Heartworm infected dog - Just found out today :(

Jeeze Sandra, your post killed me, I cried like a baby.  You have my sympathy for the loss of your dog and your cat.  There will be a time when my dog REALLY needs me, I hope I face it like you did with yours.
Samantha, treatment for my dog begins this week, I believe.  I'm hoping nothing very bad happens at home, I wouldn't be able to pick my dog up he is tooooo heavy.  Good luck and hang in there.  Jules

Bless you heart, I wish I was there to give you a hug and take some of the stress away.  How we worry about this fur babies.  Hubby is a cross country truck driver and he worries about our babies.  He was on the road 9 years ago when I had to send my 12 1/2 year old Irish Setter to the bridge (bone cancer), and on the road 7 years ago when our first Golden, Scooter, dropped dead of a heart attack at age 5.  He was on the road 2 1/2 years ago when my precious Hunter died.   He was on the road when our 10 year old mini lopearred rabbit died and when our chicken, Chuck Chuck was killed by something  (she had been an Easter chick for kids next door, decided she liked our place better and after weeks of putitng her back across the fence, they told us to keep her.  had her 3 years)
 
Well when Buck got sick Saturday Jerry was on his way across the mountains, pulling a load of hazardous material to Portland  Oregon.  I have dial up computer and I left the machine all day so he couldn't get thru to me because i knew he would ask about the dogs and I would have to tell him about Buck--promised I would never lie about the dogs, kids or grandkids.   Buck is "his boy" and I didn't want him driving across those mountains worried sick about the old man.  As it turns out, after posting his story on several boards, it seems that several dogs have had the same time.  Must be a virus.  He is back to his old pester-roo-cuss self today, butting me trying to get attention as I type, Trotting with tail up instead of walking slow with tail down.  he doesn't know he is 11 years old.
 
Honey was also a live wire--what am I saying WAS--she still is.  And she did just fine and I know your guy is going to do just fine also.
 
 

julesmac,  Good luck with your baby's treatment!  Please keep me posted!!!

Hi all... 
 
Coal my black lab started HW treatment on the 17th.    I picked him up last night and it was so sad.  his head was hanging down when she brought him out and he looked up at me and wagged his tail a little bit and came over to me.  then he laid down in the car most of the trip home.   So I knew for sure he didnt feel good. 
 
He went thru the first series of shots good per the vet.  they gave him some pain meds for the first 3 days home.  He doesnt seem to be in much pain.   He is not a happy camper about being crated  during the day but he went in it with no fuss.  And per the vet it was ok for him to sleep loose in my room with a baby gate in the door.   My dad is going to go by everyday and let him out for short walks and let him lay down in the living room while he watches TV.. so he shouldnt be too long at one time in the crate.   Although its like having a newborn baby at home.  Everytime I hear a noise I keep looking over to see if he is ok.   and he keeps getting me up every few hours to go potty.  Hopefully this will be getting longer and longer once he gets used to being inside all the time again.   they used to go out during the day. 
 
He gave me tranqs for the other dog because he was sooo upset for the past 2 days waiting on Coal to come home.  he hasnt really eaten anything in a day and a half.  I did get him to eat some grilled chicken  and peas monday night but thats it.  I even tried can food.   If he doesnt eat for me tonight I am going to have to call the vet in the morning.  I let them both sleep in my room last night and they seem to do ok.   Casey was licking him on the face when he came in last night i was soo sweet.  
 
Its going to be really hard to keep him calm for 8 weeks but we will see how it goes.   The cats arent happy either .  they are being kept locked up in a bedroom because my lab likes to chase cats and that is a no no.  
 
well hope things are going good with your little guy.  
 

Ohhh Poor Coal.   Hogie goes in on Friday. 

I'm so glad your baby went through the shots okay.  Please, please, PLEASE, keep me updated and let me know how he progresses, etc.  I can already tell I'm going to be uberparanoid.  I already am. 

How old is Coal? 

We have a 3 yr old black lab at home and she is wild.  We've been training Hogan to be quiet, and Emma just doesn't get it.  When she runs around like an Amazon woman, she gets him riled up.  I might see if I can drop Emma off at a relative's house about 3 days a week before work, so that she can get 'worn out' playing with two great danes.

