Any vets in the house? Scared for my dog...

Dissociater

I took in my dog (who has the worst luck ever) on Monday night to the vets to get heartworm medication and a blood test taken to check for heart worms.

We were called last night to say they did the test and the test came back positive for heartworm, so they did the test again and it came back negative. They want to run the test a third time but ran out of blood, so we took her in again last night, and won't find out until tonight if she has heart worms or not. It doesn't make sense that she would have them, she was born last august, and the mosquito season generally is over at the end of september/october (being in Canada), but I'm terrified that she might have worms, which can be fatal.

Does anyone have any information that could put my mind at rest until I hear back from this test? What are the chances of a test coming back negative (the second time he did the test) when it's really a positive? And on the other side, what are the chances of the test coming back positive (the first time he did the test) when it's really negative?

ceres

Nothing can tell you but the test... though I'm a little surprised because there is a quick test for heartworms they used where I worked, and they could tell after about ten minutes.

Try not to worry too much. If they catch it, heartworms can be treated. It looks like they're doing everything they can to catch it, and there's only a few more hours before you'll have your answer.

Dissociater

ceres wrote: »

Nothing can tell you but the test... though I'm a little surprised because there is a quick test for heartworms they used where I worked, and they could tell after about ten minutes.

Try not to worry too much. If they catch it, heartworms can be treated. It looks like they're doing everything they can to catch it, and there's only a few more hours before you'll have your answer.

Well I don't know anything about how long the test takes, but we brought her in last night at 5, and they close at 6, so they're waiting until today to do the test, and I think they're waiting until this after noon for whatever reason.

I'm having a hard time not worrying about this, because like I said, this dog has had the worst luck. She broke her leg the day after we got her (of course the pet insurance only kicked in 48 hours after we bring her home and this happened 24 hours, so no coverage), she had to get surgery to save her leg.

A few months after the surgery they said her leg healed badly and they'd have to do another surgery to remove a screw and make an incision in one of the bones at her elbow so it would heal normally, or else she'd have a bad limp and arthritis. Of course the limp still hasn't gone away.

When we took her in to get spayed about a month and a half after that they said there was something wrong with her liver when they ran her blood, and that it might be something called a liver shunt. They did the test again and said she was fine, but it's still in the back of my head, and now this.

Dog's going to give me a heart attack.

ceres

If you are using an anti-heartworm medication of some sort (which you should be by this point, I believe), it's pretty unlikely that she has them. If you don't and she doesn't have them, you should ask your vet about starting. It's something you have to keep up with year-round, not just heartworm season. Revolution has a puppy/kittens version of their drug if your dog is too young for Heartgard.

Dissociater

Yeah that's why we were in, to get the heartworm medicine. We bought the meds on monday, and he took blood for the test that day. He also told us to wait until tuesday to give her her first pill, and he called us back before we gave her her first one and asked us to bring her back in, he told us to hold off on giving her a pill until he gets the results of this test. I'm not sure which brand it is, but it's also an anti-flea drug I think.

ceres

Yeah, they can't take it if they're positive... have to treat the existing ones first, and honestly I'm not sure how they do that.

Just sit tight. She's having a fresh test done, and you'll know very soon.

mts

it only takes one mosquito and its easy to lapsea tiny bit with the timetable for preventative.

actually they can take the preventatives if they are positive. its a slower less stressful treatment option for older dogs. if your dog is young and healthy, the treatment is not too bad. essentially like a worm bomb, its the older less healthy dogs that have the issues with treatment.

if you are concerned your dog won't be able to take the the treatment talk about using the preventative as treatment. Though it sounds to me like you need a new vet.

Dissociater

This is actually our second vet. And he's been good so far, he noticed the liver thing when our first vet (who did blood work twice for two surgeries) didn't when he was going over the blood work done for her spaying.

