Hello and thank you. I have a 12-year-old Pitbull mix named flower who had heartworm and she was treated with the three shot series back in June of 2025 and then 3 weeks ago she had a mammary gland tumor removed. Three days after surgery she started honking heaving and coughing. I’m afraid her heartworm has come back. She still eats and drinks and gets up but doesn’t look comfortable All she does is walk around and cough, spit up . I don’t have the strength to put her down but I’ve also spent thousands and I’m at a loss of what to do. Any advice would be helpful Thank you

I posted seeking advice about my 4 yo hound mix on Sunday night and Dr. Magnifico responded. She asked that I keep her posted and with that, I’m hoping for some more advice. Roscoe had his follow up with our regular vet this afternoon and while his ALT levels have come down some (it was 786 on Sunday, 660 today and he started on Denamarin on Sunday night) his platelets have also dropped more (they were 114 on Sunday, 93 today) which is obviously concerning.

Some additional bloodwork levels to note –

RBC Sunday 8.99, today 9.46

Hematocrit Sunday 63.6, today 66.0

Hemoglobin Sunday 22.2, today 23.1

MPV Sunday 14.9, today 14.8

Reticulocytes on Sunday were 44.1 (within normal range) today they are high 127.7

Lymphocytes on Sunday were 1.20 (within normal range) today they are low 0.96

At our regular vet today, they tested him for Heartworm, Erlichia, Lyme & Anaplasma – all were negative. He is vaccinated for Leptosporosis, which is why I’m assuming they didn’t test for it today? The vet did say today that tick born infections can take awhile to show up, so he is proactively prescribing doxycycline which we are starting today.

Physical examination was normal at both the ER on Sunday night and our regular vet today. Regular vet suggested that he needs an abdominal ultrasound to look at his liver and spleen; they have someone that comes to the office every 2 weeks to provide this service, they will be in office on Thursday and are going to try to fit us in. I did call Jarrettsville Vet as well as Airpark Animal Hospital (we live in Northern Carroll County) to see about the possibility of getting an ultrasound sooner than Thursday (assuming that our regular vet is even able to get him in then) – neither had any availability sooner.

I’m just trying to wrap my head around this and prepare myself for what to expect next. Roscoe has been completely healthy up until this point. Other than a little more tired than usual, he is still behaving normally right now. Is there anything I should be asking for, or doing?

This boy is so incredibly special to us and has always been so full of life and love, I’m really struggling right now.

I apologize in advance for the long post… I have a 4 year old hound mix “Roscoe” who has been seemingly healthy since we adopted him at 14 weeks old. He is neutered, receives regular vet care, is up to date on all vaccines, and is on a monthly oral heartworm and flea/tick preventative. He is a grazer and eats Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula dog food, and he takes Vet-IQ brand Hip & Joint and Pet Honesty “Super Pooper” probiotic supplements daily. He gets dog treats and basically no table food unless something small is dropped. We do not have a fenced yard and he does not listen well (hound dog… follows his nose) so he is leash-walked twice daily and is never outside off-leash. This evening my husband was walking him and on their walk they encountered two dogs that we were unfamiliar with; Roscoe became upset and was acting like a lunatic and pulling very badly on his slip knot leash. After the dogs passed, Roscoe laid down in a neighbor’s yard and vomited. After a few minutes, they crossed the street and he vomited again in the middle of the street. Once they got to the other side, he vomited again (all vomit appeared to be undigested food) and laid down, refusing to move any further. My husband called me to come pick them up because Roscoe would not get up and walk any further. I arrived with the car (Roscoe is an anxious dog and hates cars and car rides) my husband had to pick him up to put him in the backseat and he sort of collapsed. His gums were pale, his breathing was weird (shallow and alternating between rapid and very slow) ordinarily I would’ve called it panting but his mouth was closed the whole time and the breaths were coming out of his nose. He had a very distant stare and I honestly thought he was dying right in front of my eyes.

We rushed him to the emergency vet and once inside he was wagging his tail and perked up quite a bit from what he had been, but was still not himself. He was able to walk from the lobby into the back, and from the back into a room. We spent about 3 hrs just waiting to be seen, they checked his vitals and everything looked normal but he did vomit 4 different times, which was partially digested food mixed with foamy bile. Abdominal X-rays were normal (3 different views) no masses or foreign bodies were observed (someone is always home with him and we did not believe he could’ve gotten ahold of anything anyway) – we did bloodwork and this resulted in several concerning levels:

His red blood cells, hemoglobin & hematocrit, bilirubin & ALT are all elevated. The ALT is what they consider severely elevated, normal is 10-125, his is 786. Bilirubin normal is 0.0-0.9, his is 2.2.

Red blood cell normal is 5.65-8.87, his is 8.99.

Hematocrit normal is 37.3-61.7, his is 63.6.

Hemoglobin normal is 13.1-20.5, his is 22.2.

His platelets are also a little low, normal is 148-484, his are 114. They visualized them under the microscope and said he does have some large cells present, whatever that means?

The emergency vet gave him sub-Q fluids, an anti-nausea medicine and sent us home with a liver support medication (Denamarin) that we started tonight. We are to follow up with our regular vet on Tuesday for repeat bloodwork to make sure his platelets haven’t dropped any lower but I’m just curious as to what your thoughts are? He was completely fine all day before this happened this evening, he was his usual self. We are worried sick. 😭💔

My dog Nick is going through heart worm treatment and I have a few questions…

he is 12 days post 1st injection as of today. He is on Prednisone once daily, and has Gabapentin 300mg which I give as needed.

he seems to shiver quite a bit – is he cold or feeling uncomfortable? I understand that the worms are dying and disintegrating. Is that painful for him? Does it cause pressure in his lungs? That is where this process takes place – is that correct?

I keep him a small room with me and in a crate when unsupervised. If I am in the kitchen he is leashed and laying on the floor. Only goes upstairs at night. I am giving him enrichment toys however he did eat (literally) half of one and had to go to vet to vomit the toy-my fault, I know he eats things. He is on a short leash for potty breaks. The heart worm society recommends having the dog sit at each stage for going outside, this little man will do anything for a treat and this works great for him. Does this seem like a good approach?

Thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you!

My dog is predisposed to have reactions to ingredients in every heartworm medication. I have received no definitive answer from my vet as to what to do except to basically play Russian Roulette which I’m not really willing to do. I would like to know if you have any advice on how to herbally treat heartworm without using conventional treatment. He is a husky, German Shepherd, wolf mix he has been DNA tested and he is 20 months old. Any information that you could provide would be helpful. My name is James Dalton and if you need to contact me my number is 864-906-4305. Thank you

Hello,

We are a group of individuals that help the street dogs in Turkey. We have a recent case of a baby girl that is below the age of 2 and has heartworm disease. She and a bunch of others were locked up into an abandoned shelter with no food and no clean water (there was water with only blood hence, bacteria and the disease). The medication advised to us by the vet (immiticide) does not exist in Turkey therefore, the baby girl cannot get the treatment. Is there a way you could help us out with this issue we are having?
We would be truly grateful.
The vet is ready to show videos, send necessary documentation and prescription etc.

Thank you in advance.

Does my dog need a 4DX test before taking a heartworm preventive? My dog is 71/2 yrs old and has been taking Sentinel monthly since he was a pup, and his Lyme vaccination is up to date. I realize the 4DX test is worthwhile and will get it done at the next annual exam. But the vet is refusing to renew the sentinel prescription without a 4DX test, and that doesn’t make sense to me.

Hi there,

I guess it will be long.

Anamnesis
My cat is an adopted cat from shelter. He was 1.5 yrs old when I adopted him and 9 months old when he got into the shelter. He is 7.5 yrs old now.
He suffered from catflu. He lost his left eye because of it. He had polyp in his left nasal cavity having spread to his left earcanal also, so he had to undergo a surgery at the age of 1.5.

The problem
Every season changes– fall, spring — makes him sneeze so I always administer him Vetri-DMG and Flumax to strenght his immune system.
This fall he was sneezing a lot sounded some discharge up, but didn’t see anything then he started snoring didn’t matter if he was sleeping or awaken. He vomited brownish, greenish, and yellowish fluid. Later on he tried to vomit, but nothing came up. On the top of these he seemed to be gasping for breath or being out of breath.
Since having administered Vetri-DMG and Flumax for 3 or 4 weeks I took him to a vet. He administered him eyedrops (3×2 for 7-10 days) Tobradex — corticosteroid and antibiotics — as he found nothing, but his teary eye and conjunctivitis, which is of course tearing all the time as he has epiphora thanks to catflu. He also administered Moxiclear spot on when the next deworming time comes (he is given dewormer each month, Fenbendazole and Praziquantel — guess you know it as Panacur) to make sure that he has no heartworm or lungworm…

Eardrops have been used for 8 days and he has started snoring again. He snores sometimes even he is awaken when breathing in or out.

QUESTION
His RIGHT side nostril seems to be swollen inside, so as far as I can see ti and narrower on this side. And that’s what makes me be so worried. I am afraid of… nasal cancer. He is a ginger cat and has lentigo on his nose, in on his lips, on his pows… How can I find out what the problem is? Unfortunately, in my country vets doesn’t know anything except giving injections… If an illness is not well-seen yet they do nothing.

Help us please!

Thank you so much in advance!

Can Interceptor cause bowel problems. Our 1 year old Golden seems to have tummy issues a few days after her heartworm

My 8yo female JRT, who barks very loudly most of her life woke up yesterday morning without her bark, well most of it. She’s trying to bark but not much is coming out, she sounds very hoarse. Should I be worried, wait a few more days or should she be treated by my vet?? She is otherwise completely healthy and UTD on all vaccines, flea & heartworm preventatives.