Home Does your dog take heartworm meds?

[Richard Sherwood]

Date: 8/3/2009 2:46:28 AM
Author: honey22
Arghhhh!

People like this makes me so freakin mad!!! I have two fairly large labs (35 kg and 45kg) and it costs around $70 AU per dog to keep them protected for the whole year. If you can''t spend this money, you shouldn''t have a freakin dog!!!!

Well, the veterianarian quoted can spend the money, but chose not to.

 

[blushingbride]

Date: 7/30/2009 5:35:31 PM
Author: upgrade
That''s so sad- that poor dog. I don''t give my dog any meds at all, but that''s because he''s had bad allergic reactions to everything the vet has given him so they''ve recommended that we don''t do any more vaccines or medications. If not for his reactions, he''d be getting them.

Blushingbride- what kind of dog do you have? My dog looks a lot like your avatar. Adorable!

Thanks Upgrade! Harry''s a yorkshire terrior - we were told by his breeder that he''s a purebred, but some have said he looks like he might have some silky terrior mixed in. Regardless, we adore Harry! What kind do you have?

 

[ursulawrite]

Our dog is now six, and we switched to titer testing last year after an almost fatal rabies shot. She gets a herbal intestinal pill in place of flea/tick preventative. I prefer to take a holistic approach to pet care, and this also extends to her food (fresh and 100% organic).

 

[Mara]

I admit I have been lax about giving Portia her heartworm meds... but we don't live in an area where there are a lot of mosquitos at all (in fact we maybe see one a year) so I figured we were mostly safe. I am taking her to the vet this wkd to get some overdue shots including a heartworm test, so we'll see but I imagine she is fine. I am torn upon getting the meds for her and/or just keeping going the way we are. I believe in preventative but I also feel like a lot of this stuff we give our dogs is just like low doses of poisons...for this reason we also don't give her flea meds. That said if something was wrong, we'd get her the surgery or treatment or whatever is needed.

Oh and I read somewhere that someone gave their dog expired Heartworm meds and had horrible adverse side effects. This is what made me think...jeez is this safe for the dog regardless?

 

[Linda W]

Well after reading this, I am wondering if we should not give our Mazie heartworm meds. We live near the delta and we do have mosquitoes.

 

[Haven]

I just ordered more flea and tick meds from petshed.com. They ship out of Australia, it takes four to 10 work days to reach the US, but it costs half what it costs here.
And they list the expiration dates, too, so you know you''re not getting old meds. I read a lot of good reviews on the web about them.

It''s worth checking out before you order your next set of heartworm meds.

 

[Mara]

me too Linda...I will ask our vet what they think but I am almost inclined to think if we have not had issues yet with P.. (she is 5 years old) and given where we live and a super low mosquito population, I would rather not give them to her. Interesting article re: dogs who were consistently treated with ''preventative drugs'' over their lifetime having more issues than those who didn''t. I wonder if it''s also certain breeds that are prone...aka Westies have skin problems that many owners do give them medicines for.

When P has had chronic allergies in the past I sometimes spray her paws with this ''steroid'' treatment that helps her stop itching and biting. But I hate it because hello it''s a steroid!!!! And I am supposed to wear gloves when I handle it. So if it can''t be on MY skin, why do I want it on my dog? I have only used it a few times and I''d rather give her a bath daily than use it honestly. The other alternative for some very sick allergic dogs are shots or OTC allergy drugs. But we have had very good luck with treating her holistically, mostly by wiping her down daily during severe allergy times, and bathing her once a week as well. Knock on wood.

 

[sba771]

Oy your neighbors make me mad. We give Darth something for heartworm every 3 months. I honestly have no idea what it is since its in German. Yes i could be more proactive in looking it up, but if I were in the states I would still be treating him. I trust my vet here more than 110% and I have found them to be proactive and not into giving things out for the sake of it and they were so careful to match his new vaccines to the same doses and cocktails he received in NY, even if that is not the norm here, so I feel they are looking at for my dog''s best interest.