It looks like we are going to have to put our 1yr old bulldog on the treatment for heartworms. He is a rescue and it appears that he was infected just before we got him.
The BIG question for anyone who has had to do this is: how strict is the extreme movement and stress restriction. The protocol says that he basically can not be a puppy for 6-8 weeks. No off leash , no running, no play that might elevate his heart rate, no jumping …… if you've had to do this you know.
My real question for our vets or owners on here is just how strict does this have to be. He is still full berserk and goes full puppy every time we even look at him. The vet says use calming meds, isolation room from our other dog , all manner of non-puppy restrictions . How bad is this gonna be??? Any advice ??? This is gonna be a serious challenge for the critter and for us .
Thanks for any advice

It is safer the lass activity he gets, unfortunately. That meant lots of crate time or lap time but no active play for a long while when we used to foster rescue collies. The adult parasites eventually die and must break down without becoming a stroke or heart attack threat due to artery blockage.

The need for enforced rest is due to dead heart worms compromising the lung tissue (where they end up). The amount of damage is directly proportional to the number of worms in the heart. A young dog probably does not have a large number of worms but we never know for sure so it's best to follow the guide lines. Just do the best you can. Also remember that a dog cools down by panting... not by sweating. If we compromise the lungs with dead Heartworms we also compromise our cooling mechanism. So, air conditioning is our friend or cooler outdoor temperatures.

it sounds like he will be spending most his time in our small spare room ( we dont have a crate big enough ) unless we have him on his leash for potty walks . Since he still is in FULL PUPPY mode and gets full nuts on just seeing someone or the Scottie I am afraid that the will be a hellova chore. It absolutely will take some meds to calm him. I guess that all we can do is expect him to be a dog and hope that any uh-ohs aren't severe .

You might also want to get some Trazedone.

Curious how advanced heartworms may be, for a 1 y/o dog. Concerns over the years has been for HW's and older dogs, a "quick kill" can be very rough on the dog. Any comments by the vet, on severity of the infestation?
Any options?

Here's something a lot of people don't know. Those Heartworms are not multiplying in the Heart. Yes they are making babies but those babies can never grow up until they get inside a mosquito and develop in the mosquito and then come back. So the day you start a good Heartworm prevention, something with Moxidectin in it, you will never have anymore worms in the heart moving forward. Plus, Moxidectin kills all the microfllaria (baby heart worms), migrating larvae in the tissues and some the weaker adult Heartworms. So pre-treating with Moxidectin does a lot of good.

None of the preventatives at label doses are killing adult heartworms other than possibly Proheart 12(Brazil study). Slow kill is a myth that most likely sped up resistance to our macrolide preventatives. It is important that a positive dog is on prevention to prevent re-infection as we know the prevalence of mosquitoes carrying heartworms is very high close to a positive dog (within 2 miles). The preventative will only get L3 and early L4 stages. The test only detects adults, so there are dogs that test negative initially and then pop positive 6 months later.

As to severity, it's related to number of worms and higher activity level. Some dogs with cabal syndrome might require manual removal of adult heartworms. A rescue we work closely with has had 2 dogs go to A&M in the last year for this. The American Heartworm Society is a great resource and you should look at their website.

I'm a big proponent of crates in general, and many of my clients hate them. If clients used them when we recommend them, vets would make less money resuturing incisions, etc. I allow my dogs on the bed, and they literally will get off the bed and go in their crates. They also will go in them during the day with no prompting. As mentioned, you can find an appropriate sized used one on Facebook marketplace, Nextdoor, etc.

FishrCoAg said:

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DVM97 said:

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IslandAg76 said:

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Crate confinement probably not necessary. A room would be OK. Leash walks better than not on a leash.
less intense activity is better/safer but you also have to live in the real world.

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In 30 years and literally thousands of heartworm treatments, I've only seen a few severe reactions due to a dog not being confined or kept still. A small room is fine in my opinion (if that's the best you can do), the main thing is no exercise, ball chasing, squirrel chasing, fence running, etc. Leash walking only, and as little getting excited as you can manage with a one year old dog/pup. As stated, we live in the real world, where sometimes everything isn't perfect.

