Sorry for the long post...looking for advice!

FrogDog · Jan 4, 2015

Hello everyone! I am curious if anyone has dealt with heartworms. I adopted a Frenchie a couple of months ago that was in "perfect" health. She really stole my heart. She had been a breeders dog, then was passed on to another breeder who she had a litter with. While having the pups something went wrong and her uterus ripped so she had to be spayed. Idk the whole story but as soon as she was done rasing her pups she was no use to the breeder anymore so she sold her to the lady I got Maggie from. When I picked her up she had a very noticeable skin issue which was not mentioned before then. The lady then told me she had bathed Maggie in Pantene shampoo to "make her smell good" which caused her to have this skin issue. I refused to back out of adopting her just because she had some flaky skin and thin hair. So I went ahead and brought her home (this was on a Saturday). The following Tuesday I took her to the vet to get a work up and checked out. I got some news that I was not expecting and made my heart break. The vet told me she had a skin infection, whip worms and was positive for a not so light case of the dreaded heartworms. I got her the meds for the infection, whip worms and started her on trifexis. Now that she is all healthy except for the heartworms I am debating on what treatment option I should take...She already has a cough, heavy breathing when very active(running outside and playing with my other dogs) and occasional vomiting. Anyone have any advice??? I am just heartbroken.

Tgirl · Jan 5, 2015

I would be careful about the Trifexis. Have they done xrays and bloodwork to determine what stage of heartworm disease she is in? I wouldn't let her run outside until the heartworms are gone. You need to be especially careful about her getting her heart rate up while undergoing the heartworm treatment. We use immiticide treatment for heartworm where I work and have had great luck with it for years. The stage of heartworm disease will determine how we do the treatment.

Cbrugs · Jan 5, 2015

Don't give Trifexis, dogs have died from it!

bullmama · Jan 5, 2015

I'm so sorry to hear about Maggie. I have never had to treat heart worms but I know many have in the forums. I do know it's important to keep them calm, and the treatment is over months depending on how bad it is. Please keep us posted on her progress [MENTION=1076]FrogDog[/MENTION]:

2bullymama · Jan 5, 2015

I have no direct experience, but know you have to keep them calm while on treatment and I agree with the others -- get her off the Trifexis and ask your vet for another option

Alice Kable · Jan 5, 2015

I am so sorry Maggie has heartworm. I have no experience with it but have read that Trifexis is bad.

bullmama · Jan 5, 2015

This is a recent post on our sister forum about hw treatment, thought it may be useful to you.

"My sweet Jack just got his first injection for heartworm treatment last Thursday. So far he is doing really well. He hasn't been terribly sore, which is pretty common for the deep muscle injection--he doesn't seem to be sore at all. I haven't even had to confine him to his crate too much (I do when Winnie goes on her wild tears around the house because she wants Jack to join her!), since he's pretty calm normally. He's not supposed to run, jump, or play for 4 weeks! In a month, he will have the final 2 injections 24 hours apart, then another 4 to 6 weeks of inactivity."

bullmama · Jan 5, 2015

And another post:

Donnam said:
Was wondering if anyone has had to treat a dog for heartworms? Jack tested negative for heartworms in April of this year while he was at the shelter. We adopted him in August and they recommended that we have him retested in October, which we did and he was positive. He had been on HW preventative meds since April, so we decided to start his treatment right away with a month of doxycycline which is an antibiotic that weakens the heartworms and makes them easier to kill. On December 4th he had his first injection to kill the heartworms. I feel so lucky that he hasn't had any complications at all so far! He is such a laid back guy that I haven't had to crate him all the time like I thought I would have to do. I only crate him when Winnie tries to get him to run around and play. He doesn't much like being in the crate, but he will go in without a fuss.

Anyway, we go back to the vet and he will get 2 more injections, one on January 6th and one on the 7th to kill the remaining worms. Another 5 weeks of quiet rest and then he can gradually start exercising again. Can't wait till he can go back to his beloved dog park!

So, has anyone else had experience with heartworm treatment?

FrogDog · Jan 5, 2015

Thanks everyone! I will talk to my vet about switching her heartworm meds. I try to keep her from very much activity. Every once in a while she gets a little hyper and I kennel her so she calms down but most of the time shes pretty calm. They have not done a blood test to see how bad it was. They did the snap test and I believe the vet said from the location/darkness in color of the blue dot it wasn't good and she's had them for a while. I know we can do the shots but they are a bit pricey at my vet..idk if different vets would be different prices? They told me a less expensive option was the "slow kill" method. Which is the doxy for 30 days every 3-4 months. I've talked to a few frenchie breeders and they told me to use Ivomec. They told me they can't afford the heartworm pills for all of their dogs so they used ivomec. They said it would kill the worms and keep her from getting anymore..has anyone ever done this?

Tgirl · Jan 5, 2015

I would go with the Veterinarian recommended treatment, which is probably Immiticide injections. I would only use the Ivomec under Veterinary supervision.

davidh · Jan 6, 2015

Thanks for adopting her. I like the others would not use Tryfexis, it is bad stuff. I don't have any experience with heart worms but I do know they should not be very active when on the treatment. Good luck with her and please keep us posted.

winginit66 · Jan 7, 2015

Tgirl said:
I would go with the Veterinarian recommended treatment, which is probably Immiticide injections. I would only use the Ivomec under Veterinary supervision.

I'm with [MENTION=179]Tgirl[/MENTION]. She's our 'insider information' for vet questions!!! Good luck [MENTION=1076]FrogDog[/MENTION]. Is her skin any better?

FrogDog · Jan 7, 2015

Thanks everyone! I will talk to my vet and see what he suggests. I also wanted to share a pic of my Maggie Moo!

Tgirl · Jan 7, 2015

Awww so cute!

FrogDog · Jan 7, 2015

winginit66 said:
I'm with [MENTION=179]Tgirl[/MENTION]. She's our 'insider information' for vet questions!!! Good luck [MENTION=1076]FrogDog[/MENTION]. Is her skin any better?

Yes her skin is fine now!

Besides the heart worms and some of the symptoms of the heartworms she has no other problems!!

FrogDog · Jan 7, 2015

Thanks [MENTION=179]Tgirl[/MENTION]!

Jakeyjake · Jan 7, 2015

Not much help here on this one, but just wanted to wish your frenchie well. So nice that you adopted her, I hope she feels better soon.

blushy · Jan 15, 2015

FrogDog said:
View attachment 5200 Thanks everyone! I will talk to my vet and see what he suggests. I also wanted to share a pic of my Maggie Moo! View attachment 5201

OoOh Iove her! Glad her skin/fur is feeling better!

Hope you can get her switched onto a better/safer heartwormer & get that cutie back to good health!

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