Herald - lantern - Dispatch 1 1 June '86 27

Pet Patrol MARK W. LOGAN, VM.D

The goal of any dog owner should be to prevent heart worm disease from occurring through the use of heartworm preventative. As discussed in the previous Pet Patrol, heartworms Sreventative (diethylcaramazine or DEC) is given every day to heartworm negative dogs. Your dog needs a blood test each year before starting the preventative. Some veterinarians, myself included, are recommending that heartworm preventative be given all through the year for the life of your dog BUT WHAT if your dog shows a positive result on the blood test which is run every spring? Should you lose all hope for your dog and prepare for the worst? Probably you should not. In many cases, positive results on the heartworm test come as a shock to the dog's owner. Some dogs are routinely given heartworm preventative and yet still come up positive on the blood test. Other dogs may not be on preventative, but are now showing clinical heartworm signs either, though they show positive heartworm test results. THE NUMBER ONE contributing factor to heartworm disease is the environment. Hie more mosquitoes in your area, the more heartworm disease will be present in the dog population. A second contributing factor to heartworm disease is, nonchalance about giving ' the preventative every day. Stopping preventative too early in the fall is also a problem with dog dog owners. A cold snap in November does not permit you to stop giving the heartworm preventative through the end of December. Be safe with your dog's health; give the preventative until New Year's Eve without fail or better yet, administer the proper dose every day, all year. REMEMBER, a dog which has gained weight may require more of a dosage of the heartworm preventative. Ask your veterinarian if-you have any doubts about how much preventative should be given each day. An underdozed dog will not be protected adequately. Presently heartworm treatment comes in two

forms, one being much more effective and more accepted compared to the other. The accepted way of removing heartworm adults chemically is through a series of injections of an arsenic solution in calculated doses. In most cases, your veterinarian will advise preliminary blood tests to test certain organ functions before starting the treatment. HOSPITALIZATION of your heartworm positive dog is usually a necessity for proper treatment. Radiographs and an EKG may also be necessary before starting an individual treatment. Ask your veterinarian how he likes to handle heartworm treatment patients. Following the arsenic injections, your dog will need to return for further treatment a few weeks later. At this time your veterinarian will administer or prescribe medication to remove the heartworm larvae or microfilariae from the bloodstream. THE ARSENIC injections usually do not touch these larvae. Invermectin", Levamisole", or Dizan" might be used for this purpose depending on the in dividual circumstance and your dog's health. Once again, consultation with your own veterinarian concerning his protocol is required. Heartworm treatment is NOT risk-free. Your canine friend will have to be kept calm for several months during and following the treatment. THIS WILL lower the incidence of shock and secondary damage to organs such as the kidneys, liver and brain. Your veterinarian can lower the risk as best as he can, but a very low percentage of cases may develop some complication. These can range from minor circulatory disturbances to more of a major organ failure, which can prove fatal. . Most dogs get through treatment without undue harm and lead fairly normal lives. Any treated dog should remain on heartworm preventative all year for the rest of its life. THE ALTERNATIVE method of treatment, which is considered less desirable for total removal of adult worms, is the use of tablets

such as Levamisole or I Dizan as mentioned pre- I viously. This prescription will I usually remove the heart- I worm larvae only, and allow I the dog to be placed on I heartworm preventative. I Such action will prevent fur- I ther invasion by more heart- I worm larvae, transferred I by the bites of mosquitoes. I This method of treatment, I in tablet form, may be more I economically feasible for I some people. IT SHOULD be stressed. I however, that this is a I larvae-removal type of I treatment and many times I the adults will remain in the I chest of your dog. Eventual- I ly, the adults will die of I natural causes, usually in a I few years. The American Heart- I worm Society recommends I that if a dog is clinically | healthy, then the injectable, not the tablet form of treatment, is the most effective. There is a third option, of course. You might elect to leave your dqg alone with its heartworm disease. This option will almost always prove fatal within a few months to a few years. ALSO. ALL during that time your dog is spreading heartworm disease around, via mosquitoes, to other healthy unprotected dogs. Please discuss this option with your veterinarian only if your dog is elderly or may derive more harm than good from going through the treatment. As pointed out in the prior article, it is absolutely important to prevent heart - worm disease from occurring. However, if your dog is diagnosed as being heartworm positive, there are some decisions to be made and effective treatments are available. Do not lose hope Most dogs make it through the heartworm treatment protocol and continue to provide you companionship for years following the treatment.

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