Please reference my other thread about my$$ for my dogs vet care. I would love to hear some examples of other dog owners heartworm treatment, aftercare, what they would do differently?Thank you in advance for your responses:-)
Would depend on the severity of the case, the dogs overall health otherwise, etc. We have treated numerous dogs for heartworms at the shelter, of varying ages, all successful. Only had one that, when the vet cried and said surgery was the only option with very small chance for success, we euthanized. I was prepared to spare no expense and take her home, even got a second opinion and was told to PTS. Both vets stated they’d never seen a dog with heartworms that bad that was still alive.
Light worm load…doing slow kill. Seem successful. No problems.
What is slow kill? He is on antibiotics waiting to get his first of 2 shots in 30 days. Then I will tranquilize him and keep him in a stall for 30 days. His chest X-ray was good, he is a good candidate for a full recovery.
Slow kill is a misnomer and no longer recommended. It’s not really a method to kill the adults but you just prevent reinfection while waiting for the adults to die off.
To answer your original question, age of the dog isn’t as important as the overall health and stage of disease. I’ve seen many middle aged or older dogs treated with success that were mild to moderate cases. I’ve seen some severely affected younger dogs who did not do well and know of two cases we referred for surgery.
No reputable vet up on the current science will do slow kill. It depends on the worm load. If it’s very high, it’s going to be difficult…but if I remember correctly from your other thread the dog has been on HW prevention for quite a while so he should have a fairly moderate worm load. I would use a full service vet with 24/7 clinic staff and let the dog stay over in the clinic for monitoring the days the injection is given. Doxy first helps prevent some of the die off symptoms. It’s important to keep the dog quiet during treatment.
We’ve treated a lot of dogs in rescue and haven’t lost one yet.
I had switched him from revolution to trifexis about 18 months ago. We had some fleas and I was told the trifexis was better for fleas plus it protected against heartworm.Sigh. He is very allergic to fleas and I give all three of my dogs flea/heartworm preventative on the first of the month. I don’t know if he spit out part of a dose, I put it in a pill pocket and he would grab it and run away which he does with all treats. My two inside dogs tested negative but he lives outside 24/7. Last month I decided to grind up the trifexis and mix it with his food, before I knew he was positive.
Too bad you weren’t using Heartgard. If you had a record from your vet of 9 months of continuous purchase, they will pay up to $500 for HW treatment. They paid off on two of my dogs that picked up hookworms while on Heartgard.
The other thing is with the chewables, you really need to make sure they are chewing them. I have to cut up the Heartgard for my lab or he swallows them whole.
I’ve switched to Revolution this year.
Arabracer- vomiting is a common side effect of Trifexis, if he vomited 30 min or Jeff after a dose he would have needed to be redosed that month to be protected. However it still may be well worth calling ELANCO to ask them about him becoming positive while on it.
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What is slow kill? He is on antibiotics waiting to get his first of 2 shots in 30 days. Then I will tranquilize him and keep him in a stall for 30 days. His chest X-ray was good, he is a good candidate for a full recovery.[/QUOTE]
You might find this symposium report worth your reading time 
I agree with contacting the manufacturer - I’m somewhat surprised that your vet did not suggest this.
