I would do the heartworm treatment, I just spoke to an acquaintance a few days ago who is going through this with his 2 year old lab mix he adopted from a shelter down south.
It didn’t show up till he had the dog for several months. Things are going well, he says the dog seems tired and is drinking a lot of water but okay otherwise. The dog is about half way through treatment. The vet feels he is out of the woods at this point. I know he had to stay overnight at the animal hospital for a few nights to be monitored.
If it was my dog I would be afraid not to do it, you are lucky the shelter will pay for it.
I would get it done as soon as possible. Sure there are risks, but if you don’t do it she could suffer….
I would be very leery of any slow or so called natural cures.
Some information here: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/?s=heartworm
PS: Unless things have changed, it’s a standard protocol (as you described)
I hope things go smoothly for her. It’s very kind of you to give her a home.
