heartworm med dosage??

my mom recently put her shitzu Misty on heartworm med. She wondered if misty was haveng reaction, she was panting heavily, chewing on her feet. for almost 2 days. My mom said the vet put her on the 26-50# since Mistywas 26 #. I told her it sounds like she was reacting the the dosage because of her weight being borderline. I told her that when I got Wylies heartworm my vet said it was ciritcal on dosage when they ae bordering the weight guidlines. She was at 52# an they still wanted to keep her on the less dosage.

anyone with this experience?
honeybear

 

haven't heard of this happening before -- is there anything else new that could be causing the chewing and panting?

the vet at the shelter had a client ask him about heartworm dosage just the other day -- apparently this client was looking for a cheaper way to dose her dog and wanted to know if she could just split the chewy treat in half. anyway, he called the manufacturer of heartguard and they told him it's not really possible to overdose your dog on the medicine, but you will run into risks if the dog is underdosed.

has your mother considered the proheart injection as heartworm control? from what i understand the vets can more accurately control the dosage through this method.

 

Heartworm "preventive" is a poison. Any reactions should be reported immediately to your vet. My personal preference is to not routinely poison the dog every month for his whole life just in case he might get heartworms. I prefer more natural preventive methods, such as natural bug repellents and garlic tablets. I also get my dogs tested every 6 months for early detection, just in case. Getting heartworms is not a death sentence - they can be gently cured by homeopathic means, and even regular treatments result in a cure and the dog can never get them again.

Heartworm "preventives" don't really prevent them - they kill the larvae if the dog becomes infected with them. The only way to prevent infection is to not get bitten by mosquitoes.

Also, there is some controversy surrounding the Proheart 6 heartworm shots. I couldn't find the page I was looking at this morning, but here is another one: http://cbs4boston.com/reports/local_story_061205218.html.

Here is some additional reading:

http://www.preciouspets.org/newsletters/articles/heartworm-article.htm
http://www.bullovedbulldogs.com/heartworm.htm
http://www.preciouspets.org/heartwormprevention.htm


Jamiya

 

Oh, something else that is VERY important. A dog with a HEALTHY immune system should be able to fight off even a heartworm infection. Many dogs have recovered without any intervention at all.

BUT in order to have a healthy immune system that can help prevent infection or fight it off if it is contracted, one needs to do several things - feed a species-appropriate diet, and avoid all medications and poisions that will weaken the immune system. This includes flea and tick and heartworm preventives, routine wormings, vaccinations, etc.

Since my dogs have not been on raw food for very long and since they had their vaccinations within the last year (I didn't know it was bad) and they were on heartworm and flea/tick poison, I don't trust their immune systems yet. So I use daily garlic tablets and if we are going out at dawn or dusk or near water, I use a natural bug repellent spray. I will always get them tested every 6 months for heartworms for early detection. And I just pull ticks off - I am in KS (near MO) and there ARE a lot of ticks if you go into wooded areas, but I think lyme disease is not a problem here. I run my hands over the dogs daily when I am petting and playing with them, so I find ticks early if they have them.

Bonnie has never had a tick, but Nala has had 3 this year. I think they find her tasty or something.

But my kids have also come home with ticks and I surely am not going to rub poison on their skin every month "just in case"!

Garlic is supposed to repel ALL bugs, and since we started the daily tablets I have not seen any ticks. We have not had a flea problem, either. Be careful about garlic, however, and don't overdose.


Jamiya

 

Jimiya - I think Misty did have a reaction and at 8 years old and never being on the meds caused a problem. I do think it is how healthy the dog/cat is and what their environment is in treating heartworm. Now jake with his wacky immune system and the mosquitos just love him him, He gets a ton landing on him just being out minutes but they dont bother Wylie at all.

As for garlic, I found some awesome stuff for the yard. it is called mosquito barrier. it is 99.5% pure garlic juice. you mix it with water in a sprayer and do the perimeter. I got it last week and had a bbq outside i with company, I was ver worried it wasnt going to work and we were going to have to go inside. but it worked great.

and we have been able to sit out every night this week. it says you only need a few applications thru the summer depending on weather

Honeybear

 

I have heard of that garlic barrier stuff. I was worried it would make the yard smell like garlic! Did you notice an odor? Where did you get it from?

I get eaten alive by mosquitoes and so do my kids. I often react badly to the bites and they swell up to huge dimensions. Not fun.

My son used to come home from preschool with tons of chigger bites. I would tell the director and she would spray the playground. My daughter could play on the same playground on the same day and come home with no bites at all. My son and one other child in the whole preschool continued to have problems even after she treated the playground. Just lucky, I guess. :|


Jamiya

 

Jimiya, my husband gets eaten alive too, so I was excited to see it works. It smells real bad when you first apply it, but then the smell goes away after about half an hour. here is the link. I ordered the quart bottle, which should last me all summer


http://www.mosquito-zapper.com/mosquito_barrier.htm

honeybear