Heart Worms in BCs

[ChooChooCh'Boogie]

Howdy,

I heard that heart worm prevention and the treatment can hurt BCs or kill them!Has anyone ever heard of this...new to me....thanks!

[dot me not]

Some border collies are sensitive to ivermectin products. Probably best to use one of the other varieties of HW prevention. I think that the injectable, Proheart 6 is a cousin to ivermectin and would be cautious about it as well. There was a good thread on here about proheart 6 a couple of months ago but I don't know if it's still available. Might try to do a search.

[coastisclear]

Heart worm meds themselves are pretty deadly. better off just testing 2ce a year and IF your dog does get heartworm it is very easily treated. The prescribed doses are much to strong and are prescribed much to frequently. The pro heart shot has had deadly side affects and I would stay away from that at ALL costs!!! I have not given heartworm meds to my dogs in years and every year they test negative. Should they ever show up positive, I am confident that my homeopath could treat it naturally.

[BigD]

Coastisclear -

 

In Hawaii, Heartworm is very common. We have year round mosquitoes, lots of feral dogs and cats and a general "I won't treat for heartworm until my dog gets it." kind of attitude.

 

Well, I don't want you in my dog class or at the kennels boarding with my dog. If your dog has it, and you are "treating" it, you are also able to spread it. I don't find that to be very responsible.

 

It may be different on the mainland with the clear cut seasons. But it's a whole different ball of wax here. I use preventitive because I've seen what heartworm does and anyone that has a HW positive dog can be contributing to the problem. I'm forced to use these dangerous chemicals because there are a lot of people who believe as you do.

 

Look at it this way - a person get SARS, but they continue to walk around and cough in public. They are being treated - heck they may or may not die. Who knows. But they are possibly spreading it to other people who very well may die because of that person's lack of responsibility in the first place.

 

A bit much, yes. But that's how common HW is here. Heck, lots of dog owners probably don't do a thing about shots, and that's why others have to get shots anyway. It really bugs me.

 

sorry about the micro rant there.

 

Denise :mad:

[coastisclear]

I know many people who have not had their dogs on preventative in years, feed raw and do not vaccinate. All of these dogs test negative year after year, do not have skin problems common in most dogs, do not have allergic reactions to fleas,have great titer counts, and live long healthy lives. The dogs I have seen with heartworm have been tie out cases, fed god knows what,have auto immune disorders and probably didn't have a fighting chance to begin with. You can't honestly say that the dogs who ARE healthy are the ones contributing to the problem of the ones who are not. I think you must look at why those un healthy dogs are that way to begin with. As for resposible pet ownership, my dogs visit the vet once or 2ce a year for a check up, bloodwork and get an excellent bill of health every year.To myself and my vet they are the picture of health.

[Kyrasmom]

The issue of heartworm has nothing to do with auto-immune conditions, diet, or more or less healthy dogs. It's a parasite and you choose to either have your dog on preventative or you don't.

 

There are heartworm preventatives that Collies can safely be on. Your vet can also tell you the prevalence of heartworm in your area, if you really don't like the idea of preventative and live in a low risk area than it's probably not a big deal though you should check at minimum once a year if your dog has been infected.

 

If however you live in an area that is highly affected then you should consider a preventative as more of a necessity, while current treatment is not as invasive as it once was, it's still expensive and not easy on the dog as one would think.

 

Maria

[BPoole]

Being in Colorado, we don't see a whole lot of bugs around here. And for those who don't know, if a misquito carring hw encounters temps that fall below 46 degrees (if I remember right) the hw is killed off in the bug. I've never put my dogs on any flea, tick, hw, etc. None of them have ever had a problem. Now if I were to move to Florida, I might change my thinking. But it all comes down to would you over medicate yourself or kids if you didn't have to? Then why your dog?

[ChooChooCh'Boogie]

I am going to try to get Chewy into the vet next week....I live in East Texas and the WestNile thing hit here purdy hard,well one of my moms friends had told her that more than likely a majority of dogs in E/T had heart worms...then my mom rescued a Pikaneese that is HW pos...Thats when my mom began to hear about HW med being deadly to BCs,Chewy had been on HW med before,and lots of BC resuces have their BCs on HW med. so I was wondering what med I should get for Chew,and not get for her...