He was telling us that they intentionally make the test for heartworms almost too sensitive, just to make sure they don't miss anything, so what are the chances of him getting back a negative result when it's really positive like he did with his second test? I'm hoping pretty slim.

mts

yea i know hwo hard a good vet is to find. luckily we found a good practice for our pup who has had all sorts of issues with her IBD. good idea getting the pet insurance, it makes a huge difference in paying for things.

how strict were you with giving her preventative? if you always made sure you gave it to the pup every 30 days ( actually less than 45) it could be a false positive.

has your dog seemed out of breath/easy to tire etc?

Dissociater

We actually don't have pet insurance anymore, because not only would they not cover any of the subsequent surgeries associated with he first injury, they marked her file as being damaged, meaning any injuries as a result of her previous injuries wouldn't be covered, nothing involving any of her legs, hips, or spine would be covered either.

We haven't given her preventative yet, she's only 9 months old, and she was born right at the tail end of summer. We didn't get ownership of her until later october/early november, which is generally past insect season up here. Our vet told us to bring her in at the end of may to get heartworm meds and get tested, so we were in there monday to get her first pills.

My dog does sometimes seem to pant a lot, but doesn't tire too easily i don't think. She's a long haired sheep dog and it's really starting to get hot lately, and she has to put extra effort into walking because of her leg (plus she pulls like crazy when we take her out for walks because she wants to chase cars like crazy), so I don't really attribute any tiredness to any sort of illness.

mts

sucks about the insurance.

well its tough to say about the heartworm. are you guys in a high risk area? my hunch is it was a false positive. if it tests negative i would still try to get a follow up blood test later down the line.

however since your pup is young, they should tolerate any treatment if it is a real positive.

Dissociater

Well that makes me feel a bit better. I don't think we're in a high risk area, but our vet said that it takes 6 months for this stuff to show up, but it would have had to have happened before that because 6 months ago was december, and long after mosquitoes are active where I live. Meaning she would have had to have gotten bit by an infected mosquito before we got her where she was bred by a professional breeder out on a farm about an hour out of town.

mts

worst case scenario, she does have heartworm, if your vet thinks she would have gotten it before you got her, i would contact the breeder and see if they would help defray the costs since she would have come to you already with heartworm. a reputable breeder should help you out, but ymmv


OT: but as far as pulling goes if you haven't already done so get yourself a gentle leader. it works wonders for stopping the pull. we used their harness since our dog didn't tolerate the head collar. its wonderful and no longer needs it

Dissociater

That's the one that goes across the front of her chest/legs right? We have that and it didn't work, she still pulled like crazy, and I was afraid it would hurt her leg so I stopped using it. We also tried one of those ropes that tightens as she pulls (not a choke chain really, it's more of a rope), and she pulled so hard she choked her self until she threw up one time, so we stopped using that one too. Now I just keep the leash very short when we're around cars, she still barks and tries to chase but that seems the best we can do. I think I need the dog whisperer for this one. It's complete obsession with cars, or anything moving quickly really. I should take a video of it.

I think the breeder would help out, they are family friends, if it turns out to be heart worm.

LadyM

The Gentle Leader looks kind of like a muzzle. Dogs pull with their chest/neck area, not their head, which is why it works.

Battle Jesus

I really wouldn't be worried about the heartworm - it sound like they caught it early enough to deal with it.

Regarding the pulling - invest in some obedience classes. They're fairly cheap, and the benefits are ridiculous.
Any behavioral problems that come up you should definitely ask the class instructor about (this includes things like begging, whining, excessive barking, things like that) so you can get them resolved early.

fuelish

One of my ferals had both adult and immature heartworms(Meaning he had them for quite some time) He responded to the meds well(They are a lot less lethal to the dog now than ten years ago) and is still going strong five years later. It is pretty pricey, but worth the money.

Dissociater

Good news! No heartworms, it must have been a false positive of some sort. What a relief.

As for the pulling, we do want to put her in an obedience class, but can't really afford it right now, perhaps in a few months though. She's only 9 months old now though, so I'm not really all that worried right now, I've had other dogs who pulled a lot as puppies and who eventually calm down, if the problem persists though I'll try to take some action.

mts

i would still get her checked for heartworm in a couple months or 4. just because she did have that one positive, and if it missed anything they would definitely show up later