Dogs & Heartworm Meds

self

[hsmomx3]

If your dog is always in the house or in their very own backyard, is it important that they take heartworm meds?

My friend has had a dog for a few years now and has never medicated her dog for this nor has the dog ever been diagnosed with a heartworm disease.

[tob2]

Think it's very dangerous for the dog not to have heartworm meds. My dog is a house dog, going out only for walks with me. Because we live in Virginia heartworm meds is a must all year long. Think the dog owner is being irresponsible.

[mplsconservative]

Please tell your friend to have their dog tested for heartworm and put it on heartworm meds.

Here in Minnesota, dogs also get a lyme disease test and vaccination. Wherever there are deer ticks, the possibility of lyme disease exists.

We have two dogs, and our annual vet visits are'nt cheap (around $350 for both), but it's worth the peace of mind knowing they're protected from such nasty stuff.

[padfoot_lover]

My brother moved back to Texas after being up north for years. He thought that he didn't have to keep giving his dogs heartworm meds during the winter months because he never had to before. (Of course, he never asked my opinion on it...) Sure enough, one of his dogs got heartworm, went through the extremely toxic and expensive treatment, and the dog has never been back to his normal self, he's still sluggish and weak. Tough lesson to learn the hard way!

We had already decided in this household that we are buying sentinel from Drs. Foster and Smith from now on. We buy a lot from them already! Great catalog company!

[teenyelliott]

$5??? For our two dogs, it is a total of $80 for a six month supply of chewables.

Five bucks a month for Heartguard chewables for my 90 Lab. I get them at my vet.

Course, that doesn't count the 20.00 a month I spend on Frontline. : )

[AnAmericanMother]

If you don't have any mosquitos at all in your area, check with your vet to make sure it's o.k. not to use the heartworm meds.

If there are even "just a few" mosquitos, it's a terrible risk. The treatment is expensive, risky, and time-consuming, and many dogs are "never right afterwards," even if the cure is successful. Heartworm infestation is very debilitating and can cause permanent heart and lung damage.

A friend of mine is a member of the local Golden Retriever rescue foster team. She just got the cutest little year-old Golden who was found as a stray. He had a heavy heartworm infestation, and the treatment is awful! He has to stay in a crate all day and be hand-walked only, because if he jumps or runs a piece of worm might break off in his heart and kill him. He is going to have to stay in the crate for 4 weeks, then he'll be re-tested and if he still comes up positive, they'll have to continue the treatment for another 2 weeks, then test again, etc. Some of them wind up being confined to a crate for 12 weeks or more. Imagine how awful that is for an active young dog who's crazy to run and jump and play and chase tennis balls!

My dog gets the chewable meds EVERY month without fail. I don't want her heart to wind up looking like this:

[brytlea]

Tell your Yorkie that they use the active ingredient (Ivermectin) in HW preventative in humans in parts of the world where River Blindness (also caused by a worm) is prevelent! Then maybe she will agree to take her HW pills! ;)
susie

[brytlea]

I have been told (don't know if it's true, but it gives one pause) that the med is not nec distributed evenly thru the pill, so if you break it in half and give half to each dog they are not nec each getting the same dose.
susie

[potlatch]

Yorkies don't know they're dogs. They believe they are humans.

I believe you're right!!

[Humal]

Before heart worm medicines came out, we had a really sweet bird dog die of heartworms. As long as we have dogs, they will have the prevention (we live in Florida).

[Vermonter]

I'm looking at a $400+ bill right now for a rescue dog I took in who was initially heartworm free, but now is positive. (it's possible the first test didn't catch them as he's been on the pills since we got him)

The treatment is two heavy duty shots followed by a month of no activity at all due to the now dead worms breaking up and possibly causing clots in the lungs and killing the dog.

So, in my mind, the pills are cheap insurance to prevent this.

[Americanchild]

thanks was a miss print 1/2 cc on the largest dogs 75-100 lbs. ivermectin is formulation for cattle recommend by vet.

Whew! Don't worry me like that! :) Yeah, the 1% injectible ( given orally) is actually used by vets themselves, off-label. Which reminds me, I need to get some more!

[Americanchild]

I have been told the hearworm med has arsenic in it

The treatment for a positive dog does contain arsenic. The preventative meds do not. The most common preventative is ivermectin which is a very safe drug even at high doses.

[Sue Perkick]

That's what I get for mine too. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[Sue Perkick]

I think so. They do look a little like Bil Jac liver treats. He loves it.

[potlatch]

Thanks for telling me that, I'm very glad to know it. As I said I hate giving all these things to my dog!

[hsmomx3]

Your story is a sad one. I am so sorry to hear this.

My dogs are on heartworm meds. and you are right, cheap insurance it is.

[hsmomx3]

That is an awful pic but tells a story. I think I will send it to my friend who does not medicate her dog.

I did not realize the extensive damage heartworm can do to a dog. I wonder--can they feel this--is it painful? Looks so disgusting.

[BruceysMom]

As a dog groomer it is my observation that Yorkies are in touch with their inner pit bull.

[AnAmericanMother]

The symptoms are the same as congestive heart failure . . . so yeah, it's painful.

And by the time the symptoms are obvious they are irreversible (just like CHF).

It's worth five bucks a month just to avoid all this hell.

[AnAmericanMother]

Ivermectin is amazing stuff.

I first saw it as an injectable worming medicine in horses. It was so darn effective that we had some cases of colic due to the sudden load of dead worms. We began worming first with paste and THEN with the ivermectin. But they stopped the injectable form from general use because of problems with infection at the site, now you get it in a paste like everything else. It's still very effective, though not as dramatic as the injection.