Vet Office Questions..

[snatchel]

Today I went for Brody's annual vet visit. Of course, he gets his shots and updates and whatnot.. but I have him checked every year for heartworms as well. While talking with my vet about heartworms, I asked if it was necessary in this area to even use heartguard, we have very few mosquitos and Brody is an inside dog who only goes out to use the bathroom, go camping/hiking with me.. that kind of thing. The vet said I can drop heartguard as long as I keep bringing him in annually to get tested. Does anyone here not give their dogs heartworm meds? I am taking the vets word for it and skipping out this year, I just want to make sure I am not the only one to do that.

Either way, he checked out healthy as can be. Vet said he is fit as a fiddle... he got rewarded for being a good boy with a double-cheeseburger, no onions or dressing.

[The Annoyed Man]

I can't tell if that cheeseburger was headed for your mouth or his.

Our dog Trapper is like Brody, in that he is an inside dog most of the time, but we keep him treated for heartworms. There may not be many mosquitos where you live, but it only takes one. Also, the heartworm med we use is both heartworm AND flea control. Now, Trapper has a discerning palate. You can't just wrap a pill in a piece of ham or cheese, because he'll suss it out, discard it, and eat the rest of the treat. And these are chewable pills mind you that most dogs think is a treat. But not Trapper. He's like the princess and the pea. And he's big and strong enough that pilling him the hard way is a slimy mess that involves sharp molars and tender fingers.

SO...... my wife's routine is to break the pill up into tiny pieces, mix the tiny pieces with peanut butter, and then smear that mixture all over a cracker—which he will eye suspiciously before deigning to take it over to his bed and think about it for a bit before eating it. Smear some pill-free peanut butter all over that same cracker, and Trapper is your huckleberry. Go figure. I think that his nose has superpowers.

[Keith B]

SO...... my wife's routine is to break the pill up into tiny pieces, mix the tiny pieces with peanut butter, and then smear that mixture all over a cracker—which he will eye suspiciously before deigning to take it over to his bed and think about it for a bit before eating it. Smear some pill-free peanut butter all over that same cracker, and Trapper is your huckleberry. Go figure. I think that his nose has superpowers.

Did she learn that trick when getting YOU to take YOUR pills TAM?

Even though our dogs are inside dogs, we also keep them on Heartguard. We don't have a lot of mosquitoes in Dallas, but they do travel with use to Missouri periodically to visit and there are a LOT of mosquitoes up here. I think it is just a judgment call and a calculated risk factor for the individual pet owner on each individual case.

[AEA]

Only takes one......
I live out in the country and there are more out here than in the cities. My GSD (also mostly inside dog) gets heartguard every month, all year long.

[MoJo]

I think that his nose has superpowers.

Compared to a human's nose a dog is a super sniffer. I saw a demonstration of a drug dog's abilities where one joint of marijuana was wrapped in foil, then taped with duct tape and placed inside a zip lock bag inside a .50 caliber ammo can. The ammo can was hidden in a large classroom about an hour before the demonstration. When the dog was brought in he did his search and found the pot. The dog handlers said the smugglers would go to steps such as hiding the drugs in coffee, diesel tanks, etc, the dogs are able to sniff out the odor of the drugs even when "masked" by other stronger odors.
As far as heartworm preventive goes I've seen too many dogs die from heartworm to take the chance.

[74novaman]

We keep our mutt on it because she was a rescue dog and had heartworms when she was found.

I don't want to take a chance since I'm sure she already has some heart damage from the last bout.

[E.Marquez]

1: Yes we keep all three of our dogs on heart guard year round, we have few mosquitoes, but inside dog or not, mosquitoes have no problems getting in the house at times..

2: Not sure what you’re paying for Heart worm meds. Nor how large your pup is... but assuming over 50 lb, and uses the largest HG size med..it's about $85 annually for meds... A heart worm test at my vet is $55.. And doing it annually as a "let’s see if they HAVE heart worm" and then the cost of treatment if they do, the damage already done to the pup... and possible future issues that may come up after being treated... I see no reason to risk my pups for a savings of $35 a year... and a potential of losing them sooner than needed, or extra expense if treatment is required.

[snatchel]

I can't tell if that cheeseburger was headed for your mouth or his.

