Will a history of heartworms affect the lifespan of my dog?

Question

My dog was a stray. Right after she arrived at my house, she gave birth to 3 stillborn puppies. After that, I brought her to the vet to have her checked out. I was already attached and had decided to keep her. He said that she was positive for heartworms so I decided to have her treated. That was 3 years ago and since then she's been on a heartworm preventive and I've had her spayed. Will her having a history of heartworms shorten her lifespan?

Answer 1

Can depend on how much damage was done to the heart. IF she was heavily infested and her heart had to work extra hard while infested then it can shave a few years off the lifespan. Generally once the heartworms are gone, then she should not have a re-infestation if on preventative. Sounds like you give her optimum care and love, so she will have several wonderful years with you. She will probably be ok especially if she wasnt hospitalized for the treatment duration, her chances are great that she will lead a normal doggie life for many many years. Working at a shelter and being in a state with lots of Mosquitos, we have a high number of heartworm strays. We had to always unfortunantly make the call on surviablity depending on the age of the dog, temperment, the health and vitality, the amount of infestation, and the damage thats already done to the heart. Sadly most heartworm positive dogs that came to us were too far gone, or had too many other factors added in to save them. We also lost quite a few during treatments. Though there were many sucessful cases and most went on to living well into there teens. My favorite case was a huge, goofy, Black Labrador male that came as a stray, he was already a old man at around 6 to 8 years, he had heartworm but he was such a lover and a fighter we couldnt see him go... we put him through treatment, named him Fonzie cause he was sooooo coool. He made it!! got adopted by the local sporting store owner, was the mascot, and lived for another 6 years.

Answer 2

Heartworm Life Span

Answer 3

Without heartworm treatment, a dog will eventually die. Precisely how long the dog can live with heartworms is unknown. From the moment of initial infection, it takes seven months to a year for signs of heartworms to appear. As the worms multiply, the dog becomes lethargic, may have a cough, and various symptoms. Dogs can live for several years and accumulate hundreds of worms before succumbing to heart and lung failure. You know, if it were my dog, I would babysit, walk dogs, get a part time job, sell my computer. I would do whatever it takes to get my dog the medicine that he needs. If I couldn't get the money, I would put my dog to sleep before it started to become painful or too uncomfortable for him. I certainly would not let my dog suffer to the end with this because it's a painful and horrible way to die.

Answer 4

She should have a normal life span as long as the worms did not do to much damage to the heart muscle.
Just be sure your vet listens for heart murmurs and stuff like that when she has a check up.
Our rescue has treated lots of dog for heartworm and they have had normal lifespans.

Answer 5

Heart worms can do serious damage to a dog's heart which would obviously have some effects on lifespan, and the treatment itself is pretty hard on a dog too. But, if she was treated before a lot of damage occured, she should live a normal healthy life.

I hope you enjoy your dog for many years to come.

Answer 6

According to Dr. Mike, DVM> http://www.vetinfo.com/dhwtreat.html
""Heartworm treatment is scary, because it does hasten the death of some patients. The trade-off is
that it gives the rest of the patients a normal quality of life and normal longevity. The trade-off seems
clearly worth it, to me.""
Dr. Mike (treatment and prognosis of heartworm)

Answer 7

Sounds like you've taken extra good care of her, so don't worry.

Answer 8

No. Only if you had let it go untreated.