Bentley's shocking surprise
Bentley has heartworms.
I brought him down to the vet campus for "Heartworm Day", to be blood tested and drop off my order form (I ordered free product for him and Raven)... So I pull blood from him and we SNAP test him..... the little blue dot appears in the positive area. I freak out, Katie says to re-test due false positives. I test him again, and there's that fucking blue dot again. I stared at the test for approximately 10 minutes before I reluctantly brought it up to Dr. Flores, who agrees that it /is/ indeed positive. I then proceed to stand there staring stupidly at her as she and the Novartis rep talk to me about how Novartis stands by their product and that if they deem he was on preventive (Interceptor) for long enough, they will pay for his treatment, and that it's good it was caught early. All I was concentrating on was trying not to burst into tears.
I have NO clue how he got it. He was tested by a vet hosp in March when he was vaccinated and neutered and was negative. I don't know where he was prior to Danny and Rumi taking him in June.... Columbus Dog Connection SAYS all their dogs are on preventive while they have them.... Danny and Rumi gave him Interceptor in June, and I continued Interceptor when I got him in July. The only gap is when he was wherever he was before he went to Danny and Rumi. They say the dogs are always on protection, but there's always a chance someone didnt give him his, or didn't give it at the right time or something..... I don't know.... does it even matter? He has the heartworms now. It doesn't matter HOW, he still has them.
After spending a bit of time being upset, I decided to TRY to be a vet and buck up. I went home with him and pored over cardio and parasitology notes... because apparently when it is YOUR animal they're saying is heartworm positive, all of the information you've learned for the past 3 years drains out of your head like something being flushed down the toilet. The time it probably counts the most, and it's gone, just like that.
Anyway, I read up on immiticide (and its fun tendency to cause worm emboli in the lungs if the dog moves around too much after treatment), the life cycle, and other awful things stupid nematodes can cause. I'm calling first thing tomorrow and getting him a Saturday appointment to be worked up in preparation for the immiticide treatment. I have a stomachache thinking about it. The only good thing is that while he's resting from the immiticide, he can also rest for his back, which is still painful. In my infinite awesomeness, I didn't pick him up to put him in the car and he jumped in and cried a little.
Sigh. Tell me this isn't a disk on top of heartworms.
I brought him down to the vet campus for "Heartworm Day", to be blood tested and drop off my order form (I ordered free product for him and Raven)... So I pull blood from him and we SNAP test him..... the little blue dot appears in the positive area. I freak out, Katie says to re-test due false positives. I test him again, and there's that fucking blue dot again. I stared at the test for approximately 10 minutes before I reluctantly brought it up to Dr. Flores, who agrees that it /is/ indeed positive. I then proceed to stand there staring stupidly at her as she and the Novartis rep talk to me about how Novartis stands by their product and that if they deem he was on preventive (Interceptor) for long enough, they will pay for his treatment, and that it's good it was caught early. All I was concentrating on was trying not to burst into tears.
I have NO clue how he got it. He was tested by a vet hosp in March when he was vaccinated and neutered and was negative. I don't know where he was prior to Danny and Rumi taking him in June.... Columbus Dog Connection SAYS all their dogs are on preventive while they have them.... Danny and Rumi gave him Interceptor in June, and I continued Interceptor when I got him in July. The only gap is when he was wherever he was before he went to Danny and Rumi. They say the dogs are always on protection, but there's always a chance someone didnt give him his, or didn't give it at the right time or something..... I don't know.... does it even matter? He has the heartworms now. It doesn't matter HOW, he still has them.
After spending a bit of time being upset, I decided to TRY to be a vet and buck up. I went home with him and pored over cardio and parasitology notes... because apparently when it is YOUR animal they're saying is heartworm positive, all of the information you've learned for the past 3 years drains out of your head like something being flushed down the toilet. The time it probably counts the most, and it's gone, just like that.
Anyway, I read up on immiticide (and its fun tendency to cause worm emboli in the lungs if the dog moves around too much after treatment), the life cycle, and other awful things stupid nematodes can cause. I'm calling first thing tomorrow and getting him a Saturday appointment to be worked up in preparation for the immiticide treatment. I have a stomachache thinking about it. The only good thing is that while he's resting from the immiticide, he can also rest for his back, which is still painful. In my infinite awesomeness, I didn't pick him up to put him in the car and he jumped in and cried a little.
Sigh. Tell me this isn't a disk on top of heartworms.