fever treatment

Question
We have a Blue Heeler/rat terrier/chihuahua mix, only 14#'s. Just this morning she is listless and has a fever; I don't know how high. To bring the fever down could I use baby aspirin and how much? She's being treated with Revolution for heartworms; on her third tube. Could the heartworms be the reason for the fever? I've had dogs most of my life and have treated them at home if fever is mild, but these dogs were much larger breeds.

Answer
I am concerned that you are giving revolution to a heartworm positive dog? Am I reading that correctly, she is indeed heartworm positive?

If your dog is in the very beginning stages of heartworm infection, then it is possible to use ivermectin based heartworm prevention to kill off the larvae at stages L3 and L4 (it will not kill adults but the general idea is that the adults will eventually die without being able to reproduce if there are not many of them) however revolution is not ivermection based, it is selamectin based. While selamection is a cousin to ivermection, it is not NEARLY as effective in the removal of microflaria and larvae as ivermectin, and is not recomended for use in the treatment of heartworms.

While Revolution is approved for heartworm positive dogs (meaning, it will not kill them if given), if she has an active infection (she tested positive for microflaria on the snap test) then she needs to be on something ivermectin based, because Revolution is not going to kill the larvae and will allow the infection to spread and get worse. She needs to be on heartguard, triheart, iverheart, etc. And of course, if she has too many adult heartworms or is in other ways unhealthy, she needs to just go ahead and do the full ivermectin treatment.

Yes, you can give baby asprin to help bring down her fever, 5mg per 10 LBS, be very careful because asprin can be toxic if overdosed. Keep a close eye on her, and get a thermometer so you can monitor the fever. With her condition, if it does not come down immediatly she needs to see a vet. Her heart is already overworking and with a fever it could easily fail. Pedialyte to help rehydrate her, and dark caro syrup on her gums to help push some sugar into her is also a good idea.

The heartworms COULD be a reaction to the heartworms, it could be a reaction to the selamectin, or it could be something completely unrelated. Just remember that she is MUCH more fragile with heartworms then a dog without, and if it continues she needs to see a vet ASAP.

Good luck with her! I hope she feels better! And remember- if possible switch her to an ivermectin based heartworm preventative as quickly as possible, and make sure she's not got too many adult heartworms, but mostly L3 L4 microflaria and larvae.