Anyway, please keep me posted.  I'll keep Coal in my prayers.  Let me know what you find keeps him calm and I'll try to do the same.

Good luck!

Samantha

Thanks Samantha.  he is 7.5  (B-day in november).    he has always been really calm.  except for the cat thing.   Actually my English Setter is the bossier of the two and most hyper.  So we will see how it goes.   I think Coal will be ok its me that might not make it  =O)  And of course he is eating it up.  He did jump up on the bed with me this morning which surprised me since he has never liked being on the bed.  Always sleeps on the floor or the air vent. 
 
One thing I have read about the HW treatment is that they can become overheated.  So i left my thermostat down to 70 and have a fan running in the room he is in.  Dont know if thats true but better safe than sorry.
 
 
Also I had posted on here about his HW treatment and some great suggestions I got were get a Kong and fill with goodies.  Someone even said freeze it cause it takes longer for them to get the good stuff out of it.  of course  you have to make sure you adjust their food intake to include these snacks.  Especially since they wont be getting much in the way of excercise for the next 2 months. 
 
I bought him a new Kong and some small treats to put in so we will see how it goes in the morning. 
 
And if you dog has never had can food watch out!!!  the vet gives them can food to help get them eating....  he was eating it up for 2 days... I bought him some sauce stuff to put over his dry to kind of wean him off of the can.... 
 
well time to get back to work... good luck with Hogan.  I am sure he will do great... 

Isn't it great that there are forums like this where we can come for information, a little cheering up, etc.  We get to hear all the sucess stories and can get ideas, helpful hints, etc about so many things.  I had nothing like this when Honey had her treatment in Jan. 2003---I didn't even know how to use a computer.  I just knew my Dad's elderly English Setter, Commander had heartworms, been treated with arsenic, went blind in a couple of days and died.  that was the ONLY heartworm treated dog I knew about at the time and need I have to tell you I was scared to death for our Honey girl, even tho we had only had a month, she was  as deep in our hearts as the other 3.
 
Now I am so happy when I tell others about our sucess story.  Honestly I wish there were no such things as heartworms and I never had to tell the story of Honey.  But there, and I do, and  I hope it reassures the ones looking for answers.
 
As to Hunter, I held up great for him, but i felt so guilty for ever agreeing to switch him over from Interceptor to Proheart6 that i lost 40 pounds in 8 months.  Besides my grief, I was in terror for my girls.  His sister had just gotten her first injection on Aug. 1, Hunter got his 3rd on Aug. 28, and Honey got her 2ed on Oct. 1.  I had been starting them one at a time and Hunter was my first.They all got injections from different batches, but that made it no less scarey for me.  We later leanred that some batchs of Proheart6 that went on the market in July 2003 (Hunter got his Aug.28, 2003) were recalled because the time release spheres didn't do as they wre suppose to.  Never did find out if they didn't release or maybe all released at once, we just don't know.  Since learning that i have wondered  if maybe Hunter got one of those and the stuff all released at once and he got 6 months worth of that stuff at once instead of over the 6 months.  We will never know for sure..

Hi All-
 
Well Coal did great yesterday.  My dad bless his heart didnt just come over to walk him for a few mins ... HE stayed all day till I got home.  So Coal got to lay in the living room while dad watched TV.... and he chewed on his bones and dad said he walked him 4 or 5 times during the day and he acted awesome on the leash.   I was very happy he did that for me.  was worried all day about him being left in the crate and I think dad knew that... 
 
Coal is acting like he doesnt feel any pain and realllly wants to go out the back door with the other dog.  but he listens when I say no and tell him to lay down.   and he goes into the bedroom so I can let the other dog out to go potty so its working well so far.,...he didnt eat much this morning but I did stuff a big red kong with treats and sliced cheese and he seemed intrested in that when i crated him right before I left so we will see.... 
 
and the big news is we slept for 6 hours straight!!! or at least Casey and I did in the bed.  Coal may have been trying to get my attention but I was dead to the world and then I heard him whinning at 4:30 so we made a quick trip outside and back to sleep.  
 
sorry for the ramble I was just excited about sleeping for at least 6 hours...lol... 

