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Dirofilariasis

10K views 47 replies 13 participants last post by  Connie Sutherland 
Bob, I had the same thing happen to a dog years ago and I don't miss a lick anymore. One silly month in the winter was what it took.

My vet said the same thing about price matching

I have been giving Interceptor for several years and get an annual check anyway but no issues ...

I think it is more forgiving on scheduling mishaps plus the fact that my dogs tend to sample (if I don't get to them quick enough) from other critters leavings in the woods.......and farm animals.....and it treats a host of intestinal worms.
 
Bob Scott said:
Heartworm was originally almost exclusively a Southern problem. My first contact with it was in the 70s here. Back then we were told it wasn't needed during the winter months. .
I was in high school in Fla in the early 70s and worked for a Vet. Back then the recommendation was to give daily caricide but that was several generations of HW medicine ago.

I saw a number of advanced cases of HW and it was horrible - dogs struggling for every breath, edema, coughing up blood. By then there is pretty much no hope. Caught early and treated, the dog can live a healthy life but the dog must be very healthy to survive the treatment in the first place.

I also worked at the UGA vet school right after college and worked for a vet doing heartworm research -- doing necropsies on dogs they had intentionally infected with heartworms (the "non-controls" for a clinical trial on Filaribits) was enough to convince me........

Even so, we had one dog come up HW positive (I medicate AND test annually!!!) due to negligence on my part , but he was a young (5 yo) healthy dog who lived to be 15 after the treatment.
 
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