The Horror of Heartworm

Mosquitoes ingest heartworm larvae when they bite infected dogs. These larvae can then be passed on to other unprotected animals.

Once infected, the larvae get flushed through the unprotected dog's blood stream and eventually reach the heart and lungs where they grow into adult heartworms that can reach 14 inches in length.

 Female adult heartworms can each produce thousands of new larvae per day, which live in the host animals blood stream for up to three years. There they wait to be picked up by mosquitoes, starting the infection cycle all over again...

Heartworm Treatment & Aftercare

Happily I was called upon to provide a temporary foster home for a dog that was to undergo treatment for Heartworm.  He was scheduled to be with us for a couple months while he healed.  Complete rest, relaxation, good veterinary care and alot of TLC and he would be ready for adoption through Tampa Bay GSD Rescue. 

Meet Max
the Rescue Dog 

Max is a 3 1/2 year old male GSD that was turned into a shelter by his new owners because he chased their horses. They'd gotten him 3 weeks earlier from a "free to good home" newspaper ad.  Instead of taking time to train him not to "herd" their livestock,  he was dumped at an already over-crowded shelter. Max's luck began to change when shelter workers alerted  GSD Rescue, who in turn picked him up and discovered that he was heartworm positive and loaded with worms.  He also had Coccidia, which is another type of intestinal parasite. 

GSD Rescue picked him up late Wednesday afternoon and had him neutered on Thursday but by Friday evening he was going down hill rapidly. He could not keep anything down and had diarrhea with blood in it. We gave him IV's during the night and were waiting at the vets when they opened early Saturday morning. (They always know it's an emergency when we're there so early!) X-ray revealed two foreign objects, so fluids and several very strong antibiotics were given by IV to get him ready for exploratory surgery. When the vet got into his stomach there was a piece of cow hoof or bone and a rock in the intestine. Poor Max endured 2 hours of surgery just 48 hours after being neutered. Having heartworms makes any surgery more risky.

Max spent a week at the vets on IV's and medication. It was 3 days before he could even eat chicken hand fed to him, and 5 days before he ate enough to be treated for whip, round, and hook worms. By then the medicine was working on the Coccidia so we were making progress. He finished his last day of Panacur on the Sunday 8 days following his surgery. By the time he came home from the vets he had lost a total of 15 pounds since he was first dumped at the shelter.

Max is finally able to eat normally again. He is fed Eukanuba Low Residue as it is easier for him to digest and has put some of his weight back on.

Donations toward the treatment of many Rescue Dogs are being gratefully accepted by:

Tampa Bay German Shepherd Rescue
11904 McMullen Loop
Riverview, FL 33569

Now Big Mac lives happily ever after right here with us!

GSD Resources - includes many RESCUE LINKS

A Happy Tail - My last foster dog - Dancer

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Max is delighted to be in a happy home environment.  Poor fella' - note that the tips of his ears have been chewed by flies.