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These two guys and probably bmfvet as well have treated thousands of hw positive dogs. I would trust what they have to say

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And if you don't follow this....my wife does lots of dog rescue...got a hw positive dog that just finished treatment a week ago......seriously crate them and keep activity crazy low

Some of the vets can chime in, but we did the long treatment method in our Schipperke years ago after adopting him with full blown heart worms. Our vet put him on monthly Heart Guard, and it took 2 years for him to be free of them, but was not traumatic or activity limiting in any way. He just slowly got better.

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None of the preventatives at label doses are killing adult heartworms other than possibly Proheart 12(Brazil study). Slow kill is a myth that most likely sped up resistance to our macrolide preventatives. It is important that a positive dog is on prevention to prevent re-infection as we know the prevalence of mosquitoes carrying heartworms is very high close to a positive dog (within 2 miles). The preventative will only get L3 and early L4 stages. The test only detects adults, so there are dogs that test negative initially and then pop positive 6 months later.

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Our vet disagrees with you on slow kill. When we got our second beagle, she was a strong positive for heartworms. Our vet prescribed Iverhart and explained it would prevent new worms, while weakening the adult worms and shorten their lifespan to 1-2 years instead of 5-7 years. Our beagle tested negative after 12 months, but did experience a heartworm embolism during that time which could have killed her.

ToddyHill said:

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You might also want to get some Trazedone.

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If you want a zombie dog, this is the answer.

Ryan, I might take a few weeks of the walking dead for this critter to stay even remotely calm.

No offense but if your vet is advocating the "slow kill" method, s/he needs to go to some CE.
The older "slow kill method" is not to be confused with a Moxi-Dox Advantage Multi) treatment which IMO is now often referred to as slow kill but had good efficacy.

IslandAg76 said:

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No offense but if your vet is advocating the "slow kill" method, s/he needs to go to some CE.
The older "slow kill method" is not to be confused with a Moxi-Dox Advantage Multi) treatment which IMO is now often referred to as slow kill but had good efficacy.

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No offense taken. It worked, so no complaints from me.

Thanks for all of the input .
I fully intend to follow my vets recommendation no matter what. She indicated that she wants to do exactly as the American Heartworm guys say and I agree.
My real question concerns what to expect considering the quirks and nature of this perpetual motion machine disguised as a dog. My son-in-law who has had multiple dogs all his life has even said that he has never seen a dog so full of life and happy. He is either asleep or in full puppy berserk friendly wanna play mode .
The lit about the treatment is scary as hell (if taken literally, short of zombiefication , crate or no crate ) it is going to be a chore to keep him from moving etc. I guess I was wondering just how concerned I should be ( based on the dire literature ) that he will see a human , get excited , wag his butt-tail assy in his usual frantic manner shake his head get excited as is his nature jump up to lick and slobber and suddenly fall over dead from a embolism ( exaggeration for sure put made for example) . I have to feel that he can still be a dog and , as long as we can limit his outbursts , prevent the AJ Foyt imitation in the yard and house , and avoid his constant rough housing with our Scottie we will be OK ! I just am curious what others have experienced and is this a fairly common reasonably managed treatment that should be OK ? BTW: I am new at this dog stuff since we have been cat folks forever so it's all a learning experience for now . Will know tomorrow if the outside lab confirmed .
Thanks guys

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No offense taken. It worked, so no complaints from me.

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Ditto

The amazing thing to me is that the Great majority of heartworm treatments are so routine. A little coughing 7 - 10 days after adulticide treatment is often the worst problem

Just picked up a sweet black lab Saturday from someone giving her away. Last round of vet records the owner had was from when she was a pup in 2021.

Wife took her to HS today to get her up to date on shots, etc. You guessed it, she tested positive for heartworms. Primary care vet visit to determine severity and treatment is Thursday.