Ladyjane, you are always so helpful to us all...
 

I tip my hat to you as I have so often seen your gentle hand out reached to those in need. Thank you, Mary from sunny FL

How funny...I was just about to respond to your last post here commending her for taking such good care of her pup!

Everything you said is SO true. The rewards we get from caring for our beloved pups are beyond measurement! It is so wonderful to see people like her and you taking such wonderful care of their pups. My heart breaks for all of the pups out there that are not so fortunate.

Skip went in on Monday morning, and had an injection. This morning he had a second on the other side. We can pick him up tomorrow. They have given him pain meds and his nurse said he is doing great. It stormed really bad here last night so I didn't sleep worrying about him because he hates storms. All is good though, and we can't wait to go get him. Two days without a dog is too long:(.

HeartWorm
 

I heard there is homeopathic things people do for their dogs look it up on the internet. I know in the past I have done homeopathic rememdies for my dogs and they have worked and didn't get my dog as sick as some of the meds out on the market.

I hope he wasn't too scared last night. Those storms really were awful. We had them Sunday night here. I'm so glad they said he is doing well. Do you get to pick him up Wednesday?

Getting him in the morning, if the nurse will give him back:D.

There is no homeopathic cure for heartworms.

Mr. Skip is back. The cat even missed him, but don't tell anyone. He has a bottle of Metacam for pain, and it came with a syringe. Anyone know anything about the pain meds? Can we put it in his food or is it better to use the syringe directly into his mouth?(he hates that)

You can put the Metacam in his food. :) It should help him be more comfortable. Did they say how many days to give it?

I was thinking about that, but they never said how many days. We picked him up at 9:30 am and he seemed much better than last injection, but he got it on both sides this time, and the wife rubbed one of his injection sites and he yelped, so I guess it has worn off. The bottle is 10ml so I am guessing it won't last too long. As I was typing this, he came down from the bed room to help me eat my supper. He seems to be really hungry, so I take that as a good sign.

I'm so glad he is home and is feeling good, even hungry.:) I know how much you can miss them and worry about them being left in a vet's hospital. Are you still supposed to keep him quiet and for how long?

Yes and for another month:mad:. The only cool thing is he has a mohawk on his back where they shaved him for the injections.

Gave all 4dogs HartGuardPlus Wednesday. Big Poodle 14lbs,next is Skittles (redpoodle) 7lbs,Chi 8lbs,Pom 5lbs. Everyone was moving slow and it made the red poodle sick enough to whine. Everyone is 10yrs old except the Chi he is 6. It took Skittle more than 24hrs to act right. They have all been taking this all of their lives but now that they are older it really seems to effect them,especially the poodles. The reason that I found YT was because my tiny 5lb poodle passed away. He had a hard time with HartGuard the last 3months of his life but I wasnt able to put it together until lately. All of the poodles are related 2 from same litter and one is a half brother.
Having said ALL of that. Does anyone have a recommendation? Would a spot on type of med be a better idea? I'm thinking that this has been too hard on their livers.

I have never had a problem with Heargard. You could also use Sentinel. Is there a reason to use the Plus? I honestly don't see a need for it in my pups. You might want to think about that??

My Experience with Revolution has been GREAT for 5 months now.
 

I have all 9 yorkies on Revolution and it prevents fleas, mites, heartworms all and it prevents the potential cycle that can occur if you only use heartworm prevention of flea issues like tape worms. It does not treat tapeworms but prevents them by controlling the fleas. With coupons you can get 12 for $130. You can get ones that are for under 5 labs and okay for puppies over 3 months of age with VET approval. I buy 9 every month! I am on very limited income and when I consider the potential disaster that could occur if I don't treat for prevention of fleas (tapeworms) or don't treat for prevention of heartworms, I could rival the national debt. It hurts but the alternative is devastating. I am hoping my little rescue puppy with the open frontel will be placed next month with a forever parent who agrees to have his surgery before final adoption. I am looking for someone in central FL that works for a vet and can get the surgery at a significant discount. I have kept him to keep him safe until 6 months of age at which time he can have the surgery. I will be down to 8 then and I probably will keep them. I had 10 until a few weeks back when my 17 yr old Bentley passed away. No more rescues for me. I am just going to have to use duct tape on my mouth when people talk about turning their yorkies into a shelter because I am barely holding on just keeping everyone immunized, prevention treatment and vet visits as needed. I highly recommend Revolution. I have been using it on all my yorkies for over 5 months now and they range in weight from 2.5 lb to 6 lbs. and range in age form 5 months to 9 years of age.

In answer to the question as to why I use the PLUS. 10yrs ago when I acquired 3 tiny poodles in 4 weeks and still had 6 children living at home,it seemed like the right thing to do. Sense I have recently lost my very special friend (not my husband) a 5lb poodle at the age of 10,I have had a chance to look back on the last couple of years of his life and his health. Sense all of our poodles share a father,I am reasonably certain that they share some of the same health issues. My dog passed away from liver issues,it was very sudden and very ugly. I would like to do everything that I can to help the other two live well.
Revolution was used on the poodles as puppies,not sure why I changed Ive slept sense then. I've tried Iverheart ,they all would throw up,I mean All 4 of the little dogs,all at once,that was not much fun.
I will be talking with the vet about Revolution. Here in our area we have mosquitos almost year round,several of my dogs go out in public regularly so they need flea and heartworm protection.
Thank you for all of your comments, Again the YT community has helped me with questions conserning our furbabies.

