Sorry to hear that, man. Heartworms suck. D= They can be deadly, and I hear it often costs like $4k total to treat. x.x

My vet gave me an estimated bill of about $650 once it's all said and done. I did a bit of research and if it's just a few worms in an older dog that's not very active you can get away with simply preventing new worms from developing and the old ones will die off in a few years. But I'm expecting Sebastian to have a nice and healthy, long and active life. So we're gonna get rid of those nasty little parasites.

I bet the 4k bill is from when surgery was the only option. I remember going into a vet's office once as a kid and looking at a preserved heart in a jar, it was so infested the dog had died from them. The vet there told me what had happened and how it could have been prevented. It kinda freaked me out a little.

Ah. Yeah. We had one of those where I worked. It's kinda gross. But yes, that was an estimate in the case of surgery. Hope he does well and gets better soon. =3

Heart-worm can be treated with great results and the prognosis for a young and otherwise healthy dog is wonderful. Only melarsomine dihydrochloride (Immiticide®), which is given by intramuscular injection, is approved by the FDA for the treatment of heartworm infection in dogs. Although there are some risks associated with its use, most adult worms die quickly and may be eliminated within one to three months. Cage rest or at least limited exercise during this period helps control excessive injury to the heart and lungs and thus reduce this risk. Your vet will perform blood work to look at the dogs overall immune function and other things while he is being treated.

As you love your dogs both new and old, you are doing the right thing. Sebastian will be fully recovered and live a long and happy life with you both :3

That's about what my vet told me. Put a lot of emphasis on keeping him penned up. Said that he's done this treatment with others that felt bad for their dog and let them out early and they wind up back in his office on oxygen till they heal. So I think I'll be following his instructions to the letter.

Meep! Hope everything turns out okays.

He should be ok, my vet seemed pretty upbeat about it. Like it's not really a big deal so long as I do my part.

Will the other dog catch the worms?

They only transfer through mosquito bites and Kodi is protected. Now, any unprotected dogs in the area that are bitten by a mosquito that had bitten Sebastian before his heartworm medication takes hold may become infected unfortunately, not much can be done about that except what I already do.

Ugh I can't stand that he has to be cooped up for 2 months. It's heart breaking. I know its for the better in the long term but it still fucks with ya. I cant' even imagine how hes' gonna feel. Hes' gonna think we're punishing him or something.

It's either he stays in the cage or I won't start the treatment. Those worms are fuckin' his heart up the longer they stay in him though. I think that's why he does that weird little cough thing he does.