[Jeaxatoem]

One of my neighbors has 2 outside dogs, Huskies, and 2 inside dogs that are APBT and a lil mix rat sized dog. One of her Huskies was a female named Sapphire. She was very sweet and loved when the neighbor kids came over to play in the yard and give her attention. She even escaped once and spent a few hours hanging with me until her owner came home. I was nervous at first because I didn't know her very well and am not very familiar with her breed, but she was so gentle and happy about everything that she won me over. A beautiful and gentle soul.

Unfortunately, she had a seizure and was taken to the vet. I was told when they came home that she was euthanized today. Apparently, she had Hookworms and they penetrated her brain. I have never heard of such a thing. Anyone else know of this happening?

I'm very sad for her people and for her. She was an awesome watch dog. Only barking when there was something shady, not just at regular activity. She was a good dog and I will miss greeting her when I walk over and seeing her at her post by the gate when I go by in the car.

[voksveta]

I'm so sorry. She sounded like a wonderful girl. My thoughts are with you and Sapphire's family.

[herawaq]

Run free sweet Sapphire

[YpbWF5Yo]

RIP Sapphire.Run free........

Yes MJ, sadly I have heard of it happening. Certain parasitic worms can ''migrate''. Hookworms and roundworm(the larvae) can enter the bloodstream and lodge other places in the body.(eye,brain,heart,lungs,etc) heartworms have been known to kill with a ''worm embolism''(basicly a clot of worms that lodges in the pumonary artery/lungs or brain) So it's not 'unheard of' by any means.Sorry the sweet husky passed from that.....that's a shame.

[Jeaxatoem]

I went over and talked to her owners. They have been in and out all day so I was getting all my info from my kids who play with their kids. They are a great family with 6 kids under 12 and 4 dogs. I like them a lot and am so sorry for their loss.

The owners said Sapphire was found last night in the corner of the yard, howling and crying and unable to see and walk properly. They tried to take her in the house but she didn't want to stay in. They stayed outside with her until morning when they went to the vet and thats when they found out that she was completely blind and had some other brain damage causing her to list to the side and be unable to stay upright too long. The vet said it was the worms and that there wasn't anything they could do. They decided to do the humane thing and she passed in her daddy's arms. They're understandably bummed and I felt bad for intruding, but I wanted to see if what killed her was contagious.

Anyways, my dogs are UTD on vaccines and I worm them regularly so I am not too concerned, but I still kinda worry. I'd really hate to be in their position. Especially after the scare we have had with Owen. Lifes too short and dogs lives are shorter still.

---------- Post added at 09:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 PM ----------

And thank you for the condolences. I will pass them on. The kids, all of them on the whole street, are sad because they spent a lot of time playing and swimming in the yard with the dogs. I'm sure it is some comfort that people care and that no one thinks Sapphire "was just a dog".

[YpbWF5Yo]

I went over and talked to her owners. They have been in and out all day so I was getting all my info from my kids who play with their kids. They are a great family with 6 kids under 12 and 4 dogs. I like them a lot and am so sorry for their loss.

The owners said Sapphire was found last night in the corner of the yard, howling and crying and unable to see and walk properly. They tried to take her in the house but she didn't want to stay in. They stayed outside with her until morning when they went to the vet and thats when they found out that she was completely blind and had some other brain damage causing her to list to the side and be unable to stay upright too long. The vet said it was the worms and that there wasn't anything they could do. They decided to do the humane thing and she passed in her daddy's arms. They're understandably bummed and I felt bad for intruding, but I wanted to see if what killed her was contagious.

Anyways, my dogs are UTD on vaccines and I worm them regularly so I am not too concerned, but I still kinda worry. I'd really hate to be in their position. Especially after the scare we have had with Owen. Lifes too short and dogs lives are shorter still.

The answer is 'yes' and 'no'. Worms themselves are contagious BUT this syndrome is not.Worms can be remedied by worming medication.So it's not a HUGE concern for your dogs,because you worm regularly.It's a good reason to use a monthly heartworm preventative that also kills round/hook/and tapes. It's good to prevent such things.

[Jeaxatoem]

When I was over I asked if the worm and use heartworm preventative because I was worried about the other 3 dogs and I have a stockpile so I was going to give them some if they didn't have any. Also offered my brother some because he made friends with them when he was living here and has taken his dogs over to visit semi-recently. They said they order Heartguard Plus online and give it to their dogs, but I am not sure if Sapphire maybe spit it out and no on saw or if they are dosing correctly.

I thought about a bit of a lecture because I know her death was preventable, but they are grieving and its not the time for lectures plus I am pretty sure they are smart enough to have learned from this. Once in a while even I have some tact and know when to stfu.

[LongaDonga]

RIP Sapphire.

[YpbWF5Yo]

When I was over I asked if the worm and use heartworm preventative because I was worried about the other 3 dogs and I have a stockpile so I was going to give them some if they didn't have any. Also offered my brother some because he made friends with them when he was living here and has taken his dogs over to visit semi-recently. They said they order Heartguard Plus online and give it to their dogs, but I am not sure if Sapphire maybe spit it out and no on saw or if they are dosing correctly.

I thought about a bit of a lecture because I know her death was preventable, but they are grieving and its not the time for lectures plus I am pretty sure they are smart enough to have learned from this. Once in a while even I have some tact and know when to stfu.

Did they test her first before giving the heartgaurd? If not,or she was positive,that could have been why it happened.dead worm in the bloodstream lodged like a clot.

[yPuqQ248]

RIP dear Sapphire, my condolences and prayers go out to you and everyone else mourning her loss.

[DoctorIrokezov]

It depends where online they got the heartguard, too. If it wasn't by Rx, it may have been out of date, or just lacking the active ingredient..

RIP Sapphire.

[career-builder]

You can still give Heartgard to a heartworm positive dog. In fact many clinics use it in their heartworm treatment (along with the immiticide injections). It is a slow kill method (as opposed to milbemycin oxime which is in Interceptor and Trifexis). The protocol at our clinic for HW treatment is to start on 30 days of doxycycline and monthly Tri-heart (same as Heartgard but cheaper) then on the 60th day we start with one immiticide injection and send home with prednisone, then on day 90 we do 2 immiticide injections 24 hours apart and send home with prednisone again. We then retest when the 6 month supply of Tri-heart runs out. We diagnose about 6 dogs a week and we still have yet to see a positive test after our treatment process.

HW embolism is still a risk, but more so after the immiticide injections, which is the time we have them confine the dog to leash walks only and no playing, running up stairs, etc. for 2 months to help prevent that from happening.

[Jeaxatoem]

I didn't get into the details. I just asked if they had dewormer and wanted to make sure they were going to treat the other 3 dogs. As I said, they have 6 kids (2 hers, 2 his, 1 together and 1 thats half sibling to his that they took in when the mother lost custody and no one else wanted him) so I know money is a bit tight. I figured with the expense of the vet and all I could offer my dewormer if they needed it. From what I gather they may not have wormed them over the winter and just treat in the spring and again in fall.

My vet called to day to ask if Owen was doing ok and while I had them on the phone I checked to make sure he could be wormed while on his meds. Luckily, they said yes. I explained the situation and they advised worming today, wait 10 days and bring in fecal sample for testing. The vet also made sure to mention that hookworms are very difficult to get out of the environment and that I should worm about once every 3-6 months.

[raspirator]

RIP, Sapphire.