Should I take a chance?

[ann404]

This girl is at our local shelter, she is about 2 and has heartworms. I don't know how bad, they couldn't tell us that. But we would have to pay about half of her treatment cost, more if she has problems. Hubby and I are super concerned that our daughter 4 will have a hard time if anything goes wrong. We lost our chow mix in April. So that is like our biggest worry, that we'll be putting her thru too much again so soon. So what do you think, should we try and adopt this one? She is very sweet, or do you think there's a good chance she'll end up getting sick or worst from the shelter done treatment? Do you think she would have heart problems for life? I know big questions, I did ask my vet but he said he would need an x-ray to say either way.

[CoraP.]

Well, I guess I would be more likely to take a chance on this girl. She is young, which is in her favor for being able to recover from the heartworm, plus she probably hasn't had it terribly long, like an older dog might have, so I would be hoping there isn't as much damage. You are the ones, though who will have to make the final decision. Good luck!

[fillyok]

Two of mine (Bear and Samantha) were heartworm positive after Katrina. They came through the treatment just fine. I didn't pay for any of it since it was taken care of before I adopted them. Samantha probably does have some residual effects from the HW since she has a murmur. She had an ultrasound earlier this year and the doc said the right side of her heart was slightly enlarged probably due to the HWs. Fortunately, she doesn't need any medication because she doesn't have heart disease...yet. She'll be getting x-rays every six months so we can keep an eye on things. For being about 10 years old, Samantha gets along like a young puppy most of the time. She's Ping and Tod's favorite chew toy.

I don't think you have anything to worry about with that sweet, little girl. As long as the HWs are taken care of, she'll probably live to see your little girl get into highschool.

[vicster605]

Awwww she looks soooo sweet and reminds me of Nita's Mimi. Whats life without taking chances??? I agree shes young and could make a full recovery from the heartworms and would love your family so much...... I believe they know and give back 10 fold for the life you give them
Such a sweet face.....but yes, it has to be your decision. Good Luck, keep us posted

[fergie]

I would, but that is me, I have three children. My oldest is the only one that has experinced losing a family pet. It was his grandma's chow Bear, they were best freinds. But like fillyok said she is young that is an advantage!! Have you talked to your daughter about her? She is a very beautiful girl!!

[ann404]

Yeah, we are really thinking of getting her. I know she is mixed, but I'm not sure what, her tongue is solid purple thought. Oh and they had to shave her because of the mats (she is a stray). She just seems so sweet, and those eyes just say it'll work out, but there's that fear that it won't work out. Our daughter would be so upset, she still draws pictures of our chow that passed. It crushes me every time, because she'll put red lines in the picture, and say that's the 'bleed' (she had a nasty form of cancer). I never realized that she was taking in so much from the months we were trying to save our pet. So it's like I'm sitting her up for maybe more heartbreak, but at the same time, I'd like her to feel the joy from helping too. Thanks for the support

[ann404]

I would, but that is me, I have three children. My oldest is the only one that has experinced losing a family pet. It was his grandma's chow Bear, they were best freinds. But like fillyok said she is young that is an advantage!! Have you talked to your daughter about her? She is a very beautiful girl!!

No, I'm afraid to, as I know she'll start to cry that she wants the dog. She has said over and over that she wants another dog. She really was super attached to our first. We all were. It also may just upset her a little that this one looks (color wise) the same as ours. She has always been a very sensitive child and caring too. Of course if we decided to get her, I'll be honest about the dogs condition with my daughter.

[Dogdad]

I would get her also, Tell your daughter what she has and the possibility of her not pulling through. I am sure your daughter would be willing to risk it and do her part in the chows recovery.

[fillyok]

One thing to remember...she won't be able to have a lot of exercise or excitement during the treatment due to the strain on her heart. Your little girl will have to understand that the new puppy won't be able to run and play until she gets better. But that down time will allow for some good grooming and bonding time.

[ann404]

One thing to remember...she won't be able to have a lot of exercise or excitement during the treatment due to the strain on her heart. Your little girl will have to understand that the new puppy won't be able to run and play until she gets better. But that down time will allow for some good grooming and bonding time.

Yeah that will be hard too, here a new puppy but you can't play with her for about 8 weeks. Also they told us last night that their shelters vet now says she is 3+ years old and has a strong case of heartworms I just don't know what to do, we really like her, but it's a lot to deal with for all of us. Me by myself would grab her up and hope for the best, but the whole family would need to understand and want to try.

Being 3 and not 2 isn't the problem, it's watching her go thru that treatment and not knowing the outcome. Oh and the clinic is pretty far from us, so if she had problems, it's not like our vet, it's about an hour from us.

