Heartworm Meds

[Yorkiegirl123]

As my Yorkie is getting older, she is getting more and more sensitive to the heartworm medicines available today. She's been on them all and gets diarrhea and vomiting 2 to 3 days after her monthly dose. (I also think it irritates her bladder.) Does anyone else have this problem and what has been your remedy? I want to discontinue these meds and do DNA testing 3 times a year for heartworms. Any discussion from someone who has tried this. My vet wants to discuss the pros and cons of this plan with me next week.

[Wylie's Mom]

What heartworm meds have you tried?

[Yorkiegirl123]

I've tried Sentinel, Revolution, Iverhart and Inceptor. Not trying anymore.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Yorkiegirl123

I've tried Sentinel, Revolution, Iverhart and Inceptor. Not trying anymore.

Heartworms are pretty serious and the treatment would likely effect her worse and possibly kill her. You should try heartguard it as been around the longest and with the least issues I believe.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Yorkiegirl123

I've tried Sentinel, Revolution, Iverhart and Inceptor. Not trying anymore.

What's really odd and very concerning to me (in terms of your vets here), is that you haven't ever just treated for heartworm ONLY, with ivermectin. Why wasn't that tried a long time ago...?

Instead, your vets are switching you around 4 different meds, ALL of which also treat for other things. It's not bad, per se, to treat for those other things - however - it would be bad if your dog is one of those who is sensitive to those other chemicals.

Before giving up, I really would recommend you try just straight ivermectin - nothing else with it. You would use Heartguard or its generic, which is obvs just "ivermectin".

[Yorkiegirl123]

Wylie's Mom,


Thanks for the info, but which brand is Ivermectin only? Heartgard Plus (the only one I found on line) has ivermectin and pyrantel.


What do you give your Yorkies?

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by Yorkiegirl123

Wylie's Mom,


Thanks for the info, but which brand is Ivermectin only? Heartgard Plus (the only one I found on line) has ivermectin and pyrantel.


What do you give your Yorkies?

Your vet should be able to prescribe something that contains ivermectin only. The original Heartguard was ivermectin only, but if they don't make it any more, I believe that your vet can prescribe generic ivermectin.

About the heartworm tests, those are generally antibody tests, and only detect adult female heartworms if there are approximately three or more adult female heartworms in the dog's body. Yes, it would have to be done 2 or 3 times per year, and if it came back positive, you'd have to treat with the medicines used to kill adult heartworms, which is even harder on the dog than the monthly preventatives. Here is a link to an article about tests for heartworm: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-p...isease-in-dogs . The article is from 2009, so the tests might have improved since then. Back then, the DNA test wasn't sensitive enough, but that could have changed since then. If you find out any new information from your vet, please let us know.

[pstinard]

Here you go. They still make regular Heartguard: http://www.1800petmeds.com/productw.jsp?id=prod368151

Edit: Sorry, this link doesn't seem to work, but they do make it, so your vet should know about it.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Yorkiegirl123

Wylie's Mom,


Thanks for the info, but which brand is Ivermectin only? Heartgard Plus (the only one I found on line) has ivermectin and pyrantel.


What do you give your Yorkies?

Ivermectin would be either "Heartguard" or a generic, where you just give ivermectin.

I get Ivermectin liquid, here: J R Enterprises Heartworm Prevention .com

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Ivermectin would be either "Heartguard" or a generic, where you just give ivermectin.

I get Ivermectin liquid, here: J R Enterprises Heartworm Prevention .com

That's a great price, much cheaper than Heartguard! Since it's sold in such large quantities (60 ml., which is a lifetime supply to treat a small Yorkie at 1/4 ml. per month), is there an expiration date on the bottle, or is ivermectin stable enough to store for the lifetime of your dog? Even if it expired after only 2 years, it's still much cheaper than Heartguard...

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by pstinard

That's a great price, much cheaper than Heartguard! Since it's sold in such large quantities (60 ml., which is a lifetime supply to treat a small Yorkie at 1/4 ml. per month), is there an expiration date on the bottle, or is ivermectin stable enough to store for the lifetime of your dog? Even if it expired after only 2 years, it's still much cheaper than Heartguard...

Well darn...I had emailed w/ the owner a while back asking about shelf life, and now I cannot find the email, lol ! But it was a very long time for shelf life. He was very helpful and responsive, btw, if you feel like contacting him. You give 1/4ml every month for dogs 5-19lbs.

Some people will say one should order the pill from the vet instead, so that you have that "guarantee" if they get heartworm..but part of that whole thing is just marketing to get you to buy from them. If you're giving prevention EVERY single month, religiously, then you truly do not need to worry about *paying* out the nose for that little "guarantee".

[DBlain]

since you guys seem knowledgeable on this, can i ask a question when you talk about heartguard do you mean the chewable type, that's what i have mostly given my yorkies and they seem to tolerate it well. then i use the topical flea control 15 days apart, i use parastar and have not had problems. i found the combo of the heartworm and the flea and tick control to overpowering to give at one time

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Well darn...I had emailed w/ the owner a while back asking about shelf life, and now I cannot find the email, lol ! But it was a very long time for shelf life. He was very helpful and responsive, btw, if you feel like contacting him. You give 1/4ml every month for dogs 5-19lbs.

Some people will say one should order the pill from the vet instead, so that you have that "guarantee" if they get heartworm..but part of that whole thing is just marketing to get you to buy from them. If you're giving prevention EVERY single month, religiously, then you truly do not need to worry about *paying* out the nose for that little "guarantee".

Actually, it is not just marketing. Pups who are given heartworm prevention monthly CAN end up getting heartworms although it is rare. It also is very important that pups get tested yearly even IF they have been on heartworm prevention religiously.

I would not avoid using straight Ivermectin if that was all I felt I wanted to spend, but my vet doesn't hit me over the head for Heartgard so I choose to use it.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Well darn...I had emailed w/ the owner a while back asking about shelf life, and now I cannot find the email, lol ! But it was a very long time for shelf life. He was very helpful and responsive, btw, if you feel like contacting him. You give 1/4ml every month for dogs 5-19lbs.

Some people will say one should order the pill from the vet instead, so that you have that "guarantee" if they get heartworm..but part of that whole thing is just marketing to get you to buy from them. If you're giving prevention EVERY single month, religiously, then you truly do not need to worry about *paying* out the nose for that little "guarantee".

They don't mark it up a huge amount and there are sooooo many counterfeit products out there it's much safer to get it from your vet. I feel better paying for the guarantee honestly it gives me peace of mind. I also get a huge deal and rebate with the products I by from my vet.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by DBlain

since you guys seem knowledgeable on this, can i ask a question when you talk about heartguard do you mean the chewable type, that's what i have mostly given my yorkies and they seem to tolerate it well. then i use the topical flea control 15 days apart, i use parastar and have not had problems. i found the combo of the heartworm and the flea and tick control to overpowering to give at one time

I think all heartworm preventions are chewable. Heartguard is just one of the brands. Most combo pills like Trifexis have been found to be dangerous. Callie does not do topicals well and I hate them because they are so gross. It all ends up in the blood stream so for fleas and ticks I use nexguard and love it!