[aiw]

Thanks for your post Sass! I have a lot more reading and more than a few months to do it in, before making any decisions.

 

[Foresthund]

I never bought heart worm pills,it normally gets under 60 degrees at night,even in the hottest months of summer. I haven't been bitten by a mosquito yet this year. In winter it can get as low as 15 degrees F at night. I no longer buy lattes and rarely shop for myself as well,my money does tend to go towards animals.

 

[sassafras]

Yea, like I said, some areas of the country don't give preventative at all, they just don't have the mosquito populations.

 

[AmandaN]

It is a serious problem here and every time we take a new rescue dog into the vet for a first check up and heartworm test, everyone just crosses their fingers and prays. Basically, if a dog isn't on prevention (it IS prevention in the sense of preventing the development of adult heartworms that cause the problems), there is a high chance of being HW+
It seems most rescues go for the fast-kill method while the dog is in foster in order to limit continuing strain on the dog and to be able to adopt out a HW Neg dog.
I would hazard an unscientific guess that well over 50% of the adult dogs that come in as strays or neglect cases (as opposed to cases like owner surrenders due to owner's housing or health etc where the owner was caring for the dog properly) are HW+

You don't HAVE to use the branded pills/topical, plenty of people do use ivermectin from the farm store at a very cheap price, but I would say that you do HAVE to use something around here. Last winter we had mosquitoes popping up all winter on the odd warm weeks and just not enough deep freezes to knock them out completely so year-round prevention is recommended.

Well said. Here in FL, we have mosquitoes year round. Where I am (north FL, close to the coast), we only have a total of about 40 days without mosquitoes. It's a very real, very dangerous risk here. I keep my girl on year round prevention.

 

[xoxluvablexox]

I never understand why people balk at giving monthly heartworm preventatives. People spend more on a couple of lattes than they do on their monthly pill, and even if it isn't about the money why gamble? The drugs are very safe and are eliminated from the body quickly. Maybe people have to see a dog get treated for heartworm before they take it seriously? I honestly don't get it.

Maybe you should try paying over 6k in vet bills to treat acute liver disease so you can understand why some people are scared shitless about giving their dog poison on a monthly basis. Even if it is supposedly "safe" poison.

 

[sassafras]

Maybe you should try paying over 6k in vet bills to treat acute liver disease so you can understand why some people are scared shitless about giving their dog poison on a monthly basis. Even if it is supposedly "safe" poison.

What do you think the relative risks are of an adverse reaction like that vs. getting heartworm?

I'll give you a hint: I have never once in my career seen a dog have a serious adverse reaction to a heartworm preventative. I see at least a couple of cases of heartworm a year. And the adulticides are a far, far more dangerous poison than the preventatives.

Every time I take ibuprofin I could go into kidney failure. But I'm still going to take it if I have a splitting headache, because that risk is very low and the benefits are worth it to me.

 

[xoxluvablexox]

I still give my dog his heartworm but I'm just trying to get you to understand that some people do have a reason to care. It's not just about saving money or whatever.

I'm literally so paranoid about giving it to him that for a full week I give him spirulina, SAMe, and milk thistle. I consistently check his eyes, his gums, his stool, his urine. I mean I seriously turn into a nutcase because I'm so scared that it will harm his liver and he won't get better this time.

So yeah, if I can find a way to give him less poison, regardless of how safe it might be, then I would be thrilled.

 

[zhaor]

People care because they are ignorant about the risks of everything else.

 

[Shell]

Every time I take ibuprofin I could go into kidney failure. But I'm still going to take it if I have a splitting headache, because that risk is very low and the benefits are worth it to me.

Or you could have a freak reaction where all your skin peels off. Yep, that's a potential side effect to several over-the-counter pain pills. Does it stop people from taking them when needed?

If someone is really worried about the effects of HW preventative on internal organs, than a yearly blood panel might be an option and not all that expensive. My dog's recent one (for a completely different issue) cost $95.

 

[Damon'sMom]

It is a serious problem here like Shell has said. At my clinic we diagnose HW+ dogs almost daily. This last week alone (from Monday until today) we have diagnosed 16 cases at my hospital alone. People have different reactions to being told their dogs are positive. Many people find out their dog is positive and they want to euthanize. Some take them to a rescue and turn them over (most of the time without saying they have HW's). Some leave it alone and let nature take its course (They say they will be back and never come). And some choose to treat. When the rescue brings their dogs in we send up a silent prayer that they will be okay and test negative.

We are in the progress of 6 treatments right now, all in different stages of treatment. At my clinic I am the main person in charge of these poor dogs while they are with us. Its heartbreaking. Some do very well with the treatments. Others however...do not take well to it. They get sick and weak, their gums pale, and they shake. I sit with them and comfort them as much as I can. I give SubQ fluids (and sometimes other things the drs want them to get) and I wait it out. Eventually the symptoms will pass (most of the time) and they will be able to go home until the next treatment. I hate watching these poor animals go through this. The treatment is anything but easy.

