Of all things to decline at the vets...DON'T DECLINE THIS!
 

I find it strange sometimes just how many people are uneducated about heartworm tests and prevention. At our vet's location we require a yearly heartworm test and monthly preventative. We are very careful with this because putting a dog on a heartworm pill that may be positive for heartworms is very dangerous! A yearly test makes sure that we are keeping them heartworm free.

A gentleman just now declined a HWT and prevention. This to me is absurd. His excuse was that Texas doesn't require that....well we all know that's not the issue. It's about costs and it's crazy to skimp on this!

Heartworm treatment averages about $600-700 here and is very life threatening in some cases. All you have to do to prevent it is simply buy and give a single pill once a month. The generic form of heartguard called Iverheart is only about 26.00 for 6 months!! that's cheap people!!!! Interceptor runs around 50 or so for a year supply. why on earth would you skip this medication and those yearly $40 tests to ensure that the prevention is working? in the long run it's cheaper to prevent heartworms and heaven forbid your dog gets heartworms....but without any prior tests and prevention you are in for a long road of treating the disease and possibly loosing more than just a lot of money, but your beloved pet too....


so please please get HWT and prevention!!!

Very good advice Rachel!

I don't think people realize that most vets (who aren't holistic) still use Imidicide for this. Heartgard is not always the answer! It's not that easy. It is recommended yearly here too (or a waiver for every two years). And in MI, it is strongly suggested that the drug be given year-round.

Imidicide therapy with staging is about $900-$1K here.

Considering the economy the way it is and the tough times many people are having, I do think that at the very least the vets should be recommending heartguard without the heartworm test. The dog would be getting prevention and possibly treatment. I don't know why someone would assume that if a person is unwilling to get a dog tested and put them on preventative they would pay for treatment.

Heartguard is actually being used to treat heartworms these days. Especially by cash strapped rescues. This has been a form of treatment for a long time now, more than ten years since I heard about it being used.

But giving the preventative without doing the test is dangerous. A heart worm can come loose and cause a clot in the lungs or brain. The owner and the vet need to be aware of the presence of the worms in order to watch out for this potentially fatal consequence.

EXACTLY! The heartworms could be present and if that's the case the Owner needs to know about it and the vet as well. If you give a preventative without knowing there are heartworms present the pet will continue to be active and this could cause one to break away dead and clot an artery or lung. this could kill the pet. heartworms need to be treated very carefully under the watch of the vet. bed rest and limited activity are almost always required even in mild cases. and yes immticide treatments are still used here as well that was what the 600-700 cost i listed was. it's pricy and risky...just use prevention and get those yearly tests...another thing about yearly testing is that some preventative companies will back their products up and if a test comes back positive for heartworms you can get restitution from the preventative company. covers your butt in a rare case that the prevention isn't working.

Fynnlie is only 13 weeks old and we haven't started on any heartworm prevention yet, but he'll be on it when the Vet and I are more comfortable with it.

Some people just don't understand how devistating Heartworms can be!

Heartgard is relatively safe for heartworms, but the disease can progress for the two of so years that the treatment is going on. And there are risks for those two years. A lot of rescues do it this way, but then when the dog is placed, other vets will switch treatment. It just isn't the standard of care for most cases... I think something like milbemycin could cause a big problem though.

Testing is done yearly here or every other year if a waiver is signed.

But then, I've seen much worse than failure to prevent or test for heartworms, so I guess vet med has much bigger problems, unfortunately. :(

How about failure to vaccinate for rabies but expecting the vet staff to handle your animal with care (with no medical waiver)? :( It puts everybody at risk.

heartworms are devastating. I got three rescue dachsies.Two of them had heartworms. I was able to get one treated. The other one, Cinnamon, when she went for treatment the vet said she wasn't well enough to get the treatment, she had something else going on with her as well. Vet gave me medication for whatever else was wrong and I was supposed to take Cinnamon back a week later. But on the weekend Cinnamon got worse, her belly got so distended and she was having panting. I immediately called the local vet and took her in. They tried to save her, but I got a call at 5.30 in the morning to say that Cinnamon had passed away.
If I could have got a hold of that horrible puppy mill owner at that time, I don't know what I would have been capable of doing. Cinnamon was a beautiful girl who didn't deserve losing her life like that.

So, please get the heartworm checks and put your furbabies on preventative meds.

Our vet told me that if they get interceptor as heartworm prevention they are protected against other worms too... is that true?

I have a question as to why I need to have the heartworm test done once a year when my Yorkie who is 1 yr. 5 mos. old and a Boxer who is 1 yr. old have been on it since they were able to get it? I still have no idea why they need to get retested before getting their next prescription of Heartguard. If anyone can tell me I'd appreciate it.

I am so sorry for you loss. I can't imagine what that's like. I'm sorry for you and for Cinnamon... :( *hugs*

It also controls round, hook, and whip worms.

No drug is 100% effective. So it's always possible that it isn't working for whatever reason or that the dog is split is out when going outside, etc.

I used Interceptor but just recently switched to Sentinel since it also covers fleas. Rabbits carry fleas and there is a huge population in my neighborhood that visit with my doggies :rolleyes:

Here is a link for Interceptor:
Pet Owner

Roundworm, hookworm and whipworm are included with the Heartworm prevention

Here is Sentinel:

Novartis :: Sentinel Flavor Tabs :: Home

Fleas, Roundworm, hookworm and whipworm are included with the Heartworm prevention

Here is Heartguard Plus:

HEARTGARD | Home

I think some of it could be a CYA thing, too. How many pet owners say they are giving it regularly, but don't?