Thanks

-Kay&Chewy

 

 

-Kay

[dot me not]

I know many people who have not had their dogs on preventative in years, feed raw and do not vaccinate. All of these dogs test negative year after year,

 

 

And even a blind pig finds an acorn every now and then, thanks to luck. Those dogs have been negative because they have been lucky enough to not meet the right mosquito. Their diet and living conditions have absolutely nothing to do with it.

 

Are you actually aware of how a dog is actually treated for heartworms (if you want to talk about toxic chemicals)? Have you ever actually seen a heart taken from a dog that died with them? I've seen several dogs die during treatment and I can tell you, it ain't pretty.

 

For your dog's sakes, I hope your luck continues.

[Kyrasmom]

I might be wrong but I think Texas is pretty fertile territory for heartworm disease. (Big mosquitos) Ask your vet...he'll know how to best advise you.

 

I kept my Collie off preventative in Italy for 14 years and we were lucky...but she was positive on her 15th year so escaping it is just "luck".

 

Both my Border Collies are on Sentinel without adverse affect. Our county is considered high risk and I wouldn't dream of not having them on preventative.

 

Maria

[coastisclear]

Yes I am aware of the treatment options and the incredibly toxic ways that you refer to are not the only options. There are natural ways to treat and prevent heartworm that can be effective. Maybe all of the dogs who I refer to are not only incredibly healthy with strong immunity but also lucky. However by not over challenging an animals natural defenses and making them stronger by doing so is the way to keep lucky, Ill choose this option.

[Eileen Stein]

As Barb and Maria point out, I think geographical location is a highly important factor. Thirty years ago, heartworm was barely known in my area, then it became a seasonal problem, now it's a year-round problem. This is partly due to meteorological changes, but mostly just to natural spread of the parasite. At present, heartworm is a serious problem along the Gulf Coast, up the East Coast from Florida to NJ, and in the area up along the Mississippi. IOW, it's a lot easier to be lucky in Massachusetts than in Florida.

 

For me, it's a simple risk-benefit analysis. Our area is rife with mosquitos, and I've been bitten by mosquitos in every month of the year. My dogs are outside a lot. My vet sees at least one new case of heartworm infection per month among dogs in his practice. Virtually all of the victims are not on heartworm preventative. They are not generally bedraggled, unhealthy, ill-cared for dogs -- on the contrary, the owners of those kinds of dogs probably don't spring for a vet visit. These heartworm cases are otherwise healthy dogs. On the other side of the equation, very few cases of harmful reaction to heartworm preventatives have been seen. (It could be argued, I suppose, that the dogs are having bad reactions to these "incredibly toxic" medications, but they are just not being recognized. I don't really know how to respond to that; to my way of thinking, if a dog seems healthy, eats normally, works hard, and lives to a ripe old age, I'm unwilling to presume that dog is being hurt in some way by what it's taking.)

 

So on balance, I'm going to give my dogs heartworm preventative. I've been doing so for many years now, and have seen no ill effects from it, and have had no heartworm. I use Interceptor.

[Kyrasmom]

So what's a homeopathic preventative for Heartworm?

 

Maria

[Sabreur]

Originally posted by Kyrasmom:

So what's a homeopathic preventative for Heartworm?

 

Maria

There isn't one. Heartworm is endemic pretty much everywhere in the US. It is becoming a problem here in Germany (moved over the Alps from Italy). I had a Belgian cross who was sensitive to Ivermectin, so I gave him Interceptor--my two Border Collies have no problems with Ivermectin.

 

By the way, you treat heartworm by dosing the dog with arsenic until the worms are dead--it is very hard on the dog and very hard on you--I think not treating for heartworm ranks right in there with not getting rabies shots--I was going to add that the difference is that not treating for heartworm only hurts the dog, but actually, that isn't true--if your dog is infected, it becomes a reservoir and can pass it on to other dogs.

 

MR

[Kyrasmom]

I completely agree with you MR, but as coastisclear mentioned there was one, I was curious as to see what it was.

 

Maria

[Trisha Eifert]

Originally posted by Kyrasmom:

So what's a homeopathic preventative for Heartworm?

