Why the 30-day wait for melarsomine after my dog's heartworm meds?

A "low positive" may mean a low adult heartworm burden. The preventive is to kill any immature heartworm (microfilariae). The doxycyline is to kill the wolbachia bacteria. This is an organism that lives within the heartworm parasite as a symbiont. This portion of the treatment lasts 30 days after which medication is given via injection to kill adult heartworm. Treatment is outlined at the link below. https://d3ft8sckhnqim2.cloudfront.net/images/pdf/HeartwormTreatmentGuide_PetOwnerColor.pdf?1561720859

I would recommend putting dozer on a 30 day course of antibiotics before the 2nd and 3rd injection. I would recommend consulting your vet for the medication and the proper dose. The antibiotic will kill the bacteria that live in the mircofilaria and are though to cause more inflammation.

You will need to make sure that you schedule the 2nd and 3rd injections so that they can be given within 24 hours of each other. So you will need to schedule it for a Thursday and Friday that week to ensure both injections are done back to back as per the American Heartworm Society guidelines. I would also contact your veterinarian and make sure that this is ok to schedule as well. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Melarsomine is the only medication that can kill adult heartworms, and there unfortunately is not a less expensive option. Sometimes veterinarians will discuss what is commonly known as a 'slow kill' method, but in reality this means starting an antibiotic to weaken the heartworms and then giving a monthly preventative and waiting for the heartworms to die on their own. Some veterinarians do not recommend this due to the potential to develop resistant heartworm infections. If Waylon is not symptomatic this might be an option. He would be at risk for developing side effects from the dying heartworms for 1-2 years and exercise restriction is recommended during that time. You should talk to your veterinarian and ask about all of your different options, and you could also try contacting rescue groups in your area to see if there are any that could help with heartworm treatment. You also may want to look into Care Credit (www.carecredit.com).

I'm sorry Milo has heartworms! There's only one drug that is approved by the FDA to treat and kill heartworms, and that is melarsomine. This drug is given by injection, and can only be given in a vet hospital by the vet. Speak to your vet about treating him for heartworm, and check out this website which has more information on the disease. I hope this helps! https://www.heartwormsociety.org/heartworm-positive-dogs

Some veterinarians treat heart worms with a slow kill method by giving heartworm prevention monthly which will kill the adult worms over time and prevent new ones. The more common treatment is with injections to kill the worms quickly. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Doing it with a slow kill method is much less expensive. The shots are expensive, can be painful and you would need to keep your dog very quiet for six weeks. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Duke.

It sounds like you have gone through the appropriate steps and I suspect the parasites are now cleared. Of course you still need to go through the testing to be sure but this protocol generally works very effectively. Congrats! The hardest part is over! Remember though to continue her on strict rest until your veterinarian clears her for normal activity again. I hope this helps.