I have a 5 year old black retriever. About two years ago we found out he had heartworms. We did the extensive treatment and got rid of them. Since then he has been on heartworm preventative. Recently he started coughing like he did when he had heartworms. I am taking him to the vet this Saturday, to get him checked. My question is, can dogs have the treatment twice? I have heard that they can only do it once because their hearts can't handle the treatment more then that. If anyone knows, please help!

The recommended dosage is once monthly. Don't do anything else without approval from the vet.

I don't mean the preventative, like Heartgaurd. I mean the actual "big treatment" for a dog with heartworms. Where they have to stay at the vet for like 2 days to get all kinds of treatment and then they can't run for a month. Can they do that more then once in their life?

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Originally Posted by lulu2912

I don't mean the preventative, like Heartgaurd. I mean the actual "big treatment" for a dog with heartworms. Where they have to stay at the vet for like 2 days to get all kinds of treatment and then they can't run for a month. Can they do that more then once in their life?

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I'm sure that they can, but I'm not a vet so don't quote me on it.

Lulu, they can go through that more than once and it is very hard on the dog, but if you have had him on preventatives, I don't think this is something you should be worrying about. Has your dog been playing with other dogs during the past few weeks or walking in an area other dogs have access to? Depending on the area you live in, "kennel cough" or an Upper Respiratory Infection can be and has been a huge problem. It is extremely contagious. It is very much like us getting a cold or flu virus. I would suggest if your dog seems fine except for the cough, wait until Saturday until the vet has a chance to give him a thorough checking over and tells you what is going on. If you are very worried or if your dog's condition seems to worsen call your vet and see if you can get an appointment sooner.

Thank you for your advice. We do have another dog, but they are both inside/outside dogs. They stay outside in our fenced yard during the day and come in at night when we are home. Hopefully he is fine, but I will find out for sure on Saturday. Thanks again!

Hope all goes well lulu... we have a lot of dogs at our clinic that are treated for heartworms and sometimes they do need to be put on furosemide or lasix to aid with fluid buildup.Since the treatment is rough on the heart if its not working like it should they can retain fluid and it can cause them to cough.My little dog is on lasix because her heart valves aren't working so good due to old age... let us know what the vet says...

The coughing can also be secondary to the heartworms she had before. Heartworms cause damage and scarring that will always be there even though she doesn't have them anymore. Hope this helps. :)