Fancy name for heart worm. Thunder had his yearly physical yesterday. Vet called today and said he had it. Hopefully we caught it before it caused any damage.
I went through it with a dog some 25-30 yrs ago. That was successful!
Fancy name for heart worm. Thunder had his yearly physical yesterday. Vet called today and said he had it. Hopefully we caught it before it caused any damage.
I went through it with a dog some 25-30 yrs ago. That was successful!
Sorry, missed Bob's "fancy name for heart worm." Late night last night, I thought this was something different and/or weird. Crawling back into my hole now.
The mosquito is the vector.
Yes, Thunder was on HeartGuard. Because he was, the vet told me that the HeartGuard folks will pay for the treatment. Hopefully, that's the case. How I need to prove that, I'm not sure other then the vet has records of my purchasing a 12month supply, one year ago at Thunder's last annual visit.
I will probably change to a different monthly preventative when all this is past.
He's young and strong. I have good hopes for a complete recovery.
I just looked at their guarantee. It certainly appears that since a vet was prescribing it regularly and you were buying it from that vet, it is indeed guaranteed.
In discussing this with my vet today, he commented that the manufacturere will probably NOT guarantee the product because they can't control the online products as to production date or shelf life.
Moot point anyway. In looking back at my own records, ther was a gap in treating Thinder in the fall/winter. In this part of the country, it's said that winter treatment isn't necessary because of our hard winters. We've had a couple of really mild ones the past few years.
Connie suggested that I ask the vet to match the online prices. The only reason I've bought them online is price.
Let me suggest this to everyone: Ask your vet to match online prices.
The vet med houses claim that web sources sometimes carry outdated or even counterfeit products (which might well be exaggerated by the vet med houses, but what do I know?).
My own vet said to me when I mentioned getting products online that she would match web prices if I printed out the page with the date and price.
When I told people at my club this, several asked their vets about it and were told the same thing.
Naturally, the vet doesn't have a big sign in the waiting room about it, but I've discovered that it's common practice.
Tonight was my first night at training without Thunder since he was 12 wks old. It sucked!
Now I just have to control myself and not run the poor Presa pup in the ground. Everyone at training tells me I NEED two dog to keep up with my ADHD.
Any of them. I used to be in the energy industry...fact of the matter is, the last ten years have been much warmer and/or less predictable than anytime in modern history...especially where Bob lives and where I live. I'm not saying there woudl be this dramatic shift but I can certainly see where a few weeks for better or worse might be adjusted.
The charts are almost moot. Do you know about what happened in Salt Lake City?
Mosquitoes don't live in the desert, right?
Salt Lake Citywas classified non-endemic for heartworm.
Then an urban renewal project in the 90s resulted in new trees all over the city.
The next spring, when they were pruned, there were knot-holes in Salt Lake city. Aedes sierrensis moved in and heartworm cases started. Salt Lake City is now considered to be as bad for heartworm as Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, Maryland, Georgia........
It doesn't even take a climate shift (natural or manmade), although a climate shift is definitely enough to change/enhance the habitats for all kinds of mosquitos.
There is heartworm in Alaska now. Southern California's desert region is now dotted with heartworm cases.
As Woody suggested, data lag behind actual cases, and I don't read the charts any longer. The Salt Lake City thing wasn't discovered and reported widely for almost two years after the cases started.
BTW, the Heartgard length-of-protection is actually close to 6 weeks, per my vet; the one-month RX is to ensure total coverage even if you forget a dose and are a few days late (or to sell more, or both).
Connie, ya got me good on that one!
Until I saw the (kidding) at the bottom, all I could think of was "OH $#!+"! I done it this time! :lol: :roll: :lol: :roll:
Carol, I gotta say that pumping arsnic into a dog isn't what I'd call natural. That's what the treatment calls for. Going through this, I doubt you could talk me into a wait and see attitude.
I would be curious as to the heartworm problems in your area that your vet opts for this direction.
San Diego has much less than many areas, but the primary vector of dog heartworm in Southern California, Aedes sierrensis, certainly does exist in San Diego.
Most cases in that area occur after a dog has traveled outside the area and been infected elsewhere, but not all.
I'm a firm believer in no unnecessary vaccinations, no "boosters," etc. But that doesn't extend to heartworm, for me. The Salt Lake City story was more than enough. That's desert --- with a heartworm epidemic. And there are still people there who believe that they don't need heartworm prevention, because they never used to, and it took a couple of years before the epidemic was recognized, and even now, if someone hasn't read it or heard it, then they still don't know.
There is no area of this country where there have not been heartworm cases. Maybe we have to educate our vets....
BTW, the Heartgard length-of-protection is actually close to 6 weeks, per my vet; the one-month RX is to ensure total coverage even if you forget a dose and are a few days late (or to sell more, or both).
This is true, but if you don't give it every 4 weeks, as directed on the label, the guarantee is null and void; the company will not pay for treatment should your dog contract heartworms.....
The guarantee is based on buying the 12 dosages during the 12-month period at the vet's office, where the records are maintained to prove the sale.
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