Heartworm treatment

Has anyone here had their dog go through heartworm treatment before?  My husky is on day 5 from getting his HW treatment (immeticide?)  We're not suppose to have him move around too much because the decomposing worms may cause an embolism.  He's coughing a a hacking cough today and not eating too much.  I'm wondering what to expect next....

I hear the coughing may continue for 2 weeks before he's almost in the clear.  

I'm also curious as to how you can keep a husky still most of the time.  He hasn't been feeling well, though I imagine when the treatment leaves his system he'll go back to having bursts of energy.  We're suppose to keep his heartrate down, so we're making sure someone is at the house all the time.

[BabaluandOtis2]

Hi, read the other thread on the board titled "Dog hasn't eaten for seven days". Her dog has heartworms too.

That thread may also help a little with ideas on getting him to eat etc.

I would really google heartworm treatment,..... there are many vet sites that explain the whole process.

And yes, they CANNOT exert themselves at all. Or be in the heat. I don't know if the dog can have a light sedative to help with keeping him calm. You should call and ask the vet.
Mine have it for storms. But w/ the heartworms and treatment I don't know if it's allowed.

Keep us posted with how he is doing and any other info you may have to tell us.
Take care, and wishing your baby well ; )

[peekawho]

I've had one dog who had heartworms a few years ago.  It underscores the need to be scrupulous about giving the medication every month.  I got lazy about it for several months, and he developed it. (we lived in the south, where HW is epidemic).

Anyway, our dog developed that cough, and was listless and not eating well.  We had been warned to look out for this, and took him right in. He had a fever.   The vet put him on antibiotics, explaining that as the worms die off, they can clog the passageways in the lungs and the dog can develop a mild pneumonia.  I can't remember if they gave him anything else, but they might have given him a steroid for inflammation at that time, too.  

If your dog has recently been treated for HW, is coughing and listless, call your vet and ask what to do.  Since its the weekend, some vets may not be open.  You can call the nearest Emergency vet and describe what's happening.  They may want to see your dog, and if they want to see him, you should go.

[justTess]

I gave him his pain med with a sedative affect.  After an hour, (just enough time to boil chicken and rice), his coughing was gone.  He did love the chicken pieces and rice :).  He's a little woozy so he's laying down again.

The vet did call back and tell us to keep him from moving and that should prevent more coughing.  She also suggested 1/2 a coated asprin.... and I had forgotten to tell her that we had already gave him the pain med.  

grrrrr.... I hate playing phone tag.  I think I need to go to vet school....

[peekawho]

I'm glad you got ahold of the vet.  I'm so relieved when people call their vets to ask these questions!

It might be worth checking your dogs temp, if you have an appropriate thermometer.  The normal body temperature for dogs ranges between 99.5° to 102.5°F.

[BabaluandOtis2]

I don't know what pain med you have, Maybe Rimadyl? But be careful of mixing any meds like that, even an aspirin.
I would google what ever pain med it is that you have, and look at all the side effects and interactions. Things to watch for, they can be very helpful but for some dogs, they can have bad reactions too. And if it's an anti inflamatory, mixing aspirin can be very upsetting to the tummy and even dangerous.

[justTess]

Nope, we gave him some Tramadol.  We also have some predisolone which may be used instead of the asprin.

I'm noticing the Husky is much more difficult to treat for heartworms than the terrier we have.  We adpoted both from the shelter HW positive and the terrier is much more compliant with treatment.

I almost think it was a good thing the husky chipped his tooth because he has been less active.  Poor thing can't eat unless we give him some pain med first.