I have been a very bad mom to my dog. With all the things I do to keep my family, career etc, etc, etc................running, I put my dog's health by the wayside. Of course I feed him, give him lots of loves, etc., but I failed to give him his heartworm preventative each month.

I found out he had heartworms a couple of months ago when we boarded him to go on vacation. I just picked him up from the vet this a.m. and he is one sick doggy. He feels awful. I have him in his crate right now trying to get him to rest, because he hardly had the energy to go outside to use the bathroom. The vet says he will be fine, but it takes about 6 weeks to get rid of all the worms.

I feel so horrible because he is just like one of my babies!

I just wanted to post this because it is so easy to forget to give your animals their pills. Please take the time to do so, if you aren't already.

By Boxzgrl on Saturday, December 4, 2004 - 11:01 am:

I hope you dog feels better soon. The good thing about heartworms is that they can be caught in quite an early stage so there is great treatment. 6 weeks sounds about right but yes, this is a good reminder to remember all the small things. Mosquitos are everywhere!

By Kellyj on Saturday, December 4, 2004 - 12:12 pm:

I hope that your dog feels better soon. I saw a St. Bernard with heartworm once. Poor thing was so weak but he pulled through.

For those who don't know...It's important to protect your cats against heartworm too. There is currently no approved treatment available for cats with heartworm.

By Katherine on Saturday, December 4, 2004 - 12:59 pm:

Boy have I learned my lesson from this!

Blue didn't act sick before I found out, it's the treatment that is making him feel so lousy.

I will never miss giving him his meds again! Poor baby!

By Pamt on Saturday, December 4, 2004 - 01:29 pm:

The treatment that they give dogs has arsenic in it, so it poisons the dog. The trick is to have the medication be potent enough to kill the heartworms, but not so strong that it harms the dog. Most dogs do pull through okay, but be very alert to a worsening in his condition because there are many side effects of the meds and developing pneumonia can also be a complication. (((Katherine and Blue))). Hope he's all better soon!

By Cocoabutter on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - 10:11 pm:

How can you tell if your dog has heartworms if you don't get him checked?

By Boxzgrl on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - 11:09 pm:

There are signs of being lethargic and weak, not eating well and such. But the only way to rule out heartworms is the actual test itself. Because as we all know, being lethargic can be signs of dozens of illnesses.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, December 8, 2004 - 04:10 am:

Melissa is absolutely right. The only way to be sure is to have a blood test at your dog's annual checkup (and your dog should be getting an annual checkup). And, with the prevalence of heartworms everywhere these days, once the blood test comes back clean the only way to be sure your dog doesn't get heartworms is the monthly pill. Along with that, to prevent things like Lyme Disease (which killed my son Scott's poor Keyla), the monthly flea/tick preventative. We never talk about it, but Keyla only got bit by a tick once that we know of, and it was at a time when his supply of the preventative had run out, he hadn't gotten the refills, and she was about two weeks late on the treatment.

By Boxzgrl on Wednesday, December 8, 2004 - 09:43 am:

Thats a good point as well, Ginny. Heartgard, which is my preferred brand because its a beef chewable (like a treat, or so my dog thinks ) runs me about $30.00 for a 6 month month supply for a dog weighing 60#. Frontline Plus (which kills fleas, flea larvae, and ticks) is a bit pricey but honestly I buy it off ebay and can sometimes get a 6 month pack for $20-30, and at the pet stores here it can easily run up to $70.00. So, it costs an average of $150.00- $250.00 (for me) a year for me to treat my dog of these "silent" diseases that most people dont know much about. I can tell you if she came down with one of those things, it would cost much more than that to treat it, as Ginny can testify.