My Tinkerbell experienced rapid liver cell death when she ate an unknown quantity of kitchen grease. I can only imagine what Immiticide and other Heartworm 'meds' can do to a healthy liver. The liver cells will regenerate, but the Denamarin helps with this regeneration, and can prevent some liver cell death to begin with. It just looks like a way to cause less stress to the dog during treatment, as the liver will be at least a part of the function of ridding the body of the medication.
Whether slow kill or fast kill, I believe that the vet needs to make that decision, mainly with regards to each individual dog and the level of heartworm infection they've been diagnosed with, and taking into consideration the dog's present condition and history. At stage one, with a monster sized dog, I don't think she'll have a problem either way. But then again, the vet will make that decision with the best interests of the dog in mind.
I believe that the slow kill method is used mainly for dogs who have sustained an infection for a longer period of time, hence many adult heartworms in the heart and other areas, where a fast kill protocol would definitely be life threatening to the dog, or if the dog's history is unknown, or has other medical problems, or can't tolerate the medication.
I did see one case online where they did a slow kill regimen, and a monthly preventative with Doxycycline, but then decided to let the adults die off on their own (takes around 5 years), as the monthly was killing off the earlier stages of the larvae, and the Doxy rendered the female adults heartworms sterile (unable to reproduce).
So it all really depends on the dog itself, it's condition, and it's tolerances, and risk factors. |