We took two very special dogs into our care, both of which are heartworm positive and require treatment before they can be adopted. Cole and Deuce are both incredible dogs that need a little bit of help so they can lead long, healthy lives. Their previous "owners" didn't keep them on regular heartworm prevention and now due to no fault of their own, these two young dogs have a life threating condition. If left untreated, the heartworms will continue to reproduce and spread through their heart, eventually reaching their lungs.
We will not allow that to happen and will ensure these dogs are heartworm free when they go to their new homes. The cost of treatment though is high (around $500 per dog) because the treatment drug is priced by weight. Deuce is 70 lbs and Cole is just over 50 lbs. It's much more expensive to treat large dogs unfortunately :(
Before treatment can be administered, both dogs have to take antibiotics for 30 days to prepare their bodies for treatment. This helps kill a symboitic organism harbored by adult heartworms called Wolbachia, which greatly reduces the chance of an adverse reaction to the treatment. Because we take this extra step, it is more costly, but we have never had a dog suffer a fatal reaction from the treatment. We simply will not risk their lives in order to save money.
When we take a dogs into our care, we often do not know that they are heartworm positive :( Even if we do know, we do not feel that having heartworms makes them less deserving of a second chance at life. They need help too and now we're asking for a little help of our own to provide them with the treatment they need. Deuce has very recently undergone treatment and Cole is currently in the 30 day stage of antibiotics prior to treatment. If we can raise the funds needed to cover both treatments, it would mean a great deal to us and allow us to continue rescuing uninterrupted. We run on a tight budget like most rescues and these treatments do set us back if we don't raise the funds to cover them.
Please help us if you can. There are two very special dogs that will be forever grateful! As a 501(c)3, all gifts to our rescue are tax-deductible and literally save lives!
