9yr English Female Cocker Spaniel - Sleeps Alot!!!

Hey everyone!

I adopted an english female cocker spaniel, from my local pet rescue. After adoption they spayed her and informed us that she has "strong heart worms" and we should have her treated for the worms... after looking at the medical history forms they gave us, it looks like they already gave her one shot of "Ivomec" is this enough to cure the strong heart worms? I have had her already for 8 full days.

She also has "cataracts" in both eyes and need surgery soon. She bumps into walls alot and gets lost while walking around in the house. There are times where her both eyes are fully white and there are times where she can see and they are fully black...

Can anyone explain why she would be sleeping so much? Could it be due to she is a rescue adopted dog and not used to our home and shy? or could it be the spayed surgery? or the heart worm shot?

I also notice she DOES NOT BARK as of yet, is this normal? How can I get her to bark?

To confirm the presence of heart worm they will have had to do a blood test - do you have those results or know when it was done? When was she last seen by a vet?
Heartworm is not like "normal" worms. It can be a life threatning disease. The tiredness could be seen as one of the symptoms.
Heartworm treatment is also not the same as treating normal worms. Did they not give you follow up instructions for further treatment or special care of her?!
Go to your own vet, with the medical records NOW. Seriously.
I really hope everything is ok.

edited to add - I don't know anything about Ivomac itself but the tiredness could also be a reaction to the shot/treatment. You need more guidelines either from the rescue or ideally from a vet as to how to look after her treatment.

Hey, I have only had her for 8 days. All they said they had was the vets visit when they spayed her and did the medical work-up to give her to us...

I find this very worrying. Ivomec (ivermectin) can be used to treat heartworm, but in order to work it means that she will need monthly injections at three times the preventative dose, and even then it takes 18 months to actually work!! It is NOT the most effective way to treat heartworm and, in my uneducated opinion, certainly not something that a vet should be putting a nine year old dog through. Ivermectin is essentially a poison, it is a common ingredient in ant killers, and an older dog isn't going to cope with that as well as a young one would. I believe that Immiticide is the drug of choice in the US right now, it is much safer and more effective than Ivomec and will work much faster. I would certainly recommend that you get a second opinion, heartworm is a VERY serious condition and can be very difficult to treat. Time really is of the essence.
It is fantastic that you have given her a second chance, but if she does have heartworm then she really, really needs to get to a good vet as soon as humanly possible. I can't stress that enough. Both lethargy and blindness are symptoms of heartworm. So is sudden death.

Is that her in your avatar? She does look quite elderly. Maybe a visit to the vet would be best - poor old dog. I`m surprised the Rescue let her go in that state TBH.

Hi Cayla you dog may not bark because everything is still new and she has yet to become confident and secure in her new home. She may bark once she has settled.

I guess if she has been recently spayed the vet will have checked her general health and her heart.

One reason she may be sleeping a lot is because the cataracts prevent her from getting as much mental stimulation as a sighted dog. Also you say she is bumping into things a lot. Again once she has got used to the layout of your house she won't bump into things and may be more confident in walking about and will sleep less. At 9 she isn't a young dog so may sleep quite a lot anyway.

If she doesn't have one already she may appreciate a kong or a puzzle ball which allows small treats to fall out, she can push these around following the scent and this will provide some mental stimulation for her.

Poor thing - and good on you for taking her on

I would say get her to your own vets ASAP so you can start getting her healthy

It can take a while for dogs to settle in enough to bark and being tired even might be because of all she has been tru - but your vet will put your mind at ease

YES, that's Cayla in the avatar

How can I get her to BARK??? I have tried everything LOL