[fillyok]

Is the shelter going to treat her even if you're not going to adopt her? I'd hate to think they're waiting for someone to adopt her before they treat her. Three years old is still very young and she should be fine. If the HWs are too bad, I don't think they'd even consider treatment. I only think this because I saw it on Animal Planet.
I know you must be torn about this, but only you can make the decision if you want to adopt her or not.

[ann404]

Is the shelter going to treat her even if you're not going to adopt her? I'd hate to think they're waiting for someone to adopt her before they treat her. Three years old is still very young and she should be fine. If the HWs are too bad, I don't think they'd even consider treatment. I only think this because I saw it on Animal Planet.
I know you must be torn about this, but only you can make the decision if you want to adopt her or not.

See that's what upsets me, they do seem to be waiting until they see if she gets adopted as they only pay half. It's the volunteers that are pushing for her to be adopted. I was told she has been to a few off-site adoption events, but her heartworm condition has stop people from taking her. They won't do an x-ray either until you adopt, so there is no way to know what we are really getting into until after the fact. Again that would be ok for us adults, but hard on small kids. Like what if we are told a week later that she can't have the treatment, or that there will be extra cost involved. I just wish they would have started her treatment, as then we would have the big picture of what the future may hold for this sweet girl. This is a kill shelter, but I think that the volunteers are very attached and are extending her time.

We just lost one, we so want to help this one, but hubby is very worried about how it may turn out. So am I, I just hate to throw in the towel when there is still a good chance.

[fillyok]

Can you find out the treatment costs? Then maybe we can work something out. I think someone in Florida was going through something like this and someone on the board helped with treatment costs.
If it's a kill shelter, her days are numbered heartworms or not. She must be special if those volunteers are keeping her alive.

[ann404]

Can you find out the treatment costs? Then maybe we can work something out. I think someone in Florida was going through something like this and someone on the board helped with treatment costs.
If it's a kill shelter, her days are numbered heartworms or not. She must be special if those volunteers are keeping her alive.

Well when it comes to the treatment cost the volunteers have said that they would try to help, but no promise there. If nothing goes wrong it's not too bad, about $200 + the adoption fees of $75. What is bad is that they want to do this at the clinic the shelters uses, and it sounds like they use the older methods as treatment. My vet told me that his treatment is a little different; his trys not to overload her body all at once by extending the treatment time. I understand that the danger comes from the heartworms dying all at once and being released into the body too quickly. I can't remember the name but it wasn't arsinic. But if I let my vet treat, it would be way too much at $500 or more depending on her weight. Oh and the shelter won't cover anything then either.

[sdasilva27]

When I adopted McKenzie, they told me just before signing that she had heartworms. We had already fallen in love with her and decided that she needed a loving home no matter what. The poor girl had never even been in a house before (well so we think), nevermind proper love and care. We also don't have a child to consider though, Kenzie is our baby. So they retested her at the shelter right before we left with her and she was a very light positive. I took her to one vet that immediately jumped to the $1500 or so injection treatment. I asked people in the area for referrals and was referred to our current vet. He redid the test just to make sure and it was again, a very light positive. His recommendation (which coincidentally matched the shelter's but I didn't tell him that) was to keep her on the preventative for 6 months. At that time, we'll retest her. He said she could come up even less positive or negative. He's thinking that she might have only had a few or even one worm before the shelter started her on preventative so he's thinking that the timing must have been just right. He also has her on the weight size up, when we first got her, she was a bit chubby at 50.3lbs but the tech rounded up to 51lbs. I think the medicine is for dogs 50+ so I asked the vet what would happen when she loses the 5 or so lbs and he said it should just help her treatment along. I have no idea if it will or if there is anything bad about giving her the next dose up, he didn't seem to think there would be a problem. So in March we'll find out what needs to happen.

My recommendation would be to ask if they can retest her and let you see just how positive she is. Maybe she can get away with the preventative as treatment.