My pups are on HG+ year round. They are tested every year. You can never be to safe when it comes to the ones you love. I couldn't bare to see one my dog have to go through this. Like Sassafras said I have never seen a dog with severe reactions to HWP. I have seen horrible reactions to the treatments.

 

[Xeph]

I had to treat one of my dogs for heartworm....she came to me with it. And there was no way to know. She was from a breeder, only 7 months old. There would be no reason to even SUSPECT she had heartworm. When she turned a year old, we ran the annual test....and she came up positive. I had her tested again, and they tested the blood twice.

Positive.

It was an absolutely HORRIBLE experience. I was actually going to opt to do the slow kill method until I found out there was a doxycycline shortage. We ended up doing immiticide. It was nerve wracking keeping her lightly exercised. She got the all clear in July, and for the first time in 2-3 months, she got to really RUN like a puppy should. And while she was running, I was still terrified that she was just going to drop dead in front of me.

All of my dogs get Ivomec every month, and the puppy came to me on Ivomec (she came from Georgia). I hope I don't ever have to go through HW treatment again

 

[TRDmom]

How do you dose the Ivomec? Also, a quick search showed an injection method. How do you give it? Orally?

 

[Xeph]

Yup, just give it orally. That said, it's really not cost effective unless you have multiple dogs.

 

[JohnnyBandit]

I can tell you that if you live in the gulf states, heartworms are the REAL DEAL. Fail to use a preventative, your dog will get heartworms. Sooner or later.

I am old enough that I go back pre heartgard, pre flarabits, to some gooey syrupy nasty stuff you squirted on your dogs food every day. Many dogs would not eat it.

Before Flarabits, we lost dogs to heartworms. Dogs die down here from heartworms all the time.

And down here it is a 12 month a year thing.

 

[Hambonez]

I don't have a problem with giving my dog heartguard year round. Heartworms aside, considering the number of nasty thing my dog puts in his mouth outdoors on a daily basis... I think a routine intestinal deworming is a pretty good idea.

I think one reason that the dosing isn't say, once every 6 wks or 2 months is that compliance would go down. It's easy to remember - HW pill the first of the month. It's harder to remember every 6 wks.

 

[JohnnyBandit]

BTW.... Stage 1 and 2 heartworm infected dogs can be treated long term with Ivomec and it will clean them up. Rescues down here, do it all the time.

 

[TRDmom]

Yup, just give it orally. That said, it's really not cost effective unless you have multiple dogs.

I have three.

 

[xoxluvablexox]

I don't have a problem with giving my dog heartguard year round. Heartworms aside, considering the number of nasty thing my dog puts in his mouth outdoors on a daily basis... I think a routine intestinal deworming is a pretty good idea.

I think one reason that the dosing isn't say, once every 6 wks or 2 months is that compliance would go down. It's easy to remember - HW pill the first of the month. It's harder to remember every 6 wks.

That's a large part of it. They even say it should work up to every 6 weeks but they choose to say to give it every month because that's easier to remember. Honestly I think you could do every two months in most states. I think the west is supposed to be the safest as far as danger from heartworm. Gulf states and the further south you go are the most dangerous as JohnnyBandit mentioned. I would probably do a monthly down there but in Northern Jersey it's just not so much of a problem.

A vet I talked to even told me that I shouldn't worry about heartworm and be more worried about other worms, which the safe heart dose I mentioned before doesn't protect against. I figure since I do a biannual CBC that I could just get a stool sample checked out too.

Obviously other worms can be dangerous to a dogs health so it's somewhat of a PITA but I feel the safe heart dose is the best way to protect my dog without giving him a dose that's more then he needs.

 

[JohnnyBandit]

I do think that Heartgard has a real scam going, because they place less than one drop of ivermectin on a chewy treat and then sell it for $7 . If they charged something like $2-$3 I wouldn't think it was so awful, but wow, that's some markup. And then the vet insists on a test, so that a LOT of people feel like they can't afford heartworm prevention so they skip it entirely :/. If they knew the lower-cost alternatives it would be a lot better for everybody. And trying to convince people that live in colder areas to give Heartgard all year long.

Other than that, no, I don't think heartworm prevention is a scam. I've known several farm dogs who died of heartworm (or my best guess, because of course they didn't get a diagnosis. But coughing and lethargy were the symptoms).

I use Ivomec.

You are not paying for the ivomec so much as paying for it in an EASILY dosable form. I have never seen a dog that did not act like Heartgard was a treat.

 

[Foresthund]

Its not really a scam,it is good to use in some areas of the world. I think people need to know the facts about heart worm medicine and if its right for their dog. It should also not be considered to be necessarily neglect if they aren't given it year round or at all.
Sense I live in a colder area,small mosquito population,he is not a water dog, and my dog doesn't eat poop or roadkill, I feel its un-neciasarry. I don't want to feel guilt-tripped for not using it either.