I am excited by all the very good things I am hearing about Bud, the dog I’ve adopted from Arkansas who is currently in a clinic being treated for heartworm, a runaway disease in the South that is now spreading rapidly across the entire country.

I  used to balk at heartworm tests and treatment, but I was  wrong and know better.

It is a lot cheaper and easier to prevent heartworm than to treat it. Heartworm was once confined almost entirely to the South and Southwest, but since rescue dogs have begun being adopted all over the country, often from Southern states, heartworm is now in all 50 states.

When I started my life with dogs in New York and New Jersey, heartworm was almost unheard of. Every vet everywhere knows about it now.

It is now illegal to transport a dog with heartworm, so Bud has to be treated in Arkadelphia, Arkansas by his vet, Dr. Jonathan Bradshaw (above.) This week he had his first treatment, he has been on a course of antibiotics, heartworm preventatives and steroids before beginning the actual worm treatment.

This is a complex, dangerous and months-long process, Bud will not be coming to us for about two months. Bud was on doxycycline, increasingly in use for dogs infected with heartworms, which is spread  easily and quickly by mosquitoes.

This week Bud began the treatment, a series of injections that kills the worms, and if not done carefully, can kill the dog as well. There is only one drug approved by the Food and Drug administration to kill adult heartworms in dogs, an organic arsenal compound that is injected into the dog’s lumbar, or back muscles.

On the days injections are given, and in Bud’s case for a couple of days later, the dog is required to stay in the hospital for observation to make sure  doesn’t have any serious reactions to the treatment. He may also be on steroids for a while.

Canine heartworm survivors are retested after treatment and six months later to ensure that all of the larvae, micrfiliariae and adult worms are dead.

At the end of August, But will get another injection and will rest and be monitored for another 60 days. If he is cleared by Dr. Bradshaw, he can come to live with us, the rescue group Friends Of Homeless Animals/RI will being him up to the Northeast where we can go pick him up.

A dog like Bud – abandoned in the Arkansas woods and initially terrified of men – would have been unlikely to be alive a dozen years ago, before the rise of the rescue movement.

Bud would probably have been put down right away. I sent another donation to FOHA/RI, they spent an enormous amount of time and money saving and treated homeless and heartworm-infected dogs.

I am impressed by them.

If you want or need more information on canine heartworm, I’d highly recommend the American Heartworm Society, they have all the information you might need.

You can check out their available dogs at FOHA/RI here, most, but not all of them, are small dogs. They are pretty appealing.

The group put me through a lot of hoops, but they are warm-hearted, available and empathetic, both to people and dogs. That is a bit unusual in my experience. They never made me feel uncomfortable or unworthy. Bu expect a good workout.

If you wish to help the treatment of abandoned and heartworm dogs, you can see the dogs and also donate here.

It is expensive to treat these dogs and transport them all over the country, I think this group might be a good match for the Army Of Good. I’m thinking of adopting this rescue group on my blog, they have opened my heart a bit, they have some intriguing dogs from all over the country.

I am hearing the nicest things about Bud, from the vet techs and Dr. Bradshaw and from Carole Johnson, the conscientious and big-hearted member of FOHA/RI who has been fostering Bud. “He is really a good one,” said Dr. Bradshaw, “a  sweetheart.” Carole Johnson, who has nursed Bud back from the edge, says the same thing.

At first, Bud was terrified of men, but Dr. Bradshaw says he has seen no signs of that.

A vet tech told me Bud was a sweetheart, “a really calm and sweet dog.” He sounds a bit more laid back than Gus was, but Fate will take care of that. Me too.

I am much looking forward to having him live here, we will take good care of him, Bedlam Farm seems to be a healing place all of itself. Feels like a good match.