My dog's weak-positive heartworm Snap test: Treatment or prevention?

Thats interesting. I have never seen that happen in a dog. However, I would suggest just having your pet Saint's test sent out from here on our so that you don't have to go through this initial scare, when things seem to be just fine. The snap test is just a screening test, which is usually pretty accurate, but there is still some small % of error there. But as long as the send out one comes back negative, we count on those results since they are a bit more reliable. Best wishes with your pet Saint moving forward! Take care. : )

A Light positive is still a positive. I would ask your vet to send out test to an outside Lab to confirm the results using a different type of test. You can also have an ultrasound done to see if your dog has any adult worms at this time. Your dog should currently be a heartworm preventative every month like Heartgard. Most heartworm tests are actually looking for antibodies in the bloodstream, so when they come up positive (even light positive, this means that your dog has antibodies or that your dog has been exposed. It may be that your dog doesn't have any adult worms of his/her own at this exact moment, but that he/she has baby heartworms floating around in the bloodstream because he/she is constantly being exposed to them (be it from another dog in the area who is infected and mosquitoes are passing it around or you live in a rural area where there are a lot of coyotes who are infected?? These are very far fetched reasons.. The most likely cause is that your dog is infected but has what we call a "low case load" and is producing a small amount of antibodies and therefore shows a light positive. Further testing will show you how advanced the disease is (like I said, ultrasound, xrays, etc) but regardless, you should treat your dog. One heartworm WILL eventually become two, three four etc. The longer the problem is left untreated, the worse it will become and the more damage they will will do to your dog's heart, lungs and overall health.

Yes, it would show up even if on prevention. The test is only checking for the presence of the adult heartworms in the heart. It takes approximately 6 months from the time the dog is bitten by a positive mosquito to the time they would show up positive on a test. I suggest you not wait and get a confirmatory test now. If Shiloh truly is heartworm positive you should have him treated. The prevention is only going to keep him from getting more worms. It does nothing for treatment. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Yes. Testing for heartworms is simple with a blood sample taken by your vet. We do a screening snap test that gives results in 8-10 mins. I hope this helps and thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Take care. : )

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

It is possible but very rare for the test to be wrong (false positive) - repeat testing in 2-3weeks would provide more information. The test looks for antibodies (made by the dogs immune system in response to infection), some dogs become what is termed 'sub-clinical' - infected but without any clinical signs or alterations in blood cells, a phase which can last months or years before signs of disease are detected; regular blood counts should be considered to monitor for changes in such cases

hello and thank you for your question. It is possible but very unlikly that the shelter test was a "false negative". Heartworms can take up to 6 months to mature. It is hte mature worms that breed, have babies, which spread to the bloodstream and cause an immune reponse. It is this immune response (antibodies in the bloodstream) that make a test show up positive. So your dog was already infected but not shoing a positive result yet. There was not really a mistake by the shelter, just timing. Definitely contact the shelter with the results and they may help with treatment costs. I hope your new pup feels better soon! If you have further questions please feel free to contact me for a one on one consultaion. My fees are reduced right now due to COVID-19 and I am happy to help with any concerns!