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February Pet of the Month
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Now introducing,
the beautiful German Sheppard, Nell.  Nell is our honored
pet of the month for February 2011!
Nell is a two year
old female dog. She was adopted in June
of 2010 and moved to Columbia with her new mom Paula. They both came to meet us last summer at Rock
Bridge Animal Hospital. Nell was, to all appearances, a healthy pet
but in June of 2010 Nell was diagnosed in our hospital with heartworms disease.
What is heartworm
disease?
Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease. It is caused by a
blood-borne parasite. The adult heartworms are found in and around the hearts
of infected dogs and cause disease by clogging the heart and compromising the
blood supply to the organs of the body. Young
heartworms circulate in the blood stream and can block the blood flow of the
small blood vessels. The lungs and liver are primarily affected.
Nell
was a rescue dog with a happy, healthy attitude. She had never been on
heartworm prevention. She was tested for heartworm disease in January of 2010,
and the test results were negative and she was started on heartworm prevention,
which she took for 6 months. So then how did she get heartworms?
Heartworms
start as babies in the blood stream of a dog. They are passed from dog to dog by MOSQUITOS! A mosquito that bites
an infected dog can ingest a baby heartworm (or a few hundred). After a few
weeks the babies will grow up inside of the mosquito. Now when the mosquito bites a new dog (your
dog!) it can give them the young heartworms. At this stage the new dog has
heartworms.
But
Nell was on heartworm prevention! What happened? Heartworm prevention is
designed to eliminate the immature worms after
they infect your pet. It only kills the
worms that are 30-45 days old, or younger, which is why it must be given every
30 days. If a dose is late, missed or not
digested (vomited up, spit back out) then there is an opportunity for any young
worms presently in your dog to develop into adults and become much more
difficult to kill.
Heartworm
tests can only detect worms once the worms have matured, which takes 5-7
months. In Nell's case, she likely had
already been infected, but the worms were too young to be detected with the
available test in January, and too old to be killed with the heartworm
prevention (i.e. 2-5 months old). When she was retested 7 months later they had
matured enough to show up on our tests. It is for this reason that we recommend repeating a heartworm test in 6
months for all pets that have not been on heartworm prevention, even if their
initial test is negative. To confirm a
newly tested dog is truly heartworm free when they have not been on a heartworm
preventative, they must test negative on the initial test and again at 6 and 12
months after starting heartworm prevention. They must have three negative
heartworm tests.
Fortunately,
heartworm disease takes a little bit longer to develop. So, because of regular
testing we were able to detect and treat Nell early- before a lot of damage was
done. Heartworm disease means that problems have developed from the presence of
the growing heartworms. Since the body compensates so well for damage that we
can't see, signs of disease often do not develop until the disease is advanced.
It can take a number of years before dogs actually show outward signs of
infection. However, the body of an infected dog will immediately begin to
experience problems from the presence of this parasite; but the body is an
amazing thing, and can deal with quite a bit of damage before it starts to show
disease.
 How can you tell if
your dog is carrying this deadly parasite? TEST! TEST! TEST! It is important to
test, even in healthy dogs. Nell is an excellent example of a dog that looked
healthy and happy but was still infected. If you suspect that your dog is ill, or
they are showing signs of heartworm disease, guess what your veterinarian will
want to do?! TEST! TEST! TEST! If your dog is a happy healthy pet, guess what
your veterinarian will want to do?! TEST! TEST! TEST!
It is
best to detect and treat heartworms BEFORE your pet shows signs of the disease.
Treatment
Nell and
Paula started life saving treatment immediately. Nell had not had the disease for very long
and the damage to her body systems was minimal. Since she had been on heartworm prevention, Interceptor, she did not
have any baby heartworms in her bloodstream. She was given an injection of
medication to kill the adult heartworms and started on a medication at home
that will help to weaken the heartworms by killing a parasite (Wolbachia) that
lives on the heartworms. She needed to stay here at the hospital for a whole
day to be monitored for allergic reactions to the medications. It was a
dangerous and delicate time for her. Nell returned again in one month for two
days in a row for a second and third injection of medication to kill the
heartworms.
Nell had to
be restricted to her kennel at home for 60 days while the adult heartworms died
and left her body. That is two whole
months! Excess activity can cause the worms that are dying to break apart
inside of your dog. The little pieces of
worm will float along in the blood stream and can create clots in the lungs-
which can be life threatening. The long days of inactivity were difficult for
Nell and for Paula, but it was very important for Nell's safety. Dogs that are under treatment for heartworms
risk many complications, including sudden death!
 Today
Nell is doing very well today. She enjoyed many romps
through the park last fall. She and her
mom are enjoying the snow. Paula makes sure that Nell gets her heartworm
prevention, Interceptor, EVERY 30 DAYS.
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