It is tough on the dog. It is basically am arsenic bard medication. The world's break up and can cause issues with circulation and breathing, hence the minimal activity. Antibiotics and steroids are often used in conjunction.
If you catch it early the success is good with minimal damage to the heart.

---

Jim
"In dog beers, I've only had one"
http://www.shakercolonial.com/
Creating custom made furnishing to your requirements

He's a year old and tested negative 6 months ago so I assume we caught it early. Talked the vet out of some routine blood work and X-rays so that's gonna save us about $300. I don't see that we have a humane choice other than to treat. Feel sorry for the little fella. He's the smart one who probably kept them alive when they were in the wild.

If you bought your HW preventative through your vet or a legit pharmacy (Target, Costco, not 1-800-petmeds), the timing is such that you shouldn't have a gap in treatment with the amount you bought, and you had documented negative status prior to starting prev, the HW prevention medication companies all guarantee to pay 100% of treatment costs, including the medications and diagnostic testing. Your vet should be able to help you out filing for compensation with their prevention company sales rep

Yes I picked up a stray last year and she was HW positive. She was treated with doxycycline before her first immiticide treatment to kill some bacteria that live in the heartworms. Apparently this reduces stress on the dog once the worms start dying off. Then she got her first immiticide injection. She stayed overnight at the vet for that. She was a little tender around the injection site but that was the only side effect (well a bad haircut there too.). She got prednisone for a week or 10 days or so with injection one. The biggest problem was getting her out to pee often enough because of the steroid.

In month 2 she got 2 injections and again stayed overnight at the vet for them. Again, no side effects. She was crated for a total of 3 months and actually did very well. I gave her plenty of safe chewing options and if she was able to stay calm would let her lie next to me on the couch to watch TV.

Once she was cleared for activity again I eased her into it. Her very first walk was only 20 minutes and she was pooped. But she gained fitness so fast- I wish I could! Within a week we were walking for an hour and playing fetch etc.

Total cost was right around $1k. I'm in a very low cost of living area. Don't be afraid to shop around though.

Good luck! The hardest part is the crate rest but the thought of one dead worm blocking something and killing my sweet pup was enough for me to stick with it.

Sounds like the treatment is pretty standardized. That's how ours is lining up. I do wonder how much of the risk of embolism is theoretical versus real and how much rest prevents an embolism form happening. I don't understand what the helpful mechanism is there. It's good to hear y'all made it through it and good on you for taking in a stray and sinking a grand into it right out of the gate. You sir, do not suck.