Heartworm Update

I was on the verge of putting my dog Tony on some kind of tranquilizer, but he seems to have calmed down. The past few days he was barking and whining non-stop. In case you haven't read about it, a dog on heartworm treatment has to be kept confined for six weeks. Today is the start of week three, and this is the most critical week according to my vet. I guess the heartworms break up into little pieces as they die. The goal is to keep the dog calm so that the dog's immune system breaks them down without them traveling too far. But if the dog gets overly excited a piece of worm could become lodged in a blood vessel causing an embolism, which is an emergency or even fatal condition for the dog. This can happen any time during treatment but the third week carries the greatest risk. He is due for his second heartworm treatment next week.