“Heartworm-positive” is something a dog owner would never want to hear about their dog. Fortunately, a majority of heartworm positive dogs can be treated successfully with the advances in pet medicine. And, with additional love and care, you can help your pet feel better and recover better during this fight.
This blog covers useful tips on caring for a dog with heartworms during and after the treatment to help them deal with this devastating disease.
1. Strictly Limit Physical Activity
The most difficult yet important requirement for heartworm positive dogs is to strictly implement restrictions on their exercise or other strenuous activities. Dogs infected with heartworms have a compromised heart and lungs, and hence, they are at a high risk of serious and fatal complications, including heart failure
2. Keep Your Dog on Leash
Physical exercise is absolutely not recommended for dogs with heartworm, but even if you take them in your backyard, keeping them on a leash is one effective way of making sure they don’t exert themselves physically. You must also keep them on a leash while taking them to urinate or defecate.
3. Battle Boredom Indoors
Confining your dog indoors and restricting their physical activity may leave them bored and irritated. Therefore, you must look for ways to fight indoor boredom. You can consider giving them chew toys to keep them busy and replace their outdoor time with affection by keeping them close to you while you read or watch TV. You can also make their mealtime fun with slow-feeder toys.
4. Encourage Maximum Rest
We definitely don’t want a heartworm-infected dog to run out in response to a quick stimulus like a bird or squirrel. Avoid distractions like human and pet visitors to prevent them too excited or physical. Moreover, encourage maximum rest to keep your dog calm and to help them recover faster.
5. Manage Your Space
Dogs may have those impulsive zoomies at any time, which increases their heart rate and blood pressure. To restrain them from running around and reduce those zoomies, cover up the extra space in your house to stop them from getting into a sprint. You can make such areas inaccessible to your dog with the help of baby gates.
6. Use Calming Supplements
One of the most crucial duties a pet owner has during heartworm treatment is to keep their treated dog calm and quiet. Consider using calming supplements for your dog to deal with these challenging times, as these supplements help deal with anxiety and keep them restful.
7. Provide a Safe Environment
Keeping your dog’s environment in check is very important when they are going through this rough patch in life. Maintain a dry, stable, and clean environment for them. This will also reduce the chances of further infestations. Do not take your dog out when it’s hot. Keep fresh drinking water and food available for them at all times.
8. Watch For Symptoms of Complications
When your dog is going through a heartworm treatment, it is necessary to be vigilant of any cautioning signs. Watch out for symptoms like frequent coughing, inappetence, fever, nose bleeds, lameness, blood in the urine, heavy panting, or anything that you think is unusual. Notify your veterinarian as soon as possible to prevent complications.
9. Stablize Your Dog with Regular Treatment
Once a dog is diagnosed with heartworm disease, they need extra care from you and your veterinarian. During these times, help your dog stabilize with regular treatments, therapies, and other medications as directed by the vet. Dogs with heartworms may be prescribed antibiotics to prevent secondary infections and supplements to help the liver tolerate medicines and dead worms.
10. Post Heartworm Treatment Care
Critical care is extremely important even if your dog has been successfully treated. Dogs treated with heartworm disease must be kept on strict rest for at least a month or till the vet suggests. It is better to be overly concerned and to closely monitor any post-treatment complications. Also, remember that successful heartworm treatment does not deny the possibility of future infestations. Therefore, it is essential to keep your dog on a good heartworm preventative treatment like Heartgard Plus or NexGard Spectra.
Bottom Line
Most dogs respond well to heartworm treatment. Although it seems like a long journey, it goes by quickly with extra care and compassion. The heartworms will vanish quickly, allowing your dog to have a healthy, active life once again. And, most importantly, do not forget to keep your dog active on an effective heartworm preventative treatment!
