heartworm prevention proceedure

[rstbkt69]

Why does a dog need to be diagnosed heart worm free before you start giving meds to prevent them from happening.
Jim

[kninebirddog]

mostly to see if they have adult worms as depending on age and excersise will determine how you may want to procede with treatment

Treating prophalactically is just giving the ivermectin based preventative it will not kill the adults but it will prevent them from growing anymore ...they can continue doing heart damage specially for active dogs so for active dogs you really should treat the active younger adults where your older dog the treatment can be too much for them it is rough on any dog

you can look this information up on the heart-worm association site to confirm what i have posted

[ezzy333]

Because the pills given every month that kills the micro filiaria will kill the adults also if the dog has them and they will clog the heart and kill the dog.

Ezzy

[kninebirddog]

That is not true Ezzy

And Yes I know this for FACT we are treating 3 older dogs that are Heartworm positive and this is how they are being treated as they are over 10 and YES they get monthly doses of Ivermectin

http://www.heartwormsociety.org/

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=610

Happily, the microfilariae, L3, and L4 larvae can all be killed by monthly ivermectin-based heartworm preventive products (i.e. Heartgard®, Tri-Heart® etc.). The milbemycin based products (Sentinel® and Interceptor®) will also do the same job but will kill the microfilariae much faster, which can create circulatory shock if there are large numbers of microfilariae dying all at one time. The newer products using selamectin and moxidectin do not clear microfilaria well enough to be used in the treatment of an active infection, so right now the ivermectin based products seem to be the best for this use The American Heartworm Society recommends 1 to 3 months of a preventive prior to treating the adult worms. How long you choose to wait depends on how urgent the dog’s need is to have the adult worms removed. After all, it is the adult worms that cause heartworm disease, not the immature worms addressed by the preventives.

Do a google search you can find a bunch more info that also explains what will and will NOT kill adult heartworm

[rstbkt69]

Well the vetnary partner site was certainly easier to understand. thanks for the replies and links.
Jim

[ezzy333]

That is not true Ezzy

And Yes I know this for FACT we are treating 3 older dogs that are Heartworm positive and this is how they are being treated as they are over 10 and YES they get monthly doses of Ivermectin

Knine,

Yes it is true! I too use Ivomec because of the cheaper cost and I am well aware it does not kill the adults. That is one of the main reasons many people have started using it. However, as I posted the reason you have to check the dogs before you start an the pills is because they do kill the adults. Since you can't buy Ivomec in the pill form and we were talking about the preventatives prescibed by most vets I thought it was clear we were not talking about the off label use of Ivomec.

Many prescription drugs kill adults and will kill your dog.

Off label use of 1% ivomec for cattle does not kill the adults at least at the lower rates.

Sorry I mislead you but thought it was clear.

Ezzy

[dog dr]

if you give a high enough dose of ivomec (like most of the "homemade preparations) it WILL kill the adults. thats why you want to be sure your dog is negative prioe to doing that. the dose in Heartgard is enough to kill the microfilarial stages, but not the adults. the standard protocol now for treating an active adult heartworm infection is to put the dog on Heartgard for about 3 months prior to the Immiticide treatment.

[3Britts]

So far, and I am knocking on wood as I write this, I have not had a dog test positive for heartworm. What I am wondering is, for those of you that have gone through this, what were you doing prior to the positive test? Have you ever had a dog on heartgard test positive? My worry is that you do everything necessary to keep your dogs healthy and still something happens.

[kninebirddog]

well let me first start off with Non of the dogs we take on the road with us tested positive as they were treated while o the road

the vets in our immediate area said heartworm wasn't necessary where we were because we were isolated...well we learned the hard way they wasn't so
and have since learn tins about the heartworm and ALL our dogs are now on the 1/10th CC per 10 pounds bodys weight ivermectin Even the ones that tested positive that are older ...been 4 months and the dose has Not killed the adult heart worm they have and it won't ..what it has done has rendered the adult worms sterile they will slowly mature out sooner and die in 2-3 years..since we were at the beginning stages of the adult heartworms the heart had not enlarged on the ones we are treating with ivermectin...I did a lot of calling as I was under the impression treating them with ivermectin would kill the dogs...it hasn't the old dogs are just fine they are not run anymore so between the age and that they are not run anymore ...they are perfectly fine

the younger dogs we did the show treatments with left the dog with my vet for a week then after they came home we gave then 1/2 an aspirin a day for 3 weeks as prescribed by the vet

I have also told people to n longer listen to the vets about that heartworm is not a problem in AZ also and to have their dogs tested and get them on some program...we have 2 neighborhood with in 5 miles of us and cem to find out a guy that had moved in from back east with his 2 dogs loaded with heartworm blessed us and many other people around him with this problem he moved in jan was a year so that is how fast heartworm can become a problem in your area one dog to move in and be the feeding host for the local population of mosquitoes

I am lucky we were doing the trial dogs...I regret that we didn't do the kennel dogs but again ...many vets here for the longest time didn't worry about pushing heartworm meds.. this is changing

i thank my vet for working with me ..cause check out what it costs to treat for heartworm...many vets here want to charge 500 -800 dollars that is not what I was charged ...but it still was about 250 between tests on over 40 dogs and had to treated 13 of them and 6 went on prophylactic treatment via the ivermectin that all the dogs now regularly get

so if your dog is not on heartworm meds...get them tested get them on some tye of treament program be safe as the treatment drug for the adult worms is extremely harsh on the dogs body

[mtcdvm]

Here's the bottom line: It takes many, many months for higher than recommended ivermectin dosages to kill adult worms.

Here's the reasearch:

In 1998, John McCall published information showing that treatment of dogs with prophylactic doses of ivermectin (6mcg/kg) could shorten the lifespan of adult HW to 2-3 years. This observation, and subsequent studies led to the proposal of a "slow kill" protocol - place the patient on Heartgard prophylaxis, wait 2-3 years, and most dogs will be clear of HW infection.

While this protocol seemed appealing, recent data shows that some dogs treated in this manner develop more severe pulmonary pathology over time. This is thought to be due to persistent irritation of the pulmonary vasculature by the worms, and the lack of exercise restriction over this period (exercise is known to exacerbate pulmonary vascular damage). Thus, if dogs could be completely exercise-restricted (i.e. caged) over the 2-3 year period during which the worms are dying, the pulmonary vascular damage might well be minimized; however, this is not a viable option for owners.

A second theoretical concern is that adult HW are bathed in a low concentration of ivermectin, which could lead to development of drug resistance. While most MF are killed by prophylactic doses of ivermectin over a 6 month period, a low-level microfilaremia often exists. Theoretically, these MF are more resistant to ivermectin. Such selection, over several generations (since these MF can still infect mosquitoes, and develop to infective L3 larvae) could lead to emergence of ivermectin-resistant strains of HW.

Thus, the slow-kill method is no longer recommended except in extenuating circumstances (e.g. older dogs where adulticide therapy is contraindicated, or severe financial constraints).

We rarely use this protocol in our clinic. The only time we are backed in to it is with a client who either is unable to treat the dog from a financial standpoint or just doesn't care that much about the dog. For a typical bird hunter, there is no way they can jusify keeping the dog confined for 2-3 years.

[wchua24]

If your dog is diagnosed with heartworm disease, other blood tests and x-rays will be needed to determine the full extent of the infection. Any secondary problems will need to be addressed prior to starting treatment.Fortunately we have newer drugs that are safer and have fewer side effects, but it remains a fairly harsh process with some risks. Based on the staging of your dog's disease, your veterinarian will choose an appropriate course of treatment. It's important to keep the dog quiet after the treatment so that the dead worms don't dislodge and travel to the lungs. In rare, severe cases, a surgical procedure might be needed to physically remove the worms. Your veterinarian will advise you on any follow-up screening.

[Chaingang]

That is not true Ezzy

And Yes I know this for FACT we are treating 3 older dogs that are Heartworm positive and this is how they are being treated as they are over 10 and YES they get monthly doses of Ivermectin

Knine, let me see if I have understood you correctly. Were those dogs being treated with the monthly 1% Ivomec solution at the 1/10 CC per 10lbs bodyweight dosage PRIOR to testing Heartworm positive?

You suddenly have garnered my ATTENTION if they were....

[kninebirddog]

No if you read ..The dogs that we took on the road were treated when we were on the road so NONE of the dogs that were treated while we went into known areas of heartworm ohio indiana etc had any signs... they were all clear and free of heartworm on both tests

the dogs that showed up with it were quite a few of the ones at home the reason we were not treating there was because we are in the deserts of AZ and even some of the vets here do not think it is an issue and the local vets even said it wasn't worth it ....problem is growing even in the so called isolated areas as my post above and I went to my vet that is an hour away ..he said in the last year he has seen a remarkable increase in Heart worm positive tests queen creek scottsdale and cave creek areas are where many of his positive dogs he had treated were from...you can add coolidge to the list and just north of eloy

we caught it at the beginning stages Thankfully but now all the dogs even those old ones are on the same regime of Ivermectin

[3Britts]

K9,

Thanks for the informed answer. I currently have all of my dogs on heartgard+ and intend to keep them on it. My vet gets me a six months supply for $22. Everything is okay at this point and my oldest female was just retested and found neg.
I can't imagin what you are going through and hope that everything comes out alright.

Again, thanks for the fully answered question.

I agree that this thread caught my attention also.

[jetto]

For those of you who use Ivomec as a preventative can you give some more info please. I looked into it years ago but never followed through but now with 6 dogs the Interceptor is getting costly. thanks! Kristi

[kninebirddog]

What I use is the ivermectin 1% injectable solution you can find this at a feed store or on line the bottle will say for cattle or for swine besure to check the expiration date since a 50 ml bottle will last you a LONG time

do not give to collie dogs as many of them are sensitive to ivermectin
again this is what I use here at the kennel 1/10th cc per 10 pounds of body weight squirt it in the mouth or mix with a teaspoon of canned dog food or treat

you can also get more info from www.beaglesunlimited.com under beagle health

[jetto]

Thanks! We give the Interceptor tabs every 6 weeks- do you give the Ivermectin every 4 or every 6 weeks? Kristi

[Karen]

Once a month.

[jetto]

Thanks! Kristi

[kninebirddog]

Ditto once a month