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Rocco update

ISU_REV

ISU_REV

Active Member
Apr 21, 2006
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This is an official notice to anyone that does not want to read about my dog. If you see any thread with Rocco in the title and do not care about Rocco, do not open the thread.

Rocco is the Yellow Lab, Golden Retriever mix that I adopted yesterday. I took Rocco in for his check up today. The vet gave him a rabies shot, checked him over, and said his heart rate was a little slow, but that could be from him being athletic. She drew some blood to check for heart worms and said he was fine. When I got home I had a message on my cell phone from the vet stating she looked at the blood again and there were traces of larvae (heart worm) seen. She said to bring him back out so they could take more blood to send out for conformation. We did that and she told me if, in fact, he has heart worm it would cost approximately 200 to 400 dollars for the treatment.

Has anyone here had a dog go through the heart worm treatment? She said it is usually successful. Why would the shelter not check for this since it is an easy test???
 
The larvae may not have been developed enough when the shelter did the test...your vet didn't see them at first; I would ask them though and see if they will help with the treatment costs.

Treatments can make the dog feel sick for a while, though I do not have personal experience with it. I would talk to your vet about what to expect and what to look for. Treatments have improved a lot over the years. Rocco looks like a great dog.
 
I had a dog about 8 years ago that had the treatment. They say the dog should not do anything that takes energy. The dog made it through the process fine. The question is if the cost worth it to you.
 
My brother put an older dog (husky mix) through pretty late stage heartworm treaments about a year ago. Lots less energy during treatment, and didn't eat a ton. Definitely lost a bit of weight...maybe from 75 lb slightly overweight to 60 - 55 lbs. Some of that might have been sickness leading up to realizing he had heartworms though. He's recovered nicely, aside from "old dog" aches and pains. Kind of sad to see the dog seemingly depressed and bored a lot of hte time, but he regained his personalitly back.

You said earlier that Rocco is just a year old right? Like chadm said, it's really up to what the worth is to you. My brother's dog has lived what's probably an extra year already, and it's been worth it to us.
 
From what I understand, heartworms are nothing to take lightly. I've been lucky and never had to deal with that.

For the vets here, just wondering how a dog gets heartworms? My dogs are on the farm with cattle and hogs and wooded areas, basically a buffet of potential germs and such. Yet I've never dealt with heartworms. Am I just lucky?
 
RandomFan said:
From what I understand, heartworms are nothing to take lightly. I've been lucky and never had to deal with that.

For the vets here, just wondering how a dog gets heartworms? My dogs are on the farm with cattle and hogs and wooded areas, basically a buffet of potential germs and such. Yet I've never dealt with heartworms. Am I just lucky?
Click to expand...

I am going to go out on a limb and say you have been very lucky. Heartworm is transmitted from one animal to another by the means of mosquitoes, I believe. If you have not had them tested and then treat with a preventative heartworm medication, you are very lucky indeed!
 
Only mosquitos can carry the infection.

If it's only the larvae, it shouldn't be too terrible to flush out and I'd expect the dog to live a healthy life. Just stay current on Heartgard and you should be good to go.
 
I'm only going by what my vet tells me but apparently it's quite a stressful procedure for the dog. But imho worth it at any age for my dog. Talk to the shelter...they should have been giving that dog heartworm medication and if they were it would be covered by the manufacturer of that medication. If they don't cover it....ask for donations here. I'm sure some people would throw in a few bucks as long as you posted pictures. And your bill cuz we don't trust you lol.

I know that you just got that dog, but I bet in a year you'll look back and wonder why you even questioned spending the money on him.

EDIT: (Unless he just crapped in the house)
 
RandomFan said:
From what I understand, heartworms are nothing to take lightly. I've been lucky and never had to deal with that.

For the vets here, just wondering how a dog gets heartworms? My dogs are on the farm with cattle and hogs and wooded areas, basically a buffet of potential germs and such. Yet I've never dealt with heartworms. Am I just lucky?
Click to expand...

Maybe this is a stupid question but you treat your dogs with heartworm medication right? If not...just fyi to anyone out there that doesn't you need to get your dog checked for the larvae before you give them medication. From what i've heard (not an expert) it can be very bad or deadly to do that.

EDIT: (It looks like I have no idea what I'm talking about for the most part... Heartworms in Dogs: Facts and Myths)
 
Last edited:
Your veterinarian is handling the case correctly. Good to get confromation before beginning treatment. Previous posts are correct heartworms are spread by mosquitos thereby transmitting heartworm larvae from infected dog to another dog. We have treated a number of dogs for heartworms. Most do very well if treated in early stages although there is always risk of complications as Rocco's Dr. will discuss with you.
Some shelters do test all dogs and others do not as many operate on a shoe string budget and cannot afford to test and put all dogs on the preventative. It's unfortunate but thats a fact of life.

I would let them know if Rocco's 2nd test comes back positive. It probably depends on their financial situation but they may help out. I know the one we work with would in a similar situation. I agree - as young as he is it would be terrible not to get him treated. Best wishes for both you and Rocco.
 
Boxerdaddy said:
Maybe this is a stupid question but you treat your dogs with heartworm medication right? If not...just fyi to anyone out there that doesn't you need to get your dog checked for the larvae before you give them medication. From what i've heard (not an expert) it can be very bad or deadly to do that.

EDIT: (It looks like I have no idea what I'm talking about for the most part... Heartworms in Dogs: Facts and Myths)
Click to expand...

Not a stupid question, because, no, I don't treat my dogs for heartworm. My dogs get their shots as pups and then only visit the vet if they are sick. And to be honest, the only time I think I've ever had to take a. Dog to the vet was for some inner-ear infection I believe. We had to give her drops in her ears, but she gladly took them once she learned a treat came afterwards.

Like I said, I must be very lucky, because I've had dogs for 25 years on the farm and they have all lived 10+ years with little to no health problems other than one who was hit by a car.
 
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