Our dog Trapper is like Brody, in that he is an inside dog most of the time, but we keep him treated for heartworms. There may not be many mosquitos where you live, but it only takes one. Also, the heartworm med we use is both heartworm AND flea control. Now, Trapper has a discerning palate. You can't just wrap a pill in a piece of ham or cheese, because he'll suss it out, discard it, and eat the rest of the treat. And these are chewable pills mind you that most dogs think is a treat. But not Trapper. He's like the princess and the pea. And he's big and strong enough that pilling him the hard way is a slimy mess that involves sharp molars and tender fingers.

SO...... my wife's routine is to break the pill up into tiny pieces, mix the tiny pieces with peanut butter, and then smear that mixture all over a cracker—which he will eye suspiciously before deigning to take it over to his bed and think about it for a bit before eating it. Smear some pill-free peanut butter all over that same cracker, and Trapper is your huckleberry. Go figure. I think that his nose has superpowers.

LOL. Thanks y'all. I am starting to think that maybe I will go ahead and buy the heartguard. It runs baout 8 bucks a month... and I would be devastated if something happened to him that I could have prevented.

[RPBrown]

We do not use the Heart Guard but use Diotamatous Earth (DE but not the swimming pool type) on their food at each feeding. This is a natural product that keeps them free from all types of parasites. We have been using this for many years and have never had a dog with heartworms or any other type of worms.

I just have a problem giving my dogs a poison, which is what heart guard is. We don't even use the one spot flea control or flea collars as we are all natural at our house as well as my wife's groom shop.

[3dfxMM]

1: Yes we keep all three of our dogs on heart guard year round, we have few mosquitoes, but inside dog or not, mosquitoes have no problems getting in the house at times..

2: Not sure what you’re paying for Heart worm meds. Nor how large your pup is... but assuming over 50 lb, and uses the largest HG size med..it's about $85 annually for meds... A heart worm test at my vet is $55.. And doing it annually as a "let’s see if they HAVE heart worm" and then the cost of treatment if they do, the damage already done to the pup... and possible future issues that may come up after being treated... I see no reason to risk my pups for a savings of $35 a year... and a potential of losing them sooner than needed, or extra expense if treatment is required.

I wish it was only $85 a year for the meds. I would have to go through some statements to see how much it runs us, but I know it isn't anywhere near as low as $85. Each dog gets two pills. One gets two of the largest pills and the other gets one of those and and one of the next size down. Fortunately, our dogs think they are candy. :) It doesn't matter if it is $85 or $285, our dogs are getting it. I have also seen what heartworms can do to a pup.

[Teamless]

I will use Heartgard, period.
I am not chancing it for my dogs, let alone the vet bill should your dog come down with heartworms.
I complained at my vets office that they were getting too expensive (51-100 lb dog was $150/year.
They said they use a company called VetCentric (they will not use PetMeds.com) and they would set me up with a prescription on there, but i had to log in, and do the payment to the Vetcentric site.
Ended up, my $150 annual supply of Heartgard for 1 dog, went down to $94, well worth asking them and complaining a bit.

now if it were $100 or $500, I would still do it.
If I had to cut out some range time,
stop eating out so often, or give up other luxuries, I am not going to let my dog suffer because I am selfish.
If I plainly cannot afford it, well, I think its simple (to me anyway), then I cannot afford to have the dog, at all.

[WildBill]

I think that his nose has superpowers.

Compared to a human's nose a dog is a super sniffer. I saw a demonstration ...

I saw a show about dogs being used to find a girl who had been kidnapped. The kidnapped girl was tied up and put in a car. The dogs picked up the scent where the car had driven by the road. As I recall it was several days after the girl was kidnapped.

[WildBill]

I think that his nose has superpowers.

Compared to a human's nose a dog is a super sniffer. I saw a demonstration ...

I saw a true TV show about dogs being used to find a girl who had been kidnapped. The kidnapped girl was tied up and put in a car. The dogs picked up the scent where the car had driven by the road. As I recall it was several days after the girl was kidnapped.

[sjfcontrol]

I use Iverhart Plus, which is cheaper than Heartguard. Also buy online instead of from the Vet. Though the vet refuses to fax perscriptions, I have to pick them up, or have them mailed to me, then mail to the online supplier.

[C-dub]

I don't think DE does anything to prevent heart worms. It is good for intestinal parasites, except for tapeworms.

For you one or two dog owners I think Heart Guard is a good way to go. For those with more dogs and especially larger dogs, I would recommend getting to a Tractor Supply and picking up some Ivermectin. Inject 0.1mL per 10 pounds of dog weight into some raw ground beef or just straight into their mouth once a month. It is much cheaper than Heart Guard, but will expire long before being used up on only one or two dogs.