On the day we picked up Duke after his neuter surgery, the shelter informed us that Duke tested heartworm positive. Well my heart just sank. I racked my brain on all the episodes on Animal Planet on heartworm treatment. I was worried about our other three dogs. They told us that it isn't passed by sharing a water dish. It is only passed by a mosquito. Also, the shelter changed his status from 'adopted' to 'foster to adopt' and they would pay for all his treatments. PRAISE THE LORD! I know it's very costly.
We have a plan in place. He will be on doxycycline for 28 days. (I put his meds in his food bowl.) He will go in for another blood test. Then he will have an overnight stay to get two injections of immiticide. Then another 30 days will pass. He will do another blood test. God willing, he will test negative. At that point his adoption will be finalized on January 13, 2020.
After all that, he will finally visit the family vet on February 13th to test for presence of microfilaria. Six months from that date, he'll do an antigen test.
It's a long road to his recovery. I will be documenting his journey here. He's a great pup. He is an older pup & you can see the wisdom in his eyes. Thankfully he isn't so active. He mainly sleeps all day. Which is great because they need to stay calm during the treatment course. He loves going outside to enjoy the sun. He follows me E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. I have to be careful where I step. He is already house-trained. He sleeps in bed with hubby & I and the rest of the pack. Yup, our bed is packed. He's a great sleeper. We love him so much already. He's been a member of Red Dog Sanctuary for a week now. It's like he's been here all along.
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