I'm so happy that Coal did so well!  I'll keep that in mind about the thermostat.  I just want to be home with him.  I don't want to be at work, I want to be with my dog.  That's so awesome that your dad came over and spent the day. 
Ya know, I have to say -- I'm not happy by any means that any of our dogs have this, but at least we can go through it together, with support.  At least I can be grateful for that.

He goes in for treatment #1 tomorrow.  I drop him off at around 8:30am.  I'm sure I will be a bawling fool afterwards.

I'm so glad he did well, though. 

Yes, it is good that we have this place for support.

I'm glad we all love our babies so much.

Gosh, this is so making me wanna go home and snuggle with HoHo and VeeVees. 

(Hogan - we call him Hoho's and Emma's full name is Emma Velvet Midnight, so we call them Hoho's and Veevees, among a hundred other stupidilly names)

I know what you mean about bawling.. I cried with the vet told me coal had heartworms.   I had an idea that something was wrong with him cause he looked like he lost weight (found out thats from the hookworms he had too).  I was at the counter checking out and  his vet tech came out and said the doc needs to talk to you and I knew something was wrong. as soon as he said heartworms and coal I just starting crying.  I left not long after he told me he needed the treatment and gave me the price  (ouch!!!)... didnt even schedule anything and then i checked out and they told me 253.00 for shots and tests and meds for both dogs.  i didnt even flinch... was just in shock about the heartworms..  then on the way home I calmed down a bit and called and talked to the vet on the phone and scheduled his appt. 
 
I still have to go back in 2 weeks and get their other hookworm pills for their 2nd round.  If Casey is on interceptor which covers hookworms does he really have to be dewormed again??? just curious.  I will be asking my vet.
 
have a great day!  and i cant wait to get home and hug coal too... and he has all kinds of names  =O)

Hi Samantha....
 
I know today is going to be a tough day.....
 
Wanted you to know Im sending good thoughts your way today and that everything goes smoothly with teh HW treatment[]
 
Hang in there....I'll keep checking in to see how things are going....
 
Kim

Me too.  The next few months are gonna be hellacious so you'll need our ongoing thoughts and prayers and you've got them.

I donno about needing to be dewormed again.  I have no clue.  Both of our dogs got medicine for the worms because they share the same yard.  Even though he put Emma on Interceptor, he wanted her to have the meds.

Luckily, the rescue organization is paying for the heartworm treatment but it still cost 220 to go in and get them both tested, visits (they waived emma's visit since she was there cuz of Hogan) and medicine.

We just got back from dropping Hogan off at the vet and having breakfast at McDonalds.  I didn't cry because I didn't want to make him nervous.  He was happy to be at the vet.  He likes them there.  I'll be picking him up in about 7 hours.

I have a lot to do today, luckily I'm off work today (because I'm on call this week and weekend I get Friday off.)

I have to go to the dentist (leaving now, so will answer the other posts when I get back), get my oil changed, wash my car, get some groceries, and so I can keep myself busy, although all I want to do is sit at home and play video games to escape.

I gotta run to my appointment, but I'll post more and reply to the other posts when I get back.

Thanks so much,
Samantha

Hi Samantha...  Hope things go well with Hogan tonight when you pick him up.  I am sure he will be glad to see you  []
 
things are going good with Coal.  very tired though.  getting up a few times a night is wearing me out but its only ummm  57 more days of this... hey by then they should be old pros at sleeping at night i hope  =O)
 
I really dont know how much excitment is too much.   he gets excited when the other dog comes in but calms down and just breathes a little heavy.   guess i need to call my vet and ask but dont wanna sound like a worry wart.  he told me just keep him quiet and dont let that heart rate go up.  and i dont really think it is not sure how to tell.   but Coal is acting like he is feeling good.   wants to go out the back door with Casey in the morning but other than that ......  
 
he doesnt like his new kong even with peanut butter... any more ideas on how to entertain him while he is crated? 
 
hope things go well with hogan this weekend.    surprised he is coming home so soon.  Coal had to spend the night and a whole day the next day???