Indigo is back!

[jelly8bean]

Well, it is over - not officially because we have to wait 6 months and retest for heartworm, but basically. Indigo is now allowed to have a more active life. I am letting Indigo and Sara be together today for 1/2 day and only inside. I don't want to push it too much with the wild yahooing around outside yet. They were so happy to see each other it was really funny. First about an hour of inside playtime (balls, battle! etc) and every now and again Sara would stop and look at me with the biggest doggie smile on her. It was a riot. Now they are settled down and semi resting. Basically they are right next to each other and Indigo keeps poking ever so often at Sara, kind of touched you last. Tonight, I might start with a short walk for Indigo, just a few blocks around, but getting back into the great big world outside.
I'm so pleased with how this has turned out.

[Big Dogs]

Congratulations who had the bigger smile you or Indigo? It's always nice to hear things are going well.

[magtie]

yay!

i'm sure she's really happy to be socializing again

[violator]

Great news !!

[Dobs4ever]

Jelly - What great news. Glad Indigo is on the mend and back enjoying life. May you enjoy many happy wonderful times and adventures together.

[Sue J]

Yeh Indigo!! I'm so glad that she's back and that Sara is tickled to have her too. I'm sure they missed each other. Let's hope everything stays on track now. Get your camera fired up and post some pics.

[Rhiannon]

Jelly,

Congratulations. I am sure that you are all relieved to have your baby back home. I have never seen any dog with heartworms. Can you tell me what the symptoms are. What kind of things would alert an owner to the potential problem of heartworms or is this only something that is detected with the bloodwork? I always keep my dogs on heartworm preventative but have done some rescue work also and want to know what types of things to look for in addition. Thank you.

[jelly8bean]

There were absolutely no symptoms displayed. I adopted her in March 08, she tested negative at that time. She was on heartworm preventative every month... she was active and happy the whole time. But in the annual physical she tested positive for heartworm. The only real symptom is a tiredness or cough, but if these show up it is apparently pretty advanced. So it is a blood test thing basically. I was very lucky because Indigo never felt bad during treatment, which was good for her - but bad because she had to be kept inactive for two months. It was hard on the whole house. Now we are back to semi normal and we are all happy happy :)

[Rhiannon]

Thank you Jelly. I really appreciate you taking the time to post back regarding potential symptoms. I have been fortunate so far and have never had to deal with it and I hope I never do. But will be alert in the future if I ever have any dog that has a cough or tiredness for no apparent reason. What is the treatment today being used for this. Is it still arsenic like I have heard or are there newer protocols for treatment?

[jelly8bean]

The treatment is still Arsenic based, but is supposed to be slightly less toxic to the dogs than the prior compounds. However, it is very hard for everyone involved. It covers 2 months. Injections are administered in the big muscles in the back and require overnight stays at the vet for monitoring (due to their lethal nature). Then the dog must be on complete rest for weeks after each of the 2 rounds of treatments. The heartworms of course infest the heart, and once killed they don't breakdown quickly so can cause blockage of the valves if the heart starts beating to fast (why you have to have complete rest). What most don't know is that they also can damage the liver and lungs as well. This is why you may hear the cough. Even if you cure the heartworm any organ damage is not likely to go away - and may impact your dog again later in life. It is a very sad tale and one that is easily prevented with existing heartworm treatments. However, these are expensive (especially for big dogs) and many folks just don't really see the need. My vet and I are hopeful that Indigo has had no permanent damage since she is young and did so well thru the treatment. The vet thinks that whatever heartworms she had were "weak and sickly" as she said, because I had been using regular heartworm preventative since I got her. I hope no one else on this board ever has to go thru this, but it does occur regularly with rescued dogs.

[SnuzerDog]

Glad to hear it! That had to be a tough road to walk, emotionally, good for you staying strong!:)