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Progression of heartworms?
"Tara O." wrote in message ... "Robin" wrote in message news:Iu3Ma.68545$R73.9528@sccrnsc04... I found a boxer on Fri the 20th. I took him to the vet on Monday the 23rd. He tested positive for heartworms, but the vet said he was asymptomatic(sp?), meaning he wasn't showing symptoms yet. He didn't have a murmur, or any chest rattling, and I had not noticed any cough. Over the past two days he has developed a cough. I was unable to find the dogs owner, so I have contacted a great boxer rescue. They are going to treat his heartworms and have him neutered, then place him. They could not get him into the rescue's vet until the 9th. Is there anyone who is familiar with how rapidly heartworms usually progresses? Do I need to contact the rescue to see if they can treat him sooner? I know that they need to work with rescue friendly vets to keep expenses down so that they can help more dogs. Its likely not the heartworms. Either: a) its allergy related b) its stress related c) he's getting an upper respiratory Heartworms take a long time to progress. A dog won't normally even show up as a mild positive until 6-8 months after being infected. It can take another 6-12 months to reach stage 2 and another 6-12 months to reach stage 3. Some dogs show symptoms at stage 2. Almost every dog will show symptoms at stage 3. They don't have to be constant either. A cough here, a cough there, wheezing after exercise, etc. -- Tara Sorry for the late reply. It's been a busy few days. I had always thought heartworms were something that progressed pretty slowly, but I was never the less worried when he started to cough. The cough went away and only lasted two days. The lady from the rescue is picking him up tomorrow. They have already found a home for him to go to when he finishes his treatment. He'll be moving about six hours away to Roswell GA. He'll be living with a single man who has lived in the same home for 14 years. He gets to work from home alot, and he has a 19 mo old female boxer. He had a glowing recomendation from his vet. It sounds like a really great home for Oakley and I am really excited for him. Robin |
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