartworm problem

I had my dog treated about 2 years ago, and it cost about $250. I don't know how long dalmations live, but I lost one dog at 16 years old, and one at 17 years old. Some breeds just live longer than others: these were both medium sized mutts. I guess the question for you is, what about YOU? Are your feelings for this dog worth the amount? Are your kids really close to her? Is your dog in good enough general health to have 4 or 5 good years left in her? Some dogs really ARE old at 8 or 9 while some are not. Only you can answer.

If you decide to go for it, you may want to shop around for costs, as well as who takes payment. Your local shelter may be able to give you names, and also check with a dalmation rescue group for reasonable vets in your area.

I think, that if I decided against the treatment, that I would try the monthly wormers. My vet told me that starting the monthly wormer COULD kill a dog who had heartworms, but it may be safer for her than not treating the dog at all: I really DON'T know which would be better, though your vet may be able to tell you. Regardless, good luck. It is a difficult choice to make, with no guarentees on anything.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), February 13, 2002.

Unfortunately during the course of running a dog rescue I have had LOTS of experience with heartworms. Heartworm treatment is very expensive and depending on the age of the age and the severity of the worms the treatment can be deadly. Considering the age of your dog and the fact that it is coughing from the heartworms I personally would not chance the treatment.

Ivermectin can be used as a monthly preventative. Our vet told us to use a dosage of 1/10 cc per 11 lbs of body weight given orally (do not give to Collies or collie mixes). A $40 50 ml bottle will last my 4 big dogs a couple of years. Which beats the $40 per dog every six months it would cost me for the pills that the vet sells. (heartguard is ivermectin in pill form).

Ask your vet about starting your dog on monthly ivermectin. This will prevent the worms from multiplying but not kill the adult worms. The adults will die off from old age over time and eventually your dog would be heartworm free.

-- Anita in NC (anitaholton@mindspring.com), February 14, 2002.

Hi Everyone, I wanted to thank everyone for their responses. We have decieded to go with an alternative treatment with preventatives. I was so relieved when I heard that some dogs can live for years after being diagnosed! Thanks for the advice and prayers.

-- Buffy in Dallas (buffyannjones@hotmail.com), February 14, 2002.