 

Maria

Eye of newt, or perhaps a scale off a dragon would be my guess

[UpNatEm]

Coastisclear-I'm with you.I feed your way,and for the last 8 years never gave preventative and know tons of other Border Collie owners,breeders,competitors here in MN that don't either.Remember MN 's statebird is the mosquitoe.And even my allopathic/traditional vet doesn't carry certain types like Interceptor or ProHeart 6 because of too man iffy cases on that.ProHeart 6 is awful and has way too many death cases including one of my own offspring of 4 years in Wisconsin this year.

My natural ways?-Avon Skin So Soft and spraying the yard periodically with lemon dish soap and vinegar.But hey to those who love to give your dogs chemicals internally for piece of mind,have at it.Just like the yearly vaccinations now they say aren't necessary-have at it,,it's your comfort zone.But don't ever say those of us who choose not to chemically induce our dogs yearly are wrong.It's all a matter of getting well informed and finding out the real truth through word of mouth.

 

Sue Barta

[chicken]

I really hope you people that don't give heartworm preventative to your dogs never end up with it. We have had tons of dogs in the rescue have to go through treatment. It is not fun for the dogs I'll tell you that. Most were extremely healthy dogs also. To say otherwise is just silly. A dogs natural defenses cannot get rid of the heartworm parasite on their own. You most likely live in an area where it's not common or may be even non-existent. I know in Wisconsin, the southern half of the state has tons of heartworm cases, and up north hardly any. While I agree Proheart 6 is not the way to go, I choose to put the poison pills in my dogs systems vs. risking one of them getting heartworm because I have dealt first hand with the treatment and effects it has on a dog.

 

Cathy

 

PS - Would love to know the natural way to get rid of heartworms, although I'd have to say I'm a skeptic and don't believe there is one.

[2 Devils]

I use sentinel for all my dogs. I also use frontline when I start seeing fleas or ticks. My dogs have not had fleas in a couple years and have only had a couple ticks so they rarely get the frontline.

[Mary & Dogs]

Have to put my two cents in here.

 

My dogs are all on Sentinel and it works great - also kills other kinds of worms and works against fleas. If we are out where there are ticks I have to use Frontline.

 

I heard all those rumors about the 6 month shot - but my Vet, who is ultra careful about new products - has all of his dogs on it and they have not seen one complication. But, for me, the Sentinel tablets are easier. I don't have to drag my dogs up to the Vet every six months.

[emmetteabrakai]

I still don't see Skin so soft and lemon dish soap as homeopathic, natural maybe, and only a partial preventitive. I too have known lots of people who don't treat their dogs, and over the years at least one of them includinag my neighbors beloved aussie have been infected. I worked for one of the leading vet. cardiologists in the country for years. He treated lots of HW positive dogs. His standard speach to the students is , as a practitioner HW disease is the most preventable, and one of the worst cardiac problems a dog can have if left untreated. And the most avoidable .If you ever saw a caval syndrom surgery you would do evry thing possible to prevent this agony for your dog. They actully have to go in and remove the worms from the heart because ther are to many, and the sstandard treatment would kill the dog,as such a vast ammounts of worms die it would cause arrest. The last one I saw was a champion field trial GSH Pointer, who's owner didn't believe in prevention. He too fed all the right stuff and had never had any problems either. Treatment is hard on them, not to mention expensive.And that is standart treatment not the caval syndrome surgery. I don't fault people for wanting to protect their dogs in any manner they see fit. I just have never heard of any homeopathic prevention that has had the success rate of comercial products. I use interceptor. And have had no reactions what so ever. I would opt for treatment,because coming from So.California to the mid west I knew that I needed to have my dogs on prevention of some sort and went to find out what kind. The first vet we ran in to here suggested the ivomec in a soultion and give it orally. Well that was just fine except he didn't mention that you had to mix it fresh every month. Our lab had to be treated for HW after only 3 months here. So much for years going by without having a problem. I don't mean to be hard nosed it's just that the odds if you live in an area that has mosquitos and you don't treat, you will eventually have a problem. So do what you have to. Be faithful with what you choose to treat with and keep in mind at the vet school here ,they treat lots of HW positive dogs every month, and only in the rarest of situations has the comercial treatment failed.