My wife is looking at adapting a dog that is “recovering” from heartworm. I guess he no longer has it, can any one tell me what this means? I understand if he gets it again he would die. Would there be any future expenses? Or would the monthly dose of heart guard suffice?
the drugs that kill heartworm cause kidney damage, so the dog probably won’t live as long as normal.
Zoomer- Never heard of any kidney problems with heart worm meds. Guess it depends on the brand being used. A lot of the commerical ones have a lot of extra garbage in them. That could be the cause.
If you look the main ingiedent in most heartwormers is Ivermectin. You can give this to your dog alone at a lot less cost than what you have or will be paying.
Most farm supply stores carry the same meds in the horse/cattle sections. You can buy a bottle of Ivomec(Ivermectin) that will last you for years with one dog. Will end up throwing it away when it expires. A 50ml bottle costs about $40. For a 50lb dog you would give .5ml, hence .1ml/cc per 10lbs. They best way to give is in thier food. The taste is bitter, and burns the throt if you squirt in the mouth. Shots sting a little. Some guys inject into a hot dog. Ivermec also works for roundworm, hookworms, lice, and mange mites. For tapes you will need someting like valbazan or pyranquintal pomate(sure i mispelled that one!)
I run hounds about 10 months a year. So I have to worm often due to the stuff they can get into. Most houndsmen do a lot of self vetting to cut down cost. WIth a large pack of dogs it can get costly quick. I worm my dogs with Ivomec at least once a month. Every 2 weeks during the summer training months. Ivomec only lasts about 5 days in the dogs system. I worm for tapes about every 3 months. Even with all this worming we have dogs that live to a ripe old age.
Hope this helps you out.
It’s not the preventive meds like heartgaard that cause any kidney problem. It is when the dog has heartworm and needs to be treated by a vet. The meds they use have arsnic in them. In some cases the dogs kidneys may not pass the poison but that is only in about 5% of the cases
I would check with the vet that treated the dog and your vet on what the dogs needs wills be. It probably will be the mothly dose.
If you got skeeters, or let your dogs out in the winter. They all need a monthly heartwormer to prevent them!!!!
They only thing that is questionable is the year 5,7,8 way vaccines. A lot of study has been done on the over vaccinating of them. Same goes with the rabies. Most rabies are a 3 year, but most towns require a 2 year shot. Studieds have shown that it is not nessacary. The other biggy that most do not do is give the lymes vacine.
Asking your vet about all this may not be the answer. Unless you have a vet that understands, and don’t have a problem with hound hunters, or doing your own vetting. They will want you to get all your stuff from them. Got one vet in our area that sent nasty letters out to several people for giving thier own vaccines.
Another tip for you guys if you have multiple dogs is to use Equi Spot instead of the Bio Spot. 10 doses for 10 bucks vs the 3 for 10. Use a syringe to draw out of the package and use the same amount as would otherwise. Medium dogs 45-70lb would be 3ml or cc.
Don’t get me wrong I am not a vet, but do know how to take care of my hounds. Adminster all our own shots except the rabies due to the certificate thing. Also staple cuts, and any other thing we can do. Botttle of penicllin in the fridge at all times. Although I can buy the 7ways, and lymes online etc, I get them from my vet to help make him happy.
You can save yourself a lot of money with a little common sense. Still you will need to take your dog to the vet when needed and I do. In fact will be headed in today as I think one of our dogs may have anaplasmosis. Another tick borne disease.
We don’t skimp our dogs get every thing they need. Still If I went to the vet to have it all done would cost me way over $5000 a year just in preventative care. I prefer to save that money in case they need major work after getting ripped open by a bear, wolf, or car.
Ohh another good tip for you guys. If your dog gets a lot of eye boogers bad from being outside. Due to allergies, running hard etc. Use the sterlie eye drops for contact users. It has an anti-bacterial in it, and really helps clear up the eyes.
Just trying to help as many of you as possible save a few bucks to spend on being in the field. I know this will fall on some deaf ears. Then again, some people also run to the doctor themselves at the first sniffle.
Hope I help a few of you out.
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