Heartworm Disease:A First-Hand Experience

H E A L T H & W E L L N E S S

WRITTEN BY ELORA PASKOSKI, LVT, East Cooper Animal Hospital Contributing Writer

If you’re from the south and own a dog, then you have likely heard of heartworm disease. Veterinarians stress the importance of prevention at every visit, but until you have experienced this first-hand, you may not truly understand the severity. April is National Heartworm Prevention Awareness Month, and in honor of preventing this fatal diagnosis, I’d like to share my own experience.

As a Vet Tech in South Carolina, the amount of cases I have seen are unimaginable, but some of the hardest cases I’ve ever experienced were with my own dogs. I had 4 heartworm positive dogs at the same time, all pulled from local shelters. Three of my dogs went through the American Heartworm Society’s treatment protocol but one was too unwell to even go through the recommended treatment. The treatment began with an antibiotic for 30 days and a dose of heartworm prevention. The antibiotic kills the Wolbachia bacteria which then reduces inflammation and worm mass. The heartworm prevention eliminates juvenile stages of heartworms to prevent them from maturing into adult heartworms. This was the easiest part of heartworm treatment for us.

After the antibiotic was given for 30 days, they were hospitalized for the day to receive their first of three adulticide injections. The injection is given deep in the epaxial muscle (ouch!), and we monitor them closely for adverse reactions. The injection, melarsomine, contains arsenic and has a very narrow margin of safety. Possible side effects include everything from vomiting and diarrhea to anaphylaxis, pulmonary thromboembolism and even death.

They began a short dose of pain medication to help with the inevitable discomfort of the treatment plus a steroid to reduce inflammation. If you’ve ever had a dog on steroids, you know how taxing it can be. Steroids can cause increased thirst and urination, a ravenous appetite, and behavioral changes in pets. I had extremely hungry dogs, an exorbitant amount of potty breaks and accidents to clean up, and a very challenging time keeping everyone as calm as possible. Keeping dogs calm during heartworm treatment is imperative to their treatment outcome. We had to ensure their heart rates stayed low, when decomposing worms could be in their bloodstream, so they didn’t face any grave complications. At this point all of the dogs were on strict crate rest and even needed additional anti-anxiety medications. They had to be crated and leash walked for 30 days after their first injection. And after 30 days, we had to do it all again.

Monthly prevention available from your vet or online pharmacy can help save your dog from experiencing this dreadful disease.

During the second visit, we had to give one injection and follow up with a second injection 24 hours later. They restarted their pain medication and Prednisone for another 30 days. That meant 30 more days of crate rest and leash walks, 30 more days of additional potty breaks and accidents to clean up, and 30 more days of ravenous, moody dogs. It was a lot to handle but the worst part was knowing that they didn’t know why this was happening to them. They didn’t understand why they were in pain, why they had to be crated all the time, and that we were trying to help them. It was absolutely heartbreaking for us to witness and handle emotionally.

Not every heartworm treatment will have complex side effects, but every heartworm treatment takes a hefty toll on the pets and their owners. Every heartworm treatment is costly, every heartworm treatment is time consuming, but every heartworm treatment is preventable. Heartworm prevention should be given every month to keep your dogs safe and healthy. I share my story not to scare you, but to help prevent any other owner or pet from having to go through the same thing (or worse). So please, in honor of Heartworm Prevention Awareness Month, make sure your furbaby is on heartworm prevention year round and tested yearly. Heartworm disease is terrible but prevention is simple! ■