It is time to celebrate a success.
Earlier this year, a 1-year-old springer spaniel presented to us for a check-up, and we diagnosed him with heartworms. His owner was disappointed and worried. He had lost a hunting dog to this disease many years ago. He asked me a good question: Can people get heartworms from their dog? I had to tell him the scary truth. Yes, there are a couple of handfuls of cases in the scientific literature of people getting larval migration in their body from heartworms. This is one of the reasons that I put dogs with heartworms on prevention if possible, even if owners can't afford treatment. Also, slow-kill treatment is better than no treatment, but it is just that, SLOW. Adult worms can still be alive over 6 months later with this treatment.
This spaniel hit the owner jackpot, and he received the gold standard treatment. He didn't enjoy the antibiotic treatment that we use to kill symbiotic bacteria on the worms prior to killing the worms, as doxycycline made him a bit nauseous. Otherwise, he did great. He was lucky to be diagnosed early enough to have a low worm burden. Not all dogs are so lucky, and some go into congestive heart failure shortly after treatment. This spaniel is now in the clear and heartworm free.
When the spaniel was diagnosed, his owner was advised to inform the spaniel's breeder about the heartworms and to seek vet care for the mom of the spaniel. That is likely where the worms originated. Hopefully the mom is doing okay and taking a break from having pups until she is found to be heartworm free. We are glad that our patient is heartworm-free and will most likely be on prevention for the rest of his days. He is a happy, sweet dog.