Everyone
tells you the same thing when you go to the Vet and if you read the box the
same thing is said, but many people make the same mistake and think against their
better judgment that they are smarter than the scientist that poured countless
of hours and millions of dollars into developing a product that will keep death
away from your dog.
I
am talking about something that hit very close to home with one of our
dogs. Doc was found to have heartworms
on a routine test that was performed on our dogs this spring. When the news came back, I was devastated to
say the least. When I worked for a Vet,
the chances were minimal at best that a dog would make it if heartworms were
discovered. I remember once asking the
Vet I worked for why is it so bad and he said, “You poison the blood to kill
the heartworms” and nearly the same thing is true today. It has been refined some, but you have to
kill the worms. Dog get heartworms from mosquitos and I take every precaution because I don’t
ever want it go through this again. For nearly 3 months, Doc had to be kept quite and is not
only is the treatment very dangerous it is also very expensive. When we were just starting to go through it
the treatment, as usual, I researched it and made many calls to the manufacture
of the preventive medication and to the maker of the treatment medication too.
You
MUST…
Purchase from a Vet or a reputable online pharmacy, not a discount supply house and you Must have a prescription.
Give the medication ALL year long. Just because mosquitoes are not present, doesn’t mean they aren’t around.
Purchase from a Vet or a reputable online pharmacy, not a discount supply house and you Must have a prescription.
Give the medication ALL year long. Just because mosquitoes are not present, doesn’t mean they aren’t around.
If you are a standing customer and the dog had the yearly
test, chances are the manufacture will cover the cost of the treatment.
Give the medication ALL year long. Just because mosquitos are not present, doesn’t mean they aren’t around.
And the most important statement is if you don’t treat in the winter months you WILL NOT kill the microfilaria (newborn children of the adult heartworm) if they are infected and when you start back up in the spring, they have grown and will not be killed by monthly prevention.
Give the medication ALL year long. Just because mosquitos are not present, doesn’t mean they aren’t around.
And the most important statement is if you don’t treat in the winter months you WILL NOT kill the microfilaria (newborn children of the adult heartworm) if they are infected and when you start back up in the spring, they have grown and will not be killed by monthly prevention.
My
protocol has changed on treatment,
Give EVERY month
Watch the dog when you give it. Don’t let the go back to playing where they can throw up and lose the dose. I put mine in the kennel for one hour so I can make sure it stays down.
Purchase from your Vet. If you use a bargain treatment and it fails, the money you spent on treatment could supply all the dogs in the neighborhood.
Heartworm Removal Video
Give EVERY month
Watch the dog when you give it. Don’t let the go back to playing where they can throw up and lose the dose. I put mine in the kennel for one hour so I can make sure it stays down.
Purchase from your Vet. If you use a bargain treatment and it fails, the money you spent on treatment could supply all the dogs in the neighborhood.
Heartworm Removal Video
Below
is some scientific info on the subject put together by Karen Newhall. Please read it and trust me, it can happen,
and did here on the farm.
Heartworm Disease – what is
it?
Heartworms
(Dirofilaria immitis) are found in more than 30 species of animals as well as
humans. They have been identified in
species such as coyotes, foxes, wolves, other wild canids, domestic cats, wild
felids, ferrets and even sea lions, however, the dog is considered the primary
host for heartworm, meaning that it is in the dog where the heartworm reaches
maturity and is able to sexually reproduce.
Heartworm larvae (immature stage) are transmitted between hosts by
mosquitos. When a mosquito infected with
heartworm larvae bites a dog, the larvae are transmitted into the dog’s blood
stream and begin to migrate throughout the body while maturing. They end up as sexually mature heartworms in
the heart and lungs. Here, they begin to
reproduce and the females release offspring called microfilariae into the
circulating blood supply of the host (your dog). Heartworm cannot be spread between mammals
without first going through the mosquito.
The
initial population of adult heartworms living in a dog resides in the arteries
of the lower lobes of the lungs. As the
population continues to grow and mature, adult heartworms can be found in the
right chamber of the heart. In cases
with extremely high numbers of adult heartworms present, worms can be found in
the caudal vena cava, which is the primary vein of the lower body. When worms are present here, they must be
removed surgically due to the likelihood of sudden death caused by an embolism
which can occur within a few days. The
presence of worms in these major organs will cause inflammation in the heart,
lungs and arteries around these organs.
The heart will begin to enlarge and congested heart failure will likely
develop over time. Dogs that lead a very
active lifestyle such as working/herding breeds that are infected with
heartworms will likely develop a more severe disease state with fewer
heartworms present than a less active dog. This is due to the need for greater
heart and lung capacity needed for an active lifestyle.
Heartworm Prevention – why
and how
The
best methods to ensure you and your dog never have to go through the
devastating results of being heartworm positive; PREVENTION is truly the best
medicine. Dogs have been tested positive
for heartworm infections in all 50 states.
There are many products on the market that are highly effective for the
prevention of heartworm disease. There
are both oral and injectable products that have to be dosed daily, monthly or
even every six months. You should
consult with your veterinarian on which product is best for your dog, ideally,
your dog should be tested for heartworm disease prior to starting a
preventative program. Most prevention
products currently on the market will effectively kill the heartworm larvae
that are transmitted by mosquitos, therefore preventing mature heartworms to
develop in the dog.
The
most important part of administering heartworm prevention products is complying
with the label directions given by the manufacturer of the product. You should not only talk to your veterinarian
but also carefully read the product insert so that you understand how the
medicine should be given and potential adverse effects associated with the
product. Heartworm prevention is
recommended to be done year round by most practitioners and the American
Heartworm Society. In most climates
there can be mosquito hatches every month of the year and therefore your dog is
at risk of being infected. Additionally,
some products will actually continue to prevent disease if you are late or even
miss a dose provided you have reliably dosed your dogs on a monthly basis for
at least three consecutive months, consider year round dosing an insurance
policy in disease prevention for the life of your pet.
Heartworm testing – why,
when and how
There are many thoughts and opinions on the
frequency of heartworm testing dogs. You
should always follow the advice of your veterinarian; they are the trained
professional and have an established relationship with your dog. Generally, it is a good idea to have your
veterinarian test your dog during your annual wellness visit to the clinic, but
minimally, you should test your dog prior to initiating or changing
preventatives. If you missed one or more
doses of heartworm preventatives during the year, it is imperative that you
have your dog tested for heartworm the following year.
There are two types of heartworm tests available,
one detects antigens and the second detects antibodies, both are simple blood
tests. The antibody test has been used
for decades and detects antibodies that the dog’s body is producing in response
to the presence of adult heartworms. The
antigen test is most commonly used now and detects a protein in the heartworm
that causes an immune response in the body.
The antigen test can detect an infection of one or more mature female
heartworms that are at least seven to eight months old. They cannot detect infections of less than
five months in duration. A veterinarian
can also test for the presence of microfilariae in the bloodstream of a dog,
these will only be present if adult heartworms are also present and can be
detected six to seven months after a dog is bitten by an infected
mosquito. This is due to the life cycle
of the heartworm; a mosquito will pass the larvae into the bloodstream of the
dog which then takes many months to develop into a sexually mature worm that is
able to produce microfilariae. This is
why it is important to test your dog for heartworm annually, especially if you
are not 100% certain that all doses of prevention were given at the same time
of every month, year round.
There are four main phases in the lifecycle of a
heartworm: microfilaria, larva, juvenile worm and adult worm.
Heartworm Positive – what
and how
A
positive heartworm test will determine that your dog was not only been bitten
by an infected mosquito, but that sufficient time has passed and the heartworm
larvae was able to develop into sexually mature worms over a period of 6-7
months. It is possible for a dog to test
positive to heartworm while on prevention products, this is because the
preventative will only control larvae and not
microfilariae or adults. If you routinely stop preventative
administration during the winter, larvae transferred from infected mosquitoes
to your dog late in the season will have ample time to develop into mature and
reproducing adult heartworms before you re-initiate your prevention program in
the spring.
Treatment for heartworm –
what, how, why and risks
Your
veterinarian will discuss treatment options with you along with associated
costs and risks. There is only one
product available commercially for the treatment of adult heartworm
infestations, Immiticide®, this compound is a form of arsenic and can have
severe adverse side effects, it is not always readily available and it is
expensive, however, it is the only treatment option available. It is injected deep into the muscles of the
lower back twice, 24 hours apart and typically repeated four months later.
A
secondary part of treatment that your veterinarian may consider is treating for
Wolbachia infection. Wolbachia is a
genus of richettsial organism and is similar to a bacteria; they live inside of
adult heartworms. Wolbachia organisms
are not fully understood, but they seem to provide a protective and beneficial
effect for the adult heartworms.
Treating the dog with the antibiotic doxycycline will kill Wolbachia and
seem to also sterilize the female heartworms, preventing them from
reproducing. Wolbachia is also thought
to be involved in the embolism and shock that result when heartworms die. Doxycycline treatment is typically prescribed
for four weeks prior to Immiticide® treatment and is relatively inexpensive and
considered safe. Be sure to discuss
this treatment addition with your veterinarian!
There
are severe complications that can occur following Immiticide® treatment that
need to be monitored for. Typically the
attending veterinarian will keep the dog they are treating for several days
during and after treatment to ensure the best outcomes are possible. The most serious complication is the
development of severe pulmonary thromboembolism. This is caused by presence of dead heartworm
fragments and lesions caused by the living heartworms and inflammation in the
arteries and capillaries of the lungs.
Some degree of pulmonary thromboembolism will occur following the
treatment process, it is important to keep the dog very quiet to minimize these
embolisms and the effects of them.
Clinical signs associated with treatment include fever, cough, and
sudden death.
