Heeling Hearts

Heeling Hearts is a new Second Chance program (established in November 2017) for heartworm-positive dogs. Why do these dogs need a special program? And what exactly is heartworm disease—how is a dog infected, and how are they treated? Read on to learn more about why heartworm-positive dogs desperately need your help!

What is heartworm disease?

Heartworm disease is a serious and often fatal disease in pets around the world (especially in the southern United States). Foot-long worms (heartworms) live in the heart, lungs, and associated blood vessels of infected pets, causing severe lung disease, heart failure, and damage to other organs in the animal’s body. Heartworm disease affects dogs, cats, and ferrets, but heartworms also live in other mammals, including wolves, coyotes, foxes, sea lions, and—in very rare instances—humans. Because wild species such as foxes and coyotes live in proximity to many urban areas, they are considered important carriers of the disease. The American Heartworm Society is one of the best sources of knowledge for those looking to learn more about heartworm disease. It is through their tracking of the prevalence of heartworm disease in pets that we have learned that North Carolina ranks in the top ten states for heartworm prevalence.

How is an animal infected with heartworms?

Heartworm disease is contracted when a mosquito carrying heartworms bites a pet that is not up-to-date on a heartworm preventative like Heartgard, Interceptor, and so on. It takes just one bite by an infected mosquito for a pet to become infected, too. Dogs (and other pets) become hosts for the heartworms, and the worms grow and live inside the animal, maturing into adults, mating, and producing offspring. If untreated, their numbers can increase, and dogs have been known to harbor several hundred worms in their bodies. Heartworm disease is preventable, and giving your pet regular preventative medication is much cheaper and safer than treating heartworm disease after your pet has tested positive for heartworms.

How is heartworm disease treated?

While there is no known treatment for heartworms in cats (though there are preventatives for cats), in most cases, dogs with heartworms can be treated safely and effectively. Heartworm disease causes lasting damage to the heart, lungs, and arteries and can affect a dog’s health and quality of life long after the parasites are gone. For this reason, treatment should be administered as early in the course of the disease as possible.

While treatment options vary, a dog is typically given antibiotics for a month and then, over the course of a couple of days, will receive two shots. It is important that a dog is on crate rest for a couple of months, from the start of the antibiotic to around one month after receiving the shots. (This course is known as a “fast kill” course; the “slow kill” approach involves heartworm preventative and an antibiotic given over the course of a year or more. While this option is significantly cheaper, it is less effective than the “fast kill” course and the adult worms that have already formed in the dog’s heart and lungs will continue to grow and cause damage until they die.) After the two months of crate rest are up, dogs are free to play again, but should be retested in 6 months to ensure that no heartworms have remained.

Because the treatment is costly (ranging from $400 to $1,000, depending on the veterinary practice and the size of the dog) and crate rest is hard on most dogs (and their owners), heartworm prevention is by far the best option. Learn more about heartworm medicine for dogs by speaking with your veterinarian.

How is heartworm disease prevented?

Heartworm disease is easily preventable. You should give your dog a monthly pill or a 6-month injection. It is vital to protect your pet year-round and not to skip any months of medication. It does not get (and stay) cold enough in southern states like North Carolina for all mosquitos to die, and there have been many reports of dogs getting heartworms when their owners skipped even one month of prevention. (Cats, who can contract heartworms but cannot be treated for them, can also be given a preventative made just for them.)

What is Second Chance doing to help dogs through Heeling Hearts?

Due to the financial burden of treating a heartworm-positive dog, rescue organizations and adopters alike have overlooked adoptable dogs with heartworms, preferring instead to rescue dogs who do not need such a costly treatment.

Through our Heeling Hearts program, Second Chance has made a commitment to accept dogs into our program based on temperament alone, regardless of their heartworm status. We test each dog for heartworms at intake and will accept one into our program even if it tests positive; if we already know a dog is heartworm-positive before admission, we will not refuse to take the dog on the grounds of being heartworm-positive alone (rather, decisions are made based on space available, funds available, and the dog’s disposition).

Second Chance is committed to rescuing and treating 75 heartworm-positive dogs over the course of a year, a dramatic increase from our previous numbers.  About 20% of the dogs Second Chance has rescued since November of 2017 have been heartworm-positive. In addition to raising awareness of the heartworm epidemic in the South, Second Chance is saving the lives of dogs who would be euthanized to create space in a county shelter with only the cost of treatment determining life or death.