I need to talk to a vet now!!! Please if there is one out there. - Page 1

I took Tagan to the vet today for his rabies shots and check up. He tested positive for heart worms. He has been on revelution since he was a little bitty puppy. I think I started him when he got his first Rabies shot at 16 weeks old. Which was March 20th 2010. He was born on December 6 2009.  Everything I have read over the last couple of hours including the American Heart worm society web page claims that when the mosqito bites the dog it takes 3-4 months for the larvea to reach the heart. Once it reaches the heart it takes an addition 7 months for them to mature enough to show up on the heart worm blood test. Not only do we give him heart worm medicine, we also dip him every 30 days for ticks, fleas, lice, and mosqitos. Plus he has long hair all over his body to protect him from bites. For him to test positive for heart worms he would have had to have been infected by the time he was four months old. Is this really happening?
 
I was in such shock when the vet told me I couldnt even think of any questions to ask. She recommended immidiant treatment. I told her to order the meds. She asked me to tell her for sure if I wanted to do it now and I said YES!

I came home and began reading and now I'm worried that wasn't such a good idea. It was just about closing time when all this happened. Now she is closed and has her cell turned off. I left her several messages and told her not to order the medicine just yet.

I'm not sure if the treatment is such a good idea. He has been on prevenitives so obviously it is not going to cause him shock. The prevenitives is supose to kill the new worms and the old worms are supose to die in 2 to 3 years. The treatment seems dangerous. I don't know how I am going to keep him calm and away from the children for a month. They said that he will be and pain. I don't know what to do. If you have any advice please say something I am freaking out severly.

I am no vet but it seems that the test cxould be wrong. I would get a second opinion before doing any treatment. I have seen this happen a few times now. After the retest it came back neg. 

 Did she say what level of heartworm it was? if it is a light case most vet do heartguard for a year and re test. at least that is what we did for my daughter's rescue.After the year she was retested and was normal. 

Something you might want to ask about.  

had a rott feamle given to us years ago, she was infested with HW's. the old vet we saw told us to start giving her monthly HW meds (we used Ivemect) and he said it would kill any larvae, and eventually the adult worms would die off, they don't live forever.  she lived another 6 years (she was 5 when we got her).  died an old dog.

you have a young dog, vet makes it sound like your dog is on deaths door!  I would seek another opinion and see a different vet.  lots of times treatment is not necessary.

PS. another thing to think about, how many wild canids you hear of dieing from HW infestation?

I'd re-do the test.

In september I switched from Heart Gaurd to Revolution. I don't know if Baily has it yet. She is four and a half years old and has always tested negitive her check up isn't due until May, but I am going to take her tomorrow and have her tested as well. I think I should test Tagan again. Maybe something happend with the test and it is a false positive. The dot to the right of the control dot was very light.  My vet told me that means he is at stage one and there is less than thirty worms in his heart. He has not signs of having heart worms. No cough or anything. He has always been a little on the lazy side, but maybe that is because he has heart worms. I don't know? After everything I have read I don't think the vet knows what she is talking about, because that test dont tell you how many worms they have.

Also what ever she did to put the blood on the test. It made a loud snap noise and there was blood all over the test and the table. I was petting Tagan when this happened so I'm not sure what happend.

Just have your dog tested again.

Sounds like the blood test was a SNAP test, they are supposed to make a snapping noise.  I would ask your vet to take another sample and have it sent out to the laboratory for verification.  I work at a vet office and anytime we have a positive result on a SNAP test, we always send another sample out to the lab to double check that it truly is positive.  Since those tests are shipped and need to be kept in refridgerated storage, they are more likely to come up with false results than the laboratory.  Good luck, hoping it was just a false!

How often does it come up negitive after going to the lab? How good is Heart Gaurd and Revelution? Is it supose to 100 percent protection?

Don't panic tonite cuz there's nothing you can do about it now.  In the am, have the test sent to the lab for more accurate testing.  I don;t know how they treat the dogs now but they used to be treated with arsenic iv and the dogs had to be hospitalized while treating.  The treatment can be as bad as the disease, so before you get yourself all worked up, make sure there's a real test run.  Also, contact the drug company for the HW meds you've been using and speak with their veterinarian on staff to find out what kind of guarntee they might have on their product and what kinds of issues they've had in the past with their product.  There is always a chance for false results on tests that are done in house such as SNAP and Elisa.