After treatment, a dog with mild to moderate heartworm disease is generally kept on at least 4-8 weeks of exercise restriction, but then can gradually return to normal activity as recommended by your veterinarian.
Most dogs can be safely leash-walked during the treatment recovery period and providing appropriate chew toys can help relieve some of that stored up physical energy.
Enforced Rest is ESSENTIAL! Positively NO Strenuous Exercise for 8 weeks! The heartworms will die over the next 6 weeks. As they die and are broken down, pieces of them could lodge in other parts of the body's blood vessels, causing unnecessary complications–if your pet's activity is too strenuous.
GETTING STARTED
With minor variations, treatment of heartworm disease typically takes 2-5 months to complete. The most important thing you can do during the treatment is to restrict your dog's physical activity to a bare minimum of short leash walks for bodily functions (urinating, defecating) only.
Restrict exercise.
But your dog's normal physical activities must be restricted as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed, because physical exertion increases the rate at which the heartworms cause damage in the heart and lungs. The more severe the symptoms, the less activity your dog should have.
The exercise restriction during melarsomine treatment is so important. As the heartworms die, they float around in the bloodstream and lodge in the walls of blood vessels. If your dog exercises too hard, the fragments can get shoved into narrowing blood vessels potentially causing a blockage/embolism and even death.
Keeping Your Heartworm Positive Dog Happy
During exercise restriction: Give several; short leash walks during the off-temperature times of the day. These are SHORT walks, 10 minutes max at a leisurely pace. Provide more exploration and sniffing activities than actual walking.
From the first injection until six to eight weeks following the last injection, it will be absolutely essential to keep your dog quiet. That means strictly restricting all exercise and activity that would elevate your dog's heart rate or increase his blood pressure.
Rest for 60 days (ideally in a crate): Rest is the single most important factor to successful heartworm treatment. This means 4 weeks of strict rest for your dog after each melarsomine injection.
There is no reason to allow running, jumping, or other physical activity at any time for 8 weeks after the start of the injectable heartworm adulticide treatment.
Dogs with heartworm disease, for example, require exercise restriction before and heartworm treatment, as well as for a short time after treatment. Physical activity increases the likelihood of adult worms causing a pulmonary thromboembolism, which may be fatal. Limiting a dog's physical activity decreases this risk.
Strict rest is imperative for 6-8 weeks. This means that your pet can be leashed walked outside to urinate and defecated, but must come back inside to rest. Do not allow your pet to run, jump, climb stairs, or play rough with other dogs or children.
Dogs with heartworm disease can live high-quality lives as long as they are given appropriate care. After completing treatment and following your veterinarian's recommenda- tions on heartworm disease testing and prevention, the chances of any long-term effects are very low.
There is some risk involved in treating dogs with heartworms, although fatalities are rare. "A new drug is available that does not have as many side effects, allowing successful treatment of more than 95% of dogs with heartworms."
The injections are given within the muscle and can indeed be uncomfortable, but the inflammation that develops within the days following creates the most discomfort. Restlessness, panting, trembling and reduced appetite can all be signs that the dog is uncomfortable.
Recovery Symptoms
Increased energy - Even though your dog may begin to feel better after a few days, it is still important that he rest and refrain from exercise, so you'll need to continue to confine him for the first month. This means no walks and no playtime.
Twenty-six dogs (52%) experienced minor complications, such as injection site reactions, gastrointestinal signs (vomiting, diarrhea, inappetance), and behavioral changes (lethargy, depression) during or after heartworm treatment.
Heartworm disease causes lasting damage to the heart, lungs and arteries, and can affect the dog's health and quality of life long after the parasites are gone.
Since your dog's heartworm recovery is all about staying as relaxed and inactive as possible, you should probably ask your vet about a prescription sedative. “Many dogs benefit from a sedative or anti-anxiety medication to help keep them calm after treatment,” Dr. Marteney said.
The arsenic-based formula is what makes melarsomine so painful. And there's a hefty amount in each dose, making it a little extra achy. “The treatment for heartworm disease is a chemotherapeutic agent that irritates the tissues where it is injected,” Dr. Marteney said.
Once your dog has completed the course of steroids, heartworm preventive and antibiotics, he should be ready to start the actual adult heartworm treatment. The treatment for heartworm disease takes at least 60 days to complete and consists of a series of drug injections that kills the worms.
It is critical that your pet be kept under strict exercise restriction and confinement for 4 weeks after each phase of the heartworm treatment. Life threatening complications may arise if your pet is not confined. Specifically, your dog should not be allowed to run loose, play with other dogs, or go for any long walks.
n The majority of dogs clear all heartworms with the standard treatment, but treatment is not always 100 percent effective. The label reads 90-99 percent effective; this is due to variation in each individual animal.
Dogs with heartworm disease, for example, require exercise restriction before and heartworm treatment, as well as for a short time after treatment. Physical activity increases the likelihood of adult worms causing a pulmonary thromboembolism, which may be fatal. Limiting a dog's physical activity decreases this risk.
From the first injection until six to eight weeks following the last injection, it will be absolutely essential to keep your dog quiet. That means strictly restricting all exercise and activity that would elevate your dog's heart rate or increase his blood pressure.