# Heartworm treatment?



## tchook21 (Sep 28, 2009)

I have an oldddd bluetick who has been bloated for over 3 months and doesnt cough alot but iam pretty sure its heartworms.. Its to expensive to treat him so i was wondering if anyone knew of any old time tricks to help him out. He is still eatin and drinkin but has lost a lot of weight and is very bloated!!! thanks for any tips


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## GA DAWG (Sep 28, 2009)

Does he have a hacking choking sounding cough?


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## curdogsforhogs (Sep 28, 2009)

I used treatments of levasole over a two week period to cure a catahoula male that was eat up with them bad,.  he had gotten to the point he was coughing bad and when we would get back to the truck from hunting i would have to pick him up and lay him in the truck and pick him up to get him out..very sad...an old timer told me that he had used sheep wormer LEVASOLE tablets to cure of heartworms...I gave him a half a pill a day for 7 days gave him a week to rest then gave him a nother round over the next week with a half pill dose. I thought ths was going to kill him for sure. He would just lie there and it was kicking his tail.. after 2 weeks I took him in to the vet to check his blood for larvae,, tested negative and he has been doing great ever since.. that was five years ago and he shows no signs of damage.  Works for some and the others well not so good.  hope this helps


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## tchook21 (Sep 28, 2009)

he just has a deep dry cough, but doesnt cough alot. i know with heartworms when they get bad they cough alot. thats what has be thinkin.. when he does cough i can tell it is heartworms and he is so bloated but it has been goin for a while now and he is still eatin drinkin and gettin round. ---curdogsforhogs thanks for the help i will look into it.


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## timberghost1 (Sep 29, 2009)

my dog had heartworms and the vet gave me tamiflu. that was near a year ago. she doing fine. good luck


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## bobman (Sep 29, 2009)

there is no way you can be sure its heartworms unless you have blood drawn

the symptoms could be a lot of things


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## K9SAR (Sep 29, 2009)

I definitely second having blood drawn.  If your Vet is too expensive for that, there are several Low Cost Veterinary clinics (http://animalhealth.cc) that offer Heartworm Testing for $20 or $40.  

You don't HAVE to get the vaccination package in order to do a HW test.  Everything is available individually.


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## tchook21 (Sep 29, 2009)

iam 99% sure its heartworms


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## ghill4 (Sep 29, 2009)

well if you get the heartguard prevention, give it to it, then you have a 50/50 chance. Sounds like ur dog may be in the midpoint of the heartworms so you may be able to handle it. However, if u give it to them, your dog could suffer a fatal reaction. But there has been many cases that the dog survives. Once you have the prevention in, you keep giving it. The thing is... most vets REQUIRE you to take a heartworm test before you can get prevention or treatment. But that is the best thing to do. If they don't mention it, you mention it and tell them you want to try it anyway.

EDIT:: Forgot you said old.... uhm vets usually arent likely to treat an older dog. Older dogs usually dont live through treatments.


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## ghill4 (Sep 29, 2009)

tchook21 said:


> iam 99% sure its heartworms



99% on a guess is still just a guess. Testing your dog for heartworms is really the BEST thing. And just so you know.... never underestimate it. It only takes ONE tiny mosquito to give a dog heartworms and it is a suffering suffering torture for a dog. Seen too many waste away because of it and seen too many moments where a dog has had to be put down.

But honestly, if someone can't afford shots and HW prevention, they may wanna consider saving up or not owning a dog before they do. Its important stuff. It aint there to look pretty and to take your money without a purpose. Its REALLY necessary. My advice, get all your dogs on prevention. Its a terrible thing to have. And I am not tryin to be offensive but this is a touchy subject for me cause it really isnt something to look over.


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## ghill4 (Sep 29, 2009)

How do you know it isn't some form of worms outside of the heartworms. Heartworms attack the heart and lungs. Intestinal worms can bloat them in the stomach and intestinal region and is treatable with one shot or pills.


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## K9SAR (Sep 29, 2009)

ghill4 said:


> well if you get the heartguard prevention, give it to it, then you have a 50/50 chance. Sounds like ur dog may be in the midpoint of the heartworms so you may be able to handle it. However, if u give it to them, your dog could suffer a fatal reaction.



So.....save $20 on a Heartworm test and take a 50/50 chance that you kill your dog, or spend $20 and not take a 50/50 chance on killing your dog.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.  With dogs, adult worms need to be killed first, then a preventative given.


TO THE OP.........

Coming from someone with experience who had a dog with advanced HW when I got her, she was lethargic, would tire easily, would pant more/have difficulty breathing, and her coat was no longer shiny.  She never developed the HW cough, but her heart was comparable to ground beef when they opened her up (post-mortem).


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## ghill4 (Sep 29, 2009)

I worked at a very sufficient vet clinic and thats what they did... The adult heartworms will die on their own. If you cant afford the treatment, then the prevention will prevent new worms and some dogs will survive the adult worms if there isnt alot. If their dog isn't heaving and coughin up blood and being sickly outside of bloatin, then he is either at a REAL early stage of heartworms which (not sure if it is a good idea for older dogs though) then there is a higher chance of survival. 

But if its not, then you may just have some form of other parasite. Seriously... get them tested. If its JUST bloating and losin weight... its most likely an intestinal worm which can be dangerous but cheaper to treat. Wont be too much to atleast find out for sure.


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## southern_pride (Sep 29, 2009)

It is best to get the dog tested.
That being said.
Not saying you should do this, so use your own judgement.

One way to treat a heartworm positive dog is to give them ivomec once a month just as you would if you were trying to prevent them(1/10 cc per 10 lbs, ie a 100 lb dog would get 1 cc).
The ivomec will not kill the adult heartworms. It will kill the microfilia(baby heart worms) and keep them from developing into adults.
After a period, usually 6 months to 2 years, depending on how bad the infestation is, your dog will be heart worm free.


Use caution, especially on an older dog.


Levasole will work sometimes, sometimes it won't
Not sure about tamiflu.


Good luck and hope this helps.


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## curdogsforhogs (Sep 30, 2009)

levasole did it for my dog


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## ngacoons (Oct 1, 2009)

southernpridepitbulls is right about the ivomec


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## ghill4 (Oct 1, 2009)

southernpridepitbulls said:


> It is best to get the dog tested.
> That being said.
> Not saying you should do this, so use your own judgement.
> 
> ...



Yeah you can do the same with heartguard. But just like with ivomec, you have a risk of a fatal reaction. Southernpitbulls explained it better than me  But it's the cheapest thing to do. 

But as everyone says, u need to get your dog tested.


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## GaDawgs79 (Nov 9, 2009)

southernpridepitbulls said:


> It is best to get the dog tested.
> That being said.
> Not saying you should do this, so use your own judgement.
> 
> ...



Used Ivomec for almost 20 years.  Its what in the prevention meds.  1/10 per 10 lbs of body weight will do it.  work them up on it slowly.  I have treated a few dogs already that tested positive for heart worms.  Start out slow with about a 1/3 of the regular dosage for your dog based on the weight, then give another dosage in 2 weeks and so fore for 4 treatments.  Then up the dosgae to 2/3 normal dosage every 3 weeks for 4 treatments and then go to full dosage evry month after that.  The Ivomec will help with other worms and fleas.

Good Luck and let us know how she doing.


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## Lowjack (Nov 10, 2009)

Bloating is a sign of renal failure , it could be due to heart work or other ailment.


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## coontreeinhook (Nov 13, 2009)

Ivermectin is the active ingredient, look it up... it works. It's just that Ivomec is not "dog" medicine, so most dog owners dont know about it.


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