McKenzie breathed really hard outside and her nose got drippy when we first got her which really scared me that her heart was already damaged but a course of antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection cleared most of it up. Then she went in for entropian surgery and I don't know if it was the incubation or all the extra fluids that she got that day but something did the last little trick (who knows maybe it was a coincidence and the time just lined up). Anyway, when we go for walks, we try to just break them up into shorter walks and we try to take her when it's cool out so the thick humid air doesn't make it harder for her. She seems to be doing really well though. I think if you explain to your daughter that the puppy is sick but you really want to help her and that it might not always be easy, she'll understand. If she's as caring as you say, I'm sure she'll do whatever the pup needs. You may have to remind her now and again that the puppy isn't allowed to play outside or something but I think that should be the worst of it. My vet told me that he's had dogs up to 8 years old recover completely from heartworms (no murmur, etc) and that my 2 yr old with them didn't scare him one bit. Even a murmur or something similar should be treatable, you might just have to teach your daughter that if the pup starts panting real hard, they need to take a little break or something. Kids can be amazingly understanding when it comes to a pet and who knows? Maybe a new pup will help her cope with losing the last one. (That always seemed to work for my sister and boyfriends, lol). I'm not saying she'll ever forget about the first (God knows I'll ever forget Baloo or Chowwy) but McKenzie has helped me cope with Baloo's death. It was 8 years ago and very sudden (I went to school one morning and when I came home, my parents were actually home, crying) and I swore I would never own another dog again because none would compare. Now I've come to terms with things and McKenzie has made me realize that Baloo would've wanted me to help her. He would've wanted her to know the kind of life that he had and while I couldn't ask for more (she is an amazing chow), she has made me appreciate Baloo even more. She's very comprable to him in many ways after only 8 weeks, we had Baloo for years and years so I think she'll give him a run for his money!

I can't tell you what to do, you'll know and do the right thing though. But if it were me, I would take the chance, even if I did have a 4 year old like you do. It might really help to shape her as a person if she learns how to love, care for, understand, and sometimes let go at an early age. Maybe you could figure out a way to talk to her about the pup by using a metaphor. That way she won't say just anything to get you to adopt another dog. Maybe if she doesn't know you're thinking about adopting one, she'll be more honest with you. How was she when the older dog was sick? Did she understand that sometimes she needed to leave the dog alone and that sometimes it couldn't play with her, etc? Did she seem to mind that by throwing a tantrum or anything like that? I say if she could handle the other one, maybe you could just explain to her that she'll have to be very patient in the beginning because things will be similar to when the other dog was sick. But that maybe if we give her lots of love and time, she'll be the bestest buddy she ever had, just let her know that it's not a guarantee. That even if she is a really good girl and does everything to help the new pup, that the new pup might still not make it through. I don't know, I don't have kids so I'm not sure how much of that might actually work, but it sounded good in theory....I know I was always much easier to deal with when my parents tried to reason with me or explain things to me like I was a big kid, instead of just "because I said so."

[sdasilva27]

Oh and if my vet were to have to do the treatment in 6 months, it would be one day there, 3 weeks resting, one day there for the second round, 6 weeks of rest and at about $500.

[ann404]

How was she when the older dog was sick? Did she understand that sometimes she needed to leave the dog alone and that sometimes it couldn't play with her, etc? Did she seem to mind that by throwing a tantrum or anything like that? I say if she could handle the other one, maybe you could just explain to her that she'll have to be very patient in the beginning because things will be similar to when the other dog was sick. But that maybe if we give her lots of love and time, she'll be the bestest buddy she ever had, just let her know that it's not a guarantee. That even if she is a really good girl and does everything to help the new pup, that the new pup might still not make it through. I don't know, I don't have kids so I'm not sure how much of that might actually work, but it sounded good in theory....I know I was always much easier to deal with when my parents tried to reason with me or explain things to me like I was a big kid, instead of just "because I said so."

Our daughter is very caring, BUT she is also 4, and is everything four too. I can't say she won't hit the dog one day, that's the joy of toddlers, they don't think about it, they just do. She is slowly getting out of that stage now. Still I can say she loved our dog. She tried to comfort our dog (maybe too much).

[ann404]

Oh and if my vet were to have to do the treatment in 6 months, it would be one day there, 3 weeks resting, one day there for the second round, 6 weeks of rest and at about $500.

Oh they are now saying she is heavy positive, so I don't know how that will effect her treatment outcome.

[sdasilva27]

I'm sorry, I wish I had more info to offer you. I've never had a dog with heartworm before because we had always gotten them as puppies and kept them on preventative. I was really worried about McKenzie for awhile but as I saw her breathing getting better and actually seeing the test come back barely positive made me feel much better.

Please let us know what you decide though!

[ann404]

I'm happy to say that this chow looks like she found a home after all. Not with us, but a home never the less. It's a huge weight lefted, as I really really like her. Had they not come back with that heavy positive HW test, we would have gotten her. Hubby was just too concern it may lead to more health problems or worst. I'm just so happy she found a home after all, it saves me fighting with hubby So I guess we will still be looking for our "best friend". Thanks for all the post