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?

Thanks Jessica
It was 10 years ago. I have so many urns on the fireplace and in a cabinet from Rescues. I always adopted the senior ones - was supposed only to foster, but could never bring myself to rehome them. There was always a good reason to keep them - like Annie, she was a lovely senior, supposedly had the mange and was "aggressive" - according to her original foster. the mange turned out to be dry skin, and she wasn't a bit agressive - she did have to get used to the "pecking order" though. But she was beautiful. When her skin problem cleared up she was supposed to be turned back to the rescue group for them to rehome. But, my husband said "How can you let Annie go, she sings" - and she did "sing"
The lady in charge of rescues understood - after all I think she knew when she placed Annie with us she would end up staying with us. We had taken in several rescues for the group.
I am just thankful I was able to make their last few years happier. And I never had to have one of them PTS for pain or anything, they just went to sleep in their own good time, naturally. Ginger, the last of my "spice girls" left us last June. She was around 16/17 years old, we got her the same time we got Cinnamon and Nutmeg. Nutmeg lived to be around 18 years old. Cinnamon, unfortunately because of the heartworms was only with us a very short time.

Sorry for rambling on - I can't help it when I talk about those beautiful furbabies who had such a bad start in life. Puppy mills need to be closed down!

It can happen irregardless. I still think it is better than nothing. The dog can also DIE from heartworms.:(

you know this is a bone of contension for me
I have two friends a couple, who both refuse to treat any of their dogs for heartworm. Ontario has lots of mosquitos and it's getting worse each year.
They tell me the meds are poison and in about 8 years the issues will start to show in my dog.
I have other friends who are always taking their babies to the woods and their cottage who are 100% behind meds.
I told my vet and he said he's heard these complaints too and has yet to hear someone provide scientific data to back it up.
Until then Revolution is Teegy's best friend in the summer

I always have my rescues tested for HW and have only, thank heavens, had to have two treated. One, is Monty, my 14+ year old IG and the other was a dog that had been living outside and hadn't seen a vet in four years. Both were treated with imiticide, and neither had xrays first, which helped with the cost.

There is no way I can be convinced that it is better to do nothing and let a dog get HW and never get treated than to just give the Heartguard if that is what you can get an owner to do. HW will kill a dog, and yes, there is a risk to treating a dog that has HW, whether or not it is given treatment or takes Heartguard. I just don't think nothing is better in this case. Ideally, people would get the test first.

I know people who treat their dogs with ivermectin from a feed store because they don't want or can't afford the costs of tests and preventative.

I have to say this issue gets me too. :questione I have lots of friends who go nearly 100% homeopathic. They at least have their dogs on nosodes to try to prevent HW or some other homeopathic treatment. I know I have seen homeopathic remedies on websites, but I still use Interceptor and I do have my dogs tested every year. What I won't do and have never done is use any new products. I also won't use anything that combines treatments. I only use flea treatments when I feel its needed.

I fear somewhere down the line we might actually hear that there is some risk of something from all these "treatments" we are giving our pets. It's like immunizations, and giving them more frequently than every three years, it makes me sick to think I use to get them on my pets every year.:(

I'm not advocating doing nothing. But this is one of those times when being penny wise can end up being pound foolish. The mobile vaccination clinics at Petco will run a heart worm check for $20.00. I'll scrape together 20 bucks versus potentially killing my dog.

It is indeed! I don't even advocate using those vaccination clinics and for the same reason, penny wise, pound foolish. Many of those clinics are run without a vet present, a dangerous thing to do, IMO. Plus, and I can't reiterate this enough, you should always have a relationship with a vet. I am a very good REGULAR customer at my vet's and I can tell you, when I pick up the phone and call my vet expecting to see one in the morning for a sick pet, I better get in. I consider that an absolute. Otherwise, I will find a vet that appreciates my regular business better.

However, we aren't talking about the person who will spent $40 for a test or who will scrape together $20 for a test. We are talking about the person who will spend $0. Chances are, they won't spend the money on getting the HW preventive either, but I think it is better to try to get them to take that than do nothing.

FYI, I do have my dog's tested. I use Interceptor, always have and probably always will since I haven't had any problems with it.

But how will they get a prescription for the Hartgard without the vet testing the dog for HW first?
I don't know any reputable vet that would give the prescription for the preventative without testing for heartworms first.

ITA. I don't advocate the mobile clinics either. But to say that the test is too expensive to justify not testing or giving preventatives, IMO, is bogus. But chances are, someone who won't shell out for a test or preventatives won't shell out for treatment if their dog does develop heart worms.

That's just it, most vet's won't. But I don't believe they are doing any good to not giving the heartguard anyway, especially when you can go to any feed store and get ivermectin. It is safer to get it from a vet, but anybody can give ivermectin to their dogs. That's what heartguard is.

How many times have you heard suspicious people imply a vet is just doing tests to get their money? I am of the opinion that a vet would be doing better by the pet to get the owner to take the heartguard rather than do nothing. And there is no LAW, not even a heartguard requirement to test first. If a vet treats a dog for HW and warns the owner of the potential risks, why can't a vet do the same thing with heartguard?

what age should heartworm stuff be given? How young is too young?

They can give it without a test. It makes them liable for whatever happens though and not many vets would consider taking that on. They have enough crazy junk to deal with.

BTW, not long ago a dog was given Ivermectin and then switched to an actual product (Heartgard). In between the switch, it was not HW tested (accidental and devastating oversight). Dog got heartworms. Could have been the regular Ivermection or Heartgard (guessing the former). It's pretty darn scary to think people can just buy a bottle of it. The general public does not know brands and nobody except the company and store knows how it was shippied, what temp. it was kept at, etc.

We use Sentinel and yes it is expensive for three dogs, they are on it all year, but this goes back to the total cost factor.
That's why when people are only concerned about getting a Yorkie for cheap up front, I don't think they consider these types of long run bills.
We test yearly, to me it's our responsibility as pet owners!

Just like bacteria developes a resistance to antibiotics, worms mutate and develop a resistance to drugs. That is another reason why yearly tests are so important.

because their livelihood is on the line! if a vet treats a dog for heartworms without testing and the dog does have heartworms and dies because of the Heartgard, then there are lawyers out there who would only be too willing to take on the dog owners case against the vet.

A human goes into hospital for surgery and always signs a consent form, yet how many turn around and sue when something goes wrong????