Hi there,
I would like to help you and your dog with this question, but need a bit more information, please.
Where do you live (state/province and country)?
Do you give the heartworm medication year round or just in summer?
Do you know whether the test was done in the vet's hospital or sent out to a lab?
is your dog having any problems with coughing or difficulty breathing?
Fiona
Hi again,
If your girl were my patient, the first place I would start is to double check the results by running the test again. Next, I would check a blood sample under a microscope to see if the larval form of the worm were visible on a blood smear (microfilaria test). Finally, I would send a blood sample to the lab to have it checked using a different test method.
As with a pregnancy test, you cannot be a little bit positive. A positive test means your dog has heartworm.
Mississippi is certainly an area in which heartworm is prevalent! It is possible that your Golden might have missed a dose somehow (maybe she vomited after taking the pill, or had some diarrhea and it passed through without being absorbed?), and thus managed to contract heartworm despite being on a preventive.
Thus, it's certainly possible that the dog has a recently matured infection, in which case we would treat. The reason that it might be a faint positive could be that she has worms that are just maturing.
I would not wait this out - I would treat her! This preventive only kills immature heartworms, so it will prevent her from getting new ones, but if she has adult worms in her heart, while you are waiting things out, the dog is further developing lung pathology.
I'd get x-rays of her heart and lungs and schedule adultcide therapy as soon as possible. Too many bad things can happen with heartworm disease and right now you have a fairly healthy dog to treat!
If your vet was not going to suggest treating a dog that he found to be positive, then what is the point of doing the test?
This is just my opinion, of course, and perhaps your vet has a good reason for not suggesting treatment. Maybe your dog has some other health problem that would make it hard for her to undergo treatment?
Here is more about heartworm disease in dogs:
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/heartworm-disease-in-dogs/page1.aspx
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/heartworm-test-in-dogs/page1.aspx
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/heartworm-prevention-guidelines-for-dogs/page1.aspx
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Best wishes, Fiona
Dog Veterinarian
15 years experience as a companion animal veterinarian in British Columbia, California and Ontario