Well, I suppose you can look at it as finally just one month more. I was thinking you said it would be a few months total. It has to be really tough to keep him calm for that long. I'm sure he doesn't mind the mohawk.:D Kacee is never upset with a bad grooming job. It's just me that gets upset.:p Please keep us updated how he is doing. He's a real sweetie.

Yes it is a bad mohawk. Medical grooming leaves lots to be desired. He had two injections this time, but he seems to be much better than the single injection he got last time. He has one more shot in May to get rid of the larvae in his blood stream. The vet says this shot will not be bad at all compared to the other three. After that we need to decide whether to give him the six month preventative injection or go on an oral preventative. We are leaning towards the injection. Anyone have any input on this?

My vet does not offer that six month injection. I know that there were serious problems with it a few years ago and it was recalled because dogs died.
My vet does not offer it. I honestly did not know it was back on the market.
If I were you, I would stick with the monthly preventatives. I have used Heartgard and Sentinel for years without any problems.

I hope someone can give you some input on the injection vs. the oral. I have never even heard of the injection. I've always just used the oral. Have you googled to see if you can find any information on the pros and cons of the two in a previously heartworm positive dog?

There you go! I should have known Linda was aware of it.:)

Some links, including the FDA report when the company changed their labeling. :( Just this little snippet from the FDA report is enough to scare me:

Fort Dodge Animal Health has revised the product’s label. The label warns not to use the drug within a month of the time a dog receives vaccinations and not to use it in dogs with pre-existing allergic disease, including food allergies, skin allergies, and flea allergy dermatitis. In addition, the label states that veterinarians should not administer the drug to dogs that are sick, debilitated, underweight, or have a history of weight loss.

The post-approval section of the label has been updated to include reported adverse reactions, such as liver and blood disorders.

Dog owners will be required to sign a consent form before their dogs are treated and will receive a revised Client Infor-mation Sheet that includes updated safety information.




PROHEART 6 RECALL

The Senior Dogs Project

FDA Announces ProHeart® 6 Return to Market

Thank you, and I see that you are in the south too, so you have the heartworm problem as bad as we do, and thank you Yorkieusa for your kind words and help.

I think we are almost out of this. Skip is back to normal and he does not flinch when you touch his back. He will be going to grandma's house on Sunday for Easter. In a week and a half he will have his last injection and that is to kill any larvae in his blood. I don't know what to expect with this injection, but the worst is apparently over and I will be able to take the little goofball for walks in a couple of weeks. Now I need some advice on getting him to the vet without him being in fear. He knows when we are going to the vet, and he gets so scared. I don't want him to think that it is always bad, because as far as I know two out of three visits have been really painful for him. Any ideas? Thank you all for your help and kind words.

Skip is done with the treatments. I can walk him again, but not too much. We go back again in a month for HW tests, to get the all clear. I love my vet, but Skip kind of hates them these days :( .

I'm sorry I missed your post of 04/21. Was he terribly scared when you took him to the vet?

It's so nice to read that you are done, except for the test. How wonderful for you and for your "goofball".:) I use that same description of Kacee sometimes when she is running and playing with one of her balls. I call her a goofball because she reminds me of newborn calves when they are running - that is what she looks like!:D

I hope he gets to have a wonderful life now. He certainly had a time! Because of you, he will have a wonderful life.:)

This time I thought it was going to be an office visit, but it turns out they wanted to watch him for the day. We got to the vet at 7:30 and and they told us that they wanted to keep him until at least 3:00 after the injection for observation. When we harness him for a trip, he lifts his legs for us so we can get his harness on, when we get home, I just unlatch it and he gets himself out. When they told me he was staying, and his favorite nurse came out, I snapped the latch on his harness. We had to lift his feet out so she could leash him. She called him and he froze like a statue. I tried not to laugh. She finally scooped him into her arms and he started wagging his tail. When we picked him up he was exploding with energy, and he is doing great. I was thinking about taking him by the vet just to visit so he doesn't think something bad is going to happen every time he goes there.

I could just picture him doing all of that as I was reading it. I'm so glad he's doing so well. That makes my day! You'll have to take them some of his favorite treats and stop by once in awhile so they can show him that good things can happen when he goes there!:) Please keep us updated on him. He sounds like an angel. I'm so glad you have him and he has you, too.:)

Happy to hear Skip is doing well!! :)

Vet says he can't walk like normal, we need to keep it to two blocks or less. He did say I could walk him two blocks several times a day, I just have to break it up(not possible due to work). He is going for walks tomorrow, because, if I don't get some energy out of him he might explode. He has been a little bit rangy lately. He feels so much better and we can tell.