Dotty, our 3 year old Daschund/Cocker Spaniel mix was diagnosed with heartworms. From the extent of the infection, we guess that she’s had them for at least as long as we’ve owned her. The infection must have been in its early stages when we first got her, since she tested negative. Unfortunately, we let her heartworm prevention medicine lapse for about 2 months. It wouldn’t have prevented the worms, but if we had kept her up to date, the medicine company would have paid for the treatment.

The vet gave her a shot, apparently in her backbone. As you can see from the picture, they had to give her a nice shave. Now she looks like the dogs with the weird skin conditions, the ones that are cute, but you don’t pet because no one likes the thought of catching whatever is causing their hair to fall out.

Shaved Dotty

Now, the final step of her treatment is to keep her calm for at least a month. From what I understand, the heartworms die, but their carcasses are not purged from the bloodstream. Instead, they are carried in the blood and can pool in the lungs. If Dotty gets too excited, she could die from a blood clot in her lungs. So, as per the vet’s orders, we are giving her Benadryl to make her sleepy, plus trying to stay calm around her.

Lucky for us, Dotty is one of the laziest animals I’ve ever seen. Keeping her sedated and calm consists of keeping her belly full. As long as she’s got a full stomach, she’s content to just lie in the sun and sleep. Hopefully, in a month, the worms will be gone and Dotty can get back to being lazy just for laziness’s sake.

Tags: