Heartworm preventative

[BAY KINGFISHER]

I used to mix the ivermectin 1/3 to 2/3 Propylene glycol, a tenth of a cc for every ten pounds. heck the forty dollar bottle expiration ran out before I used all the medicine.

[HeKing]

just thought i would throw in my 2 cents on this.

Heartgaurd, though a bit expensive, is very effective and easy to give. I have never seen a positive test when a dog recieved heartgaurd monthly.
Advantage multi is now on the market. I dont know what the price is but it is supposed to cover fleas, heartworms, mosquitos, and i believe ticks. It's easy to apply on the skin right between the shoulders.
Also, proheart 6 is back on the market which is a injection you must get from your vet. It is a bit pricey but it lasts for 6 monthes so there is nothing to worry about for 6 monthes at a time.

As for buying ivermectin at the co-op. It is effective when dosed at 1/10th cc per 10 pounds and injected SQ (under the skin). This is a economical alternative as long as you dont mind giving your dogs and injection. lol

The major difference i guess is that if a dog does test positive on a preventative such as heartgaurd, the company will pay for treatment. I think somebody mentioned this before and i have seen it happen when i was working in a vet clinic and a dog tested positive on heartworm preventative. (i dont remember which one, not heartgaurd.)

so there is my little spill about that. maybe it will help somebody.

[Drakeshead]

Ivermec, I have found out, is just as effective given in a food item as it is injected. So, I am going to give Ivermec in either a piece of bread or hotdog on the 15th of the month and keep giving HeartGuard on the first of the month. Two of my dogs, in June, had slight positive results for heartworms. We are going to re-test them in six months, as per the veterinarian, and then go from there.

[Copiah Creek]

Not to knock Heartguard since i have used it for years , BUT i have a 9 year old yellow female who after 8 negative test , showed positive on the 9th one , Yes Heartguard paid for the treatment ,,,BUT only after 48 pages were fax to them and all 3 vets called them . 1st question was why did i not buy a years supply at one time . 2nd question was what was the lot number and exp. date . 3rd was did i know how to give it to the dog ,,,,,,,,,,hello she tested negative 8 times ..........so heartguard is NOT bullet proof . I thinking of switching to multi .

[pstone]

[rboudet]

Myself and several of my training partners and a local pro give 1cc per month for all there dogs regardless of wieght. My dog is 65lbs

[goosebruce]

Heking, know your just trying to help but your late for the party.... h wrote- Heartgaurd, though a bit expensive, is very effective and easy to give. I have never seen a positive test when a dog recieved heartgaurd monthly.

I know DOZENS of dogs on hartguard that have tested postive. As well anything else mentioned in this thread (save for multi, its too new). Lots of dogs on 2 preventative and still test postive. Lots of dogs treated and still test postive. Per the other hartworm post, if your not in the effected area, you don't have a clue and thats part of the problem. Nobody outside the area really even belives in the problem, because you'd think an epidmic like this would be in all dog publications and vets info and everywhere else. Its not. Belive me, hartguard was the staple product for years because it worked.
It no longer works here, neither do the other products. Hopes are hi for multi, not because its 'magic', just maybe it works because its new.


h wrote....Advantage multi is now on the market. I dont know what the price is but it is supposed to cover fleas, heartworms, mosquitos, and i believe ticks.Theres no medicine in multi to guard against ticks. recommendations are a tick collar. travis

[HeKing]

goose and others, i didn't mean to offend anybody. I was just speaking from my personal experience working in a clinic. i know heartworms are a serious problem here in the southeast. there is no way to absolutely gaurantee 100% effectiveness with any product. maybe when i get out of vet school i'll come up with with such a product and get filthy rich. lol but anyways if i offended anybody or sounded like a total idioit please excuse me. I was just speaking from experience in north alabama.

also, if anybody is interested, here's a link for a research article on the effectiveness of heartgard and pro heart 6.:
http://www.jarvm.com/articles/Vol4Iss4/Glickman.pdf
it has tons of stats that some may understand better than me but the conclusion and results sum it up nicely.

[pstone]

HEking, your comments kinda sum up what Travis said in another post. People, and vets outside of the MS delta have no clue what is happening with heart worms in this area. AL hasn't had near the problems the the MS delta and areas close to the delta has. It didn't seem like as big of a deal to me either untill it affected on of my dogs, now it is a HUGE deal to me.

I hope you do come up with something that will become 100% effective! I'll pay what it costs.

[goosebruce]

No offense taken brother. That was my point... why haven't you been told? Why haven't everyone been told? Thats insane that dog owners and care givers everywhere aren't being made aware of this problem. Even if it is a small area, its a lot of dogs, and a lot of outside dogs come here to hunt, test, and be trained. It just kills me the information is not getting out, and knowlegable dog people just one tank of gas away, have no ideal how rampant it is here. Kinda makes me wonder if the information about the problem isn't getting out, wonder how serious anyone (in the prevantive industry) is about fixing it. travis

[HeKing]

Where are you guys located that are having such a problem? in the delta?

[goosebruce]

nm delta, west tennessee, east ark, boothill of mo, and north & central la. Hundreds of dogs with breakthrus. Several east arkansas pros have vets come adminster the monthly hartworm meds just to have documentation. Personally, Ive had 4 dogs and another in my care, with hartworms, and all except for 1 I can vouch for NEVER missing a dose. 2 of those tested postive after treatment, one of them has tested postive for 1.5 years after the treatment. Hes on multi and has been for 5 months, going back next month for a test and hope I'll have the same results as charles, j paul, and others who have had postive dogs clear after multi. Lots of folks here double dosing, and still getting them. Lots of folks treating dogs and them not coming back clear, and lots of folks have dogs test clear once, only to come up postive next go around. Its insane, and an epdimic. It got better last year with it being drier, but as wet as this spring was, this year is right back to hartworm central. convinetal wisdom is out the window, as nothing seems to work (hartguard, iverhart, interceptor, striaght ivmec liquid, know postives on all of those!). I bet there are 40 cases in my club alone. conviental wisedom says a dog on the meds gets worms, there been skipped doses... and 3 years ago Id thought the same thing. convential wisedom says a postive dog must be treated... and 3 years ago Id thought the same thing. A year and a half into us realizing there was a problem, hartguards consumer line said absolutley there wasn't a problem. My vets office, that I know and love and trust, couldn't understand why my group of friends had so many breakthrus and regular dogs didnt. Does it make sense the people that spend the most time, and money on their dogs, are skipping doses at a higher rate than people whos dogs just sit in the back yards? heck no. Stories have been changed, guarentees have been changed, treatments have been changed. Dont get the same story from any 2 people you ask, and the more questions you ask, themore informed questions you ask, the less they talk. Thats a cover up, either on purpose or accident. How every vet student in the world can't be involved in this, man is insane! travis

[Doc & Nash]

The next time your in the office and yoru Heartguard rep comes in ask them how many cases have been reported in the MS delta that they paid for the treatment over the last three years. If they admit to one it will be a shock. I was buying Advantix the other day and had this senario happen, I pulled up this website and showed him and his exact words were "Corporate has never told us" It is sad when the customers know more about what is going on than the reps.