The Inside Scoop – Helping Heartworm Positive Dogs

By Jessica Henry-Johnson, Executive Director

Welcome to the first edition of The Inside Scoop our brand-new blog aimed at sharing with our supporters some behind-the-scenes action from our shelter and clinic. The marketing team has tasked me, the Executive Director, with creating a monthly entry for this blog, and I’m excited to share that other staff members will create regular content too. All of this is to share stories and insight you might not get otherwise. We’ll have some fun and learn some things along the way!

Sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks – as was the case with me just a few months back when I learned (on the fly) how to run heartworm tests. Now you might think that a shelter director would (or should) already know how to do that. But you’d be wrong. I’ve always left the veterinary medical stuff up to the experts.

Anyway, it was early January – the time when all of us are making our New Year’s wishes for a brighter and much calmer 2026 for ourselves and for animals. That’s when I saw the news that the Wabash County Animal Shelter had responded to a multi-dog hoarding case and would soon be caring for more than 29 dogs in their small shelter. I reached out right away to their Director, Jen, and offered to help in any way they needed. The following day, our Shelter Intake and Diversion Manager, Allison, delivered much-needed supplies, and we made quick plans to send a team of medical and intake personnel to help our colleagues medically and behaviorally assess all these new dogs. That’s where the heartworm tests come in.

I joined the team that day for a two-car caravan to Wabash. What we witnessed inside was truly inspirational. Not only was the shelter set up perfectly for this emergency response, but their team was so upbeat and so positive. You’d never have known this was their first hoarding case. They were working so hard to ensure they were “getting it right.” Frankly, it was nothing short of amazing. But there was a lot of work ahead for them, and our team got busy weighing every hound, assessing body condition, evaluating FAS (fearfulness, anxiety, stress) cleaning eyes and ears and testing for heartworm infection.

Now, I’ve already noted that I have no business emulating the mighty techs and assistants who do this work daily, but you know the saying, “desperate times call for desperate measures!” I underwent a 30 second training on SNAP tests that left me with a very false sense of self-confidence. My job was to drop some of the drawn blood into a vial with a blue solution measuring exactly four drops. Not three. Not five. Four. My aging eyes ain’t what they used to be, and I was so nervous that I’d mess something up that would result in a false result, that I found my hands rather shaky. Little vials, little syringes, and my hands felt the size of Mickey Mouse’s and behaved as though I’d just consumed an energy drink or ten. What followed was a lot of important steps that involved waiting until the exact moment before “snapping” the test, then waiting again for a tiny dot to appear. But just one dot. Not two. Because if there’s two dots, that’s a positive result. And on this went 29 times. There were times I forgot to do the “snap.”

There were times I forgot to write the dog’s name on the test, causing a mix-up. I felt like the infamous scene of Lucy and Ethel, only this was important work, and I didn’t get to shove chocolate in my face!

Suffice-it-to-say, that the shelter workers, vet assistants, and RVTs (registered veterinary technicians) who do this work daily are flat-out heroes! Shout out to Dr. Kim, Lorena, Allison and Madison for being an absolute dream team.

Sadly, nearly half of the hounds tested positive for heartworm infection that day, making an already-difficult situation even harder to comprehend. But nobody was surprised, because all those beautiful dogs – some young, some ancient – had been living outdoors with no access to any real shelter for who knows how long.

Here’s the thing. Heartworms are fatal if left untreated. And it’s not cheap to treat one dog, let alone 13 cases.

That’s where Humane Fort Wayne stepped up again. In the following weeks, we transferred several of those hounds, many of whom were HW+, to our shelter. Not only did that alleviate some of the pressure on Wabash County, but it also saved them a lot of money too. And since every shelter operates on a shoestring budget, we were happy to share the load.

Humane Fort Wayne thanks Aboite Animal Hospital on Illinois Road in Fort Wayne. That fabulous practice has treated nearly every one of our heartworm cases over the years. We are so grateful for their lifesaving partnership. The treatment itself is complex. Injections on either side of the dog’s spine must be placed precisely, and then the dog must remain calm for several weeks while the medicine kills the worms. That process, too, is dangerous.

Thanks to the addition of many new staff members (including our four veterinarians plus one training vet) Humane Fort Wayne recently conducted our very first in-house heartworm treatments. The dogs, Kramer and Jessica Joy (I may have helped with that name), were sent home with their prospective adopters while they awaited their treatments with us. Once treatment was complete, each dog was officially adopted. At the time of this writing, they are still on restrictions and recovering quietly at home. As our climate gets warmer, we’re bound to see more and more heartworm infection as mosquitoes (the culprits for the spread of heartworms) coming out earlier and sticking around longer. So do your pets a giant favor for keeping them on heartworm prevention all year long. Preventatives are a part of responsible pet ownership! Lucky for you (and your pets) we offer affordable heartworm testing and prevention at the Humane Fort Wayne walk-in wellness clinic at 1333 Maycrest Drive. Swing by sometime to learn more about how you can keep your pets healthy.

That small act will save your pet’s life and potentially spare me from having to run those SNAP tests again. Believe me, your dog will thank you, our team will thank you, and so will I.

Humane Fort Wayne offers low-cost heartworm tests and prevention at our Walk-In Wellness Clinic at 1333 Maycrest Drive. To see our Wellness Clinic hours and pricing, visit humanefw.org/wellness-services