Kadie Bear Heartworm Treatment

If your dog has tested Positive for heartworm disease they need heartworm treatment. Heartworm Disease causes suffering and death, and cannot be cured without treatment. 


“Sweet Red is now heartworm free thanks to TIP! Our family thanks you from the bottom of our parasite free hearts!”

Jackie

Heartworm Treatment Options

If you dog is Heartworm Positive, there are two treatment options to consider

Fast kill, which Veterinary clinics offer and is American Heartworm Society (AHS) approved usually involves 3 injections over a few months and other medications. Cost is based on dog’s weight and can be expensive.

Slow kill, which TIP offers, is an alternative treatment available to low-income clients whose dogs are non-symptomatic (low energy, coughing, fluid retention, weight loss)

Pre Treatment

During pre-treatment we strongly advise you to speak to a veterinarian about your options because it is essential you understand what treatments are available

Your dog is Heartworm Positive - now what?

TIP’s Heartworm Treatment program is for dog’s of low-income owners. If you are interested in TIP’s heartworm treatment for your dog, take the first step and click below. This information will help us help you and your dog.

Questions about Heartworms

  • Think of it this way: you are either pregnant or not; same with heartworms. A few variables: the blood sample, the amount of antigen the worms secrete, the number of female to male worms (theoretically, an all-male infection may test negative), the metabolism of the dog... we simply don’t know, but we cannot correlate the color of the test with the stage or level of infection

  • We know this isn’t true; often older dogs clear infections more quickly because the worms are older and die a natural death, and for other reasons we don’t know. What you need to remember is that every dog’s timeline to negative is unpredictable.

  • We don’t know; researchers all over the world are studying it, but it varies widely between dogs. A dog’s age, severity of infection, how old the infection is, the gender of the heartworms, the metabolism of the dog, and the general health of the dog. We do know that worms can be destroyed and still have fragments of dead worms that haven’t been cleared by the body, which will result in positive tests, although there aren’t any live worms?

  • We know the heartworms cause inflammation that can cause symptoms but as far as actualy structural and functional damage we need to do dianostic tests that are beyond the scope of TIP’s treatment program. TIP’s veterinarian can help enrollees with symptoms their dog may experience, but no one is able to reverse structural damage that may be caused by the heartworms.

  • Please be in touch with us, there are simple remedies we can help you with, and give you the dose of OTC meds to use unless the reactions are severe and last longer than a few days. Please keep us updated.

  • We don’t need to see your dog for 6 months after the start of treatment. We will remind you to come 6 months after your 1st injection to layer the ProHeart12. We will test at the end of 12 months, if your dog tests Negative then and assuming your 2nd injection was 6 months after the 1st injection, your dog will not be due for another injection for 6 more months.Once your dog tests heartworm negative he can never miss another month of prevention or else he will again be at risk for getting heartworms again. If your dog is not yet negative at the end of 12 months, we will layer another ProHeart12 injection and provide another month of pills and retest your dog 3 months after.

  • As the heartworms are destroyed, we hope that some damage caused by infleammation does improve as well as function, but without diagnostic tests beyond the scope of our treatment, we cannot say with certainty.

  • We know doxycycline is effective for 9 months to a year, so there is no reason to repeat the month of pills if these are given as directed. They weaken and help destroy the reproductive system of the female worms, and deform and weaken the adult worms so it is easier for the other medication to work effectively.

  • The ProHeart12 is used for prevention because the chemical it contains, moxidectin, destroys a stage of heartworm larvae. However, the injection also acts as an adulticide, meaning it will eventually destroy adult worms, especially if it is layered, as we do in our treatment protocol. So, the injection, when used for prevention, not only stops heartworm disease from developing in your dog; it also prevents transmission of the disease by a mosquito that bites your dog infected with those stages of larvae.

  • No, because the reason to do this is the risk of rapid death of heartworms that occurs in fast kill. There is always a small risk of death from heartworm disease/treatment, but the risk of it is much lower than the risk of not treating. Fast Kill injections are totally different than what your dog received.

  • We want you to wait a day or two after the treatment injection to give your dog his flea prevention so it’s easy to know what your dog reacted to if he has a reaction after Heartworm Happy Hour. Be cautious with flea prevention; if your dog hasn’t experienced fleas, and especially in cooler weather, you might want to try not giving him a pesticide. If you have fleas in your yard, we strongly advise you to treat the yard to keep your dog flea-free.

IMPORTANT

We ask you to please stay in the neighborhood after a ProHeart12 injection. There is a small risk of a dog having a reaction to the injection, and the risk is greatest in the 1st hour after the injection. For mild reactions, we can give you instructions to relieve your dog’s symptoms if you text our text number 504 321 3442, but for more severe reactions, we need you close by to treat.