False Positive heart worm test

Roberta

Roberta

Forums Regular
Hello,

I am new to the forum and am very happy to have found such a wonderful online Sheltie community!

I have 3 Shelties, all boys, Prince (blue merle) and Rex (sable) both 8, and Avery (blue merle) 5. This past weekend I took the boys to the vet for their annual spring "tune up" which included heartworm blood tests. The vet called me on Monday very upset to tell me that Rex's heartworm blood test had come back from the lab as positive.

I immediately took Rex back and she did another in-house heartworm blood test which came back negative. I also asked her to re-test the other 2 dogs and they all came back negative. Just to be sure, I'm going to have Rex re-tested one more time in a couple of weeks.

My dogs take Heartguard Plus (except for during January and February when there are no mosquitos). I guess from now on I will give it to them year round just to be safe.

I am wondering how common false heartworm test results are? I have had dogs for the last 20 - 25 years and this is the first time one of my dogs has tested positive. Have any of you had a similar experience. I'm still nervous about it.

Thanks! Roberta
 
follow up on earlier heartworm test post

I just wanted to post a follow up to my earlier post. Since the initial test that came back positive I have had 3 additional heartworm tests run on Rex (my sheltie who initially came up positive). All have come up negative. I even had my other 2 sheltie boys re-tested (just for my own peace of mind) - and all were negative.

I plan to take Rex back in a few months for another test, just to be sure. It was very scary - but I guess nothing is perfect and tests can be wrong. It pays to double (and triple) check.
 
I'm glad Rex came out OK! But after so many negative tests I think you would be wasting your money. A friend of mine went through the same thing with her pom and spent a LOT of cash on negative tests. But it's your choice. If your still that worried and the only thing to sooth you is more testing, then by all means, go ahead:wink2:!
 
I can certainly understand what a fright that was! I'm glad your boy is OK. I've never had faulty heartworm tests but have had lots of incorrect Lyme test results. I don't blame you for rechecking.

Welcome to the Forum!
 
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