Treating Your Heartworm Positive Dog

Over the past three years, we have documented all of our heartworm positive dogs, 35 total:

23 of these dogs were treated using an Alternative Method which consists of Heartgard, Doxycyline and Prednisone.
10 of these dogs were treated using Immiticide (arsenic based).
2 of these cases have not yet been updated.

Of the 10 dogs treated with Immiticide, one died from complications. All 9 of the other dogs are heartworm negative today, and are not experiencing any complications.

Here are the results of the 23 dogs that used the Alternative Method:

2 are unconfirmed
5 are still being treated. Some of these dogs are new to our rescue, and have just recently started their treatment, for example, Little Grace.
16 have been re-tested and are confirmed heartworm negative. Most received negative results within 8-12 months.

While we can not advice which treatment method to use. We do however, provide you with all of the options available to you, and it is up to your Veterinarian to make the ultimate decision. This decision is primarily based on the age of your dog, its saturation level and overall health.

Some collie breeds do have allergic reactions to ivermectin, the main ingredient in heartgard. It is recommended that collies use an alternative form of heartworm prevention that does not contain ivermectin. Three of our dogs had an allergic reaction to heargard: