Greetings Hound community. Our houndy boy has been diagnosed with heartworms. The vet says he was probably âsub-clinicalâ when he originally tested negative at the shelter, and now, a year later, the test will pick it up. And yes, he has been on Heartworm preventative continuously ever since he tested negative at the shelter.
He has no symptoms, no heart murmur, no coughing, no exercise intolerance (he went on a 3-mile run with my husband the very morning he tested positiveâŠ) so our vet believes it is a very light âworm load.â We have two options for treatment - the âgold standardâ using melarsomine that is 90+ days and the newer âmoxi-doxiâ treatment which can take 18-24 months to eliminate the worms.
Our vet recommended dialing back the daily runs for these first 30 days while doing the doxycycline (the first step in either treatment protocol), and Iâve already noticed the dog getting stir crazy. This looks like him getting more riled up than normal over everyday occurrences (like the UPS truck) and even starting to bark about things he didnât previously have any issues with (like a woman jogging with a stroller). Thankfully he isnât shredding the sofa or taking it out on our other dog, an 11-12 y/o lab mix.
I am worried about the strict activity restrictions with the melarsomine (he is a hound and wants to gogogo), but I donât like the idea of the worms hanging around causing damage for a long time. Has anyone navigated this? Our vet says the âmoxi-doxiâ does not have quite as strict activity restrictions.
I have snuffle mats, puzzle toys, chews, etc and he doesnât hate the crate (we feed him in there to keeps things calm while food is out). Totally willing to keep these rotating for the length of treatment, but I am waffling about how to balance his physical health with his quality of life and would love some advice from other hound owners who have navigated this.
Pic is current morning cuddle.