I'm so upset! I just had to vent.....

[amylynn]

We recently were blessed with a 2 year old Saint Bernard, named Isis. We have had her since November 3rd and absolutely love her to pieces. She has been the sweetest dog we could ever ask for. We got her from a family that was moving out of the country. I shared the long story on here quite awhile ago.

Anyway, I have been trying to contact the previous owners to see if they can give me her vet records, or even just the name of their vet so that we can get her vaccines and also have her records. They won't reply to my messages.   When they do reply, they won't give us the vet info we keep asking for. It has been so frustrating! We were told that she needs vaccines this month. I got tired of waiting for them to give me the info, so I just started calling vets in the area where they lived and asking if they had a Saint Bernard, named Isis in their computer. The first Vet I called was the right one. They confirmed that it was truly our Isis that was their patient. They were wonderful in working with me and said they would fax her records to our Vet, without consent from the previous owners, due to the situation of them moving out of the country. The lady from their office told me that she had to mention to me that she saw in her files that Isis had tested heartworm positive!   They never told us that!!! We were told that she was healthy and just needed vaccines in Jan.   She also told us that they were given the advanced medication and were told to return a month later and never came back in for the follow up! So...We have no idea if Isis is fully cured from heartworm, or not. This happened a year ago and I guess you are supposed to have a follow up blood test a year after treatment, so they should have told us so that she would be sure to have her follow up.  

I am so worried about our girl. SHe is so sweet and our entire family adores her. I immediately called our vet and they can't get her in until Saturday morning at 8:30am. The results won't be in until Monday.   We also have another dog and the lady at the Vet told us to try to keep him isolated from her. We have already had her since Nov 3rd. I am thinking that it may be too late to keep them seperated. I am wondering if anyone knows the incubation period for heartworm symptoms? Our other dog isn't showing any symptoms. Isis does occasionally have a weird cough, but our Vet checked her out for that and wasn't concerned about it.  

I'm sorry for the LONG post. I just had to tell someone who would understand. She is our baby and we are so upset about this. We're just hoping they treated her and just maybe didn't get a chance to bring her back in.  

THanks for listening.
Blessings!
Amy Lynn

[VdogLover]

I can see why your upset, I would be also.
Have faith she will be just fine.

Do you know why is the vet saying to keep her isolated? Heartworm is not passed dog to dog.

[Butts Mom]

I'm sorry you are going thru this.I don't have any answers for you,but you have our prayers that everything is going to be okay.

[kathryn]

I'm so sorry that you are going through this.  The only reason I can think for the vet to say to keep your other dog isolated is to keep Isis calm until you can have your vet clear her of the heartworms.  The problem is that the dog that has been treated can still have some dead heartworms in their system and the running and playing will allow the worms to break free and can cause basically a blood clot.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you get good news.

[Nicole]

Hey, its already been said, but I wanted to echo the statement so you feel extra sure. Heartworm isn't passed from dog to dog, so DO NOT worry about your other dog. Like Kathryn said, the reason was almost certainly so that they don't play and get Isis all worked up, because the dead heartworm segments can cause a blood clot.

As far as the weird cough goes. I have some experience with this. When we first adopted Cabeza, he had heartworm and we had to undergo 2 rounds of treatment. Although he was clear (its been 8 years now!!!!) he still had the weird cough periodically for about a year. I think it just took his body time to recover. Don't worry about it. Its normal!!!!

Those people are serious JERKS. I'd be so mad, too. But, good thing she found you guys, right?!

[amylynn]

Thank you all so much for "listening." Also thank you for the info on why they wanted us to keep Isis and Cooper isolated. I can understand that now. I'm glad that Cooper isn't in any danger from getting it. I didn't think it was passed from dog to dog, but after she said that, it made me wonder. I am just so concerned about Isis. We will find out the results from the blood test on Monday. We are taking her in on Saturday. That was the soonest they could get her in.

I did e-mail the previous owners and told them what we found out and asked them to please let us know more information on this. Of course, we haven't heard back.   I have a feeling we won't.

(((Thank you all again)))
Blessings!
Amy Lynn