What's Up With Heartworm?

Below are some of the questions I have gotten from my friends that meet T and ask about it. By the way, I'm not a vet, this is just info I have gathered on the internet doing my own research so if you have questions please ask a vet or Google. 

---What's the deal with T?---

As mentioned before, Tash tested positive for heartworms so she was treated and is recovering. Recovery is 4 weeks so that's why she's not available for adoption until the end of March. All the Fluffy Dog rescue pups are tested as part of protocol since a dog might not show any symptoms. I think somewhere between 10-20% are positive so it's not that rare. Also, I believe over the last several years, 200+ pups (at Fluffy Dog) have been adopted, are recovered, and living happy normal lives. 

---What is heartworm?---

Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in pets. It is caused by microscopic worms that live in the heart, lungs and blood vessels of pets including dogs, cats and ferrets. After about 6 months, they can get bigger and reproduce so if it goes untreated, there can be loads of these worms in the pet. The heartworms can live for 5 to 7 years in dogs. I find it sad and also disgusting.

---How do dogs get it?---

Mosquitoes. Only mosquitoes. So if your dog came over to my home and played with T, he couldn't "catch" it from her. Like you can't catch malaria from another person (I guess if you were doing blood transfusions then maybe, but that's not really applicable in what I'm talking about). 
The mosquito would have to bite an infected dog, wait a few weeks for the microfilaria to develop inside it's stupid mosquito body, and then bite another animal. It takes 1 single bite and lots of wild mammals like wolves and foxes have it too, so that's why it's across all 50 states and no dogs are safe from it. 

---Can you catch it?---

No. You've probably been bitten by diseased mosquitoes every summer and you don't have it because you're a human. I don't know all the science, but that's why. 

---How do you prevent it?---

Give your dog the monthly pill (or the topical gel or injection). That's the only way. The American Heartworm Society recommends that you: (1) get your pet tested every year and (2) give your pet heartworm preventive every month. That's why these rescue pups might have it, because they didn't have a family giving them the monthly pill. Note: heartworm preventives are highly effective, but not 100%. This happened to a friend of mine: her dog was negative last year, and last week he tested positive even though they gave him the pills (the pill company pays for the treatment). So, if you miss just 1 dose of a monthly pill, or give it late, or the dog spits it out, the dog could be unprotected. If you don’t get the dog tested annually, you won’t know if he needs treatment.

---What's the treatment?---

The good news is dogs with no signs or mild signs of the disease, have a high success rate with treatment - that's Tash! :) The goal of treatment is to kill all worms while keeping the side effects of treatment to a minimum. That's why Tash can't be adopted until the end of the month. The treatment is usually a series of 2-3 injections into the hind quarters of the dog. It's an arsenic-based product (re: poison) that will kill the worms. 

---What happens during recovery?---

The dog has to be super chill for at least month. That means restricted exercise and keeping the heartrate low. The reason for this is that after the treatment of injections, the poison begins to murder the worms. When the worms die, they break off and go into the bloodstream. If the dog is active and the blood is pumping, it would basically cause a wormclot (#barf) that could lead to death. I also read that while the treatment itself is painful (since it's a toxic injection), it's actually the recovery period that is most dangerous. That is why Tash has not had any walks, she only goes in the backyard for potty breaks. We also can't bring her to the dog park yet, or even play fetch. We play on the couch together and spend a lot of time snuggling to keep her chilled out. 

---What if it goes untreated?---

Probably, the dog will die.

---Can dogs get it again?--- 

• Yes. Even when the dog is better, they're back at risk like all other dogs. To avoid the possibility of re-contracting heartworm disease you have to do heartworm prevention year-round.