2 Week Update: Cowboy

Today marks two weeks into Cowboy's heartworm treatment. He's been with us for four weeks total now. Cowboy is doing really well so far. He had one fairly rough day last week and chose to spend most of the day in his crate voluntarily. He had slight coughing and gagging going on, but nothing bad. Oliver's "bad days" during his treatment were much worse and greater in number, but he had a much heavier heartworm infestation than Cowboy. While Cowboy's a pretty chill guy anyway, he does like to play so it's been a challenge keeping him calm. His heart rate has to stay low so that the Immiticide can work without harming him.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the heartworm treatment process (as I wasn't before Oliver), Immiticide is an arsenic-based drug that is injected intramuscularly into the dog's lower back. The Immiticide will kill the adult heartworms that clog the dog's heart. Obviously, arsenic is toxic, very hard on the dog's system, and causes adverse side effects. On top of this, the dog must stay calm for the 4-6 week recovery period in order to diminish the risk of pulmonary embolism caused by the dead worms getting stuck in the lungs. At the 30 day mark, Cowboy will get an oral administration of Ivermectin to get rid of any eggs left behind. While the process is arduous, it is well worth it for most dogs. Heartworms look like full-length spaghetti noodles jamming up the heart, lungs, and surrounding blood vessels. Google image it. It's not a pretty way to go: left untreated, heartworms may cause all kinds of awful problems and will ultimately lead to congestive heart failure. In the final stages of untreated infestation, a dog's chest will be visibly bulging with heartworms.

Anyway, all of that to say PLEASE be sure to give your dogs their monthly heartworm preventative in addition to flea and tick control. It's a small price to pay to ensure your dog's ticker stays healthy. Heartworms are rampant in the south because they are spread by infected mosquitoes. I can't even tell you how many dogs come into our shelter HW+. It's horrible. As an added precaution, I give my dogs a flea preventative that also repels mosquitoes (ticks, mites, and lice as well, but they don't have anything to do with heartworms) in addition to their monthly heartworm preventative. Because heartworms or not, nobody likes itchy mosquito bites!

Long story (PSA, rather) short, Cowboy is hanging in there just fine. I couldn't resist including some pathetically adorable photos of him doing his best to rest. He's just so darn lovable! Also, if you'd like to take a look back at Oliver's journey through heartworm treatment, here's a link to a previous blog post about it: http://ohfortheloveofdogs.blogspot.com/2011/12/oliver-our-very-first-foster-dog.html
In the meantime, keep your paws crossed for Cowboy! He's a trooper. AND if you'd like to help more HW+ dogs at the DeKalb County shelter get treated, here's a link to the group that funds their treatment: http://friendsofdekalbanimals.com/