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So sad.
And so needless. One of my college friends announced over facebook that her dog was at the vet and slipping fast last night. This morning, she said he had passed. He was only 5 years old. My heart just broke, as I read through the posts of how he was irreplaceable and how much she would miss her baby, and then I read that he had died from 'heart warms'.
I just want to cry, because it can take two years for heartworms to kill a dog and there are so many symptoms you would have seen, that you would think anyone would take their dog to a vet sooner than that... At the very least they must have noticed the hacking cough, the weight loss, etc. At the very most, they should have at least been taking the dog to the vet once a year to get a hw test and buy preventatives...
She is by no means an unintelligent person. My only guess is proper responsible dog care beyond just the cosmetic is not something that is familiar to her... I know this is not the time to educate her, but I do plan to send her a few links at some point in the future, along with my condolences. Just another example of how uneducated even smart people can be about responsible pet ownership...
Re: So sad.
That is so sad! I'm sorry for your friend's loss, but I am glad you plan to educated her, should she get another dog.
We adopted a GSD, when I was child, who had heartworms. He was such a good dog. After some veterinary care to eliminate the heartworms, he lived to be around 9 and died of heart failure. It is so sad that dogs suffer from this disease as it is so preventable.
I agree. Our family dog passed 5 years ago (from a sudden onset of seizures). We still think today about how we could have prevented them and what we did wrong, even though it wasn't something we couldn't have prevented.
That being said, he vet very well might have said something to her. If she now knows of the care the dog could have gotten I bet she's feeling pretty guilty.
Please give our friend our condolences. Are you planning on doing anything for her to help her remember her dog?
How sad
I agree with this though. If she has another dog, you could say something along the lines of "I was researching this after X died and found this info you might be interested in for Other Dog. I'm so sorry you had to go through this, hopefully this can help."
She doesn't have another dog, and after this she may wait awhile to get another, but she has two young boys, and I'm thinking it will end up being something of a 'get another dog soon because the children are very sad' sort of thing. I figured I'd watch and see and if she does get another, send her my condolences and maybe some 'for your new dog' things (like flea/heartworm preventative samples with information packets, and maybe a nice smelling shampoo and cute toy) rather than sending her a glut of information.
I like this - a lot. Especially since you would send some other "new doggie" fun things with it.
Depending on where she lives and her vet, she could have possibly been told that the dog didn't need heartworm preventative. Some vets in desertous places (AZ, CA, etc.) may still be telling people heartworm isn't a problem there.
That was our experience in SoCal two years ago; the vet mentioned heartworm, but really down played it and the necessity of having her on preventative medicine. I had to specifically request a prescription for my dog and I only did so because of my personal experience with heartworms. If I had no idea what they were, I probably wouldn't have put my dog on the preventative.
Edit: I thought the OP said she *does* have another dog, not doesn't. I'm changing my opinion and agreeing with the idea of a cute care package if she gets a new dog!
That is so sad. My heart aches for that pup.
I love agoodse's suggestion. It is much more subtle but still informational.