Breeding bitches with heartworms - Page 1

 A friend of mine contacted me today saying that her young bitch of 3yrs old had heartworms. Her last litter of pups are now 13wks old. She said the female has been on preventatives all her life. I have no reason to doubt her.  Regardless of how it is possible she got it, the question I was wondering is this. Lets say mom had heartworms while in whelp, how does that affect the puppies?  I could not help her with this situation as I never had an issue with heartworms. That is why I am asking here for opinions, not criticism. 

Please lets not bash the owner, as this is not the intent of this post. The intent is to possibly share knowledge with others that may have or had the same issue but didn't post because of fear of being ridiculed.  

I know this could turn into a not so nice thread, so please lets try to keep it nice. 


Thanks

Heartworm can not be prevented regardless. Heartworm medication is only a post treatment, which means it treats the dog after it gets infected by early stages of heartworm. I don't know what hwt your friend uses , but if it's heart guard and it is purchased from the vet the company supposed to pay for treatment. Good luck to your friend.

Can heartworm larvae in an infected mother dog spread to the puppies through her bloodstream?

ANSWER Yes, however these infections are of little consequence to the puppies. The stage of heartworm circulating in the mother's blood are themicrofilaria, the first larval stage of heartworms. The microfilaria can not develop into adult heartworms until they first pass through the mosquito. Only through the mosquito bite can a pet become infected with heartworms. Any microfilaria transmitted to the unborn puppy will be eliminated when the puppy is placed on heartworm prevention.

This information came from the American Heartworm Society's site:  http://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/faqs.html

firefly is somewhat correct--heartworm infection CAN be prevented using of filaricidal agents such as ivermectin, milbemycin, diethylcarbamazine and so forth, with two caveats: (1) the correct dose of unexpired product MUST be given at the correct intervals without fail, AND (2) like everything else in the world, there are always going to be instances where the protection fails for one or more of a thousand reasons, not the least of which is the adaptability of any organism in an effort to sustain its species. 

There HAS been an increase in apparent failures of both the ivermectin products labeled for use as a canine HW preventative and of the milbemycin products (an apparent failure meaning the evidence indicates the product was given correctly yet the animal still became infected), and the manufacturers of those products are covering the costs of treatment if veterinary records support correct usuage.  *This is one very good argument against using the large animal formulations of ivermectin or milbemycin--the manufacturers of those won't pay for treatment of HW positive dogs, and that treatment can be pretty costly...*

If the bitch in question has microfilarae circulating in the bloodstream, then the pups will as well, but there won't have been sufficient time for the adult stage to have developed in the pups, so starting them on a filaricide as soon as they're weaned will clear them fairly quickly.