chalk up another one for heartworm/ heartgard

[Nash]

GP,

Your dog has been on Heartguard for all her life and she has gotten heartworms. Why would you keep her on the same prevenative that has not worked in the past?

With all the problems I have seen just onthis board and people in the retriever community, I am scared stiff of heartguard. I would not give it to a cat, much less Nash. But that is just me.

[CF]

Nash...maybe he is just going by what his vet said........if he trusts his vet........I trust mine...........then he is probably ok sticking with the plan...............

......and.....before it comes up.....I am not necessarily saying that it is right.....but dam what are you/we supposed to do?



~CF crawling back into his hole now~

[Faithful Retrievers]

Just a thought and I may be way off base here, but if McDonald's can be responsible for making people fat and numerous other drugs that have failed are held accountable, why is heartguard any different?
There maybe some kind of fine print that keeps them out of the court room due to it is a preventative and not a sure thing. I am thinking that there should be some kind of civil matter come out of all this. I remember them telling me that I could treat it and it could take some life from the end of his life or not treat it and he may live two more years. To me the cost of the treatment if far from fair looking at the money they have made from this drug and the money we spend on the drug to help prevent heart worms that in the end doesn't even work. To top it off they are attempting to not stand behind their drug if there is any way out.

[Locked Up]

I carried my dog the vet this week for a HW check. I have started taking her every 6 months after reading things on this site, just to make sure. My vet has become someone that I trust very much since he understands the large monetary and personal investments that most of us have in our pups, has many clients that have world class dogs and when I asked about the Ivermec, he said that he had no bad things to say about it. He wouldn't say give it or not to give it. I have used Interceptor since my lab was a pup, and she is now 3 and never missed a month, and so far been lucky. What he did say that shocked me is that since all my HW pills have been bought from his hospital, he would pay for all treatment if my dog came up positive. He was informed from his Interceptor Rep. that if anyone who had documentation at his hospital and came up + that he would in turn reimburse my vet. So, I don't know if other vets are being told this, but mine has and reassured me that it is the best on the market. This is not a argument about other solutions, just info.

[Boomerrang]

You got 6 mo worth of meds that don't work. Thats a great idea to go 6 more months and let the HW's manifest. I can't tell you what to do but the sooner the dogs treated the better. Their gonna be there in 6 mo. Just larger and more of them.

[golfpro]

do you all buy the ivermectin from your vet or what? and also once you puncture the seal do you give it all up at that time to several dogs or what

[jeffwhitlo]

Buy your ivermec from your local feed store, co-op, or anywhere that carries meds for cattle. Do not wait 6 more months, get your dog treated and keep it on ivermec. Heartguard is a rip off. Get to know any Vet personally and the majority of them will tell you that they use ivermectin orally on their personal pets. They can not tell you officially to use it because it is considered "off label" but they sell heartguard and the rest of that stuff, but they do not use it.

[Copiah Creek]

To each his own, but i have used Heartguard for years and i just took my 6 year old for her yearly check and she was clean. I have never had one test positive,,call me lucky. My stepdad is a fox hunter 40 hounds,,all on ivermectin ,,,,and everyone over 4 years old are all showing kidney problems from CATTLE WORMER.........Between my wifes dogs and mine we have 18 dogs all on heartguard and all are negative....But a friend of mine had his on heartguard and tested positive,,, But my vet treated the dog and Heartguard paid the bill.

[Wildfowler]

.10cc/10lbs ivermectin

Isn't this the same exact ingredient in Heartgard? For dogs 51-100 lbs, my carton of Heartgard says each chewable contains 272 mcg ivermectin and 227 mg pyrantel as pamoate salt.

Don't know anything about the salt dosage also found in Heartgard. Reading this thread, it seems that some here think that Heartgard and the co-op cattle wormer used are two different medicines altogether.

Is this dosage of ivermectin listed above not the rough equivalent of a dose of say 90 cc's for a 90 lb lab?

If they are the same thing, wouldn't the individual heartworm cases reported here occurred regardless of the brand name of ivermectin being administered?

Is ivermectin available "over-the-counter" at the co-op? In the veterinary business world, Heartgard it is considered a prescription.

How do you administer the co-op version?

I just want to be better informed, thanks.

[Doc & Nash]

Wildfowler, it is not 90cc's For every 10lbs of body weight it is .(point)10cc's. So for a 90 lb dog it would be 9/10 of a cc huge difference.

[skuna]

.10cc/10lbs ivermectin

Isn't this the same exact ingredient in Heartgard? For dogs 51-100 lbs, my carton of Heartgard says each chewable contains 272 mcg ivermectin and 227 mg pyrantel as pamoate salt.

Don't know anything about the salt dosage also found in Heartgard. Reading this thread, it seems that some here think that Heartgard and the co-op cattle wormer used are two different medicines altogether.

Is this dosage of ivermectin listed above not the rough equivalent of a dose of say 90 cc's for a 90 lb lab?

If they are the same thing, wouldn't the individual heartworm cases reported here occurred regardless of the brand name of ivermectin being administered?

Is ivermectin available "over-the-counter" at the co-op? In the veterinary business world, Heartgard it is considered a prescription.

How do you administer the co-op version?

I just want to be better informed, thanks.

DnC is correct on the dosage.....it's 1/10 of a cc per 10lbs of dog.

Is is also the same stuff that is in heartguard, but a couple of concerns I have with the chewable is this......

1. Your dog could swallow whole chewable and pass 95% of it without absorbing the med's.

2. Bad batches, out of date stuff, and the amount of IV that HG contains is at the minimum of what should work.

3. If your dog tests +, there is no guarentee they are going to pay....and this is one of the biggest reasons I hear people use when saying why they use HG. I'm sure on some, they do pay, but you better have your chit together and if you leave them a lope hole, you betcha they gonna find it. Cause this is not just cash out of their pocket, It is them admitting that their stuff did not work......and that is bigger than that $600 vet bill.

I use IV that I buy at the farm supply, dose it at .10/10lbs, which means with 3 dogs I will throw a bottle out for going out of date, before I use it all.I also give an extra .10cc during the summer months when mosquetos are bad. And it cost $30-$40. IF cost of treatment when a dog tests positive is the reason for going with HG, I can justify that by what I save on the meds.

[skuna]

correction ....DnN not DnC. Where'd that edit button go?