First Heart Worm Treatment

On April the 1^st, Rowdy had his first heart worm treatment. I took him in the morning and picked him up in the late afternoon. The one thing I didn't do in the initial exam, was to get an x-ray because of the expense of the first visit. This time I had them do the x-ray, so they could determine the extent of the infestation and to check if there were any lingering problems that could explain why I brought him in, in the first place.

The x-ray showed that he was in stage one, an early stage of heart worms and the heart had what she called a 'D' formation where swelling of a certain part resembled that letter. No other problems were found in the x-ray. It was good that we found it in the early stages, which makes it easier to treat. So they shaved a large patch on his rump and gave him the first treatment which is a single shot into a heavily muscular area. Then they keep him for the day to watch for an allergic reaction to the drug.

When I picked him up, they gave me some prednisone 10 mg pills (a steroid), to give him as an anti-inflammatory and I was supposed to keep him quiet and not let him run around or chase rabbits and squirrels. So now I have to walk him on a leash for his potty time, instead of just letting him out in the back yard. He's such a happy-go-lucky dog and gets excited over many things, that it is hard to curtail this behavior. I can only do the best I can and try to keep him calm. I think it confuses him, because I have always encouraged the excited behavior.

I also wonder if the drug or the steroid was giving him any problems. For a short time when he would look at me, it was if he had pain in his eyes and the eyes seemed to bulge out much further than normal. I called the vet a week after treatment and asked about the pain or other problems. She reassured me that he was probably alright, as the pain issue would have been in the first couple of days. He's doing much better now and back to being mostly normal.