08/30/2026
✨Reba has found a foster! Now we need someone to step up for sweet Dooley! ✨
Reba and Dooley are in search of a foster home to receive heartworm treatment! But what does it mean to foster a heartworm positive dog?
Heartworm disease is incredibly easy to prevent, yet nearly 1 in 10 dogs in Mississippi have Heartworm Disease. This means that a significant number of dogs come into OCHS heartworm positive. Unfortunately, no disease is more often vilified or misunderstood by pet owners and the general public than heartworms. Though heartworms were previously an untreatable disease, this is no longer true!
Heartworm disease is now treatable and, once treated, a dog can go on to lead a perfectly healthy, happy, and long life. When you foster a heartworm positive dog, they will stay with you for the entirety of their treatment (2-3 months) and remain on restricted exercise, as physical exertion increases the rate at which the heartworms cause damage in the heart and lungs. Stress also causes this exertion—which is why Reba and Dooley cannot undergo heartworm treatment in the shelter, where a kennel environment makes it difficult to relax.
Please, consider fostering one of these happy young dogs to give them a new lease on life! Can’t foster? Share this post so a friend might see them!
Crates, food, and other necessary materials will be provided if you choose to foster!
