# Feeding Raw to a Heartworm Positive Dog...



## Britt & Bello (Apr 14, 2011)

Hi, I'm new here and freaking out just a tad bit because there is an Akita at the Memphis animal shelter with heartworms... And my mom (I'm 17) doesn't want to let me foster her. Which was fine and dandy (as long as I had time to keep arguing my case) until I saw that she seems to be getting put down on Saturday. Which is not fine and dandy. 

I have two dogs. Brittany and Bello, who are raw fed. And since I don't think my vet is holistic (food has never come up), would feeding a dog who is undergoing treatment to get rid of heartworms be okay? Has anyone done this? I love feeding raw. Dogs love being fed raw. And it's ALOT cheaper. I really would hate to foster her and have her put on kibble because I would want to feed her Orijen, and more then likely not afford it. 


-and now I'll actually go to my profile and try to make it look like I'm an actual member (because I do plan on becoming active I've been needing a new dog forum) and I need something to do so I don't throw up with stress-


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## Fuzzy Pants (Jul 31, 2010)

I don't see how it would matter what you feed but then I'm not a vet so I would just ask a vet. There are also other high quality kibbles besides Orijen that are much cheaper like Blue, Taste of the Wild, etc.


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## DJsMom (Jun 6, 2008)

I wouldn't feed a dog with any health issues a raw diet as their immune system is probably compromised & wouldn't be able to handle bacteria that may be present in raw food the way a healthy dog would.


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## Wimble Woof (Jan 16, 2007)

I would feed a dog with most health problems a raw diet. Again it all depends on the dog



DJsMom said:


> immune system is probably compromised & wouldn't be able to handle bacteria that may be present in raw food


Such as what?


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

There shouldn't be bacteria in raw meat, then it wouldn't be safe to feed.


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

I don't see why it would be an issue...heartworm is all in the heart/veins/blood...not in the digestive tract. What you need to be careful about with HW+ dogs is keeping them calm and restricting their exercise so their blood pressure doesn't go up. If the blood pressure goes up, it could cause the worm to break free...which means it can travel to the brain via the blood and go from bad to to extremely bad really fast. A good, well balanced raw diet is going to do nothing but help keep the dog healthy in other aspects of her life. I just fostered a HW+ dog, and though I didn't feed her raw, I did give her a multivitamin every day, just to make sure that she was getting everything she needed to keep her body as healthy as possible.


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