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Under The Circumstances, What's Best?


Erny
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I would go with the Daily Dimmitrol,We use the 200mg tablets and that covers weight range from 15-39kgs so will be easier as Mandela grows because if you buy the monthly tabs you will have to alter dosages as he grows.

I'm thinking I will do this, IR.

Does it have anything on the label that suggests what you have to do if you even only miss ONE day's dose?

Also, can you tell me where you purchase yours through (PM me with this if you'd prefer).

I have done a bit of net surfing and the price is around $7.26 AUS (including GST) for 200mg (100 tabs).

$56.10 (inc GST) for 1000 tabs. ...... does the label have a "used by" date? Because that many tabs would keep one dog going for almost 3 years. I think I'd be better off with the 100 tab canister as I only have a single dog.

As an aside, I note the 200mg 1000 tab "refill pack" is quite a bit cheaper ..... $37.95.

I'm not worried - I'll buy whatever is the best for pup. :thumbsup:

ETA : Just as an aside .... I'm wondering. Thinking ahead of time and somewhat hypothetically. Let's say I have Mandela on the Dimmitrol daily tabs. But then something happens where I need to go away for a lengthy stay (can't see it happening for me but it might be relevant for someone else) and I don't want to burden (or for that matter, trust) the person I leave him with to look after with having to remember the daily tab. Can I switch over to, say, Heartgard and then after 45 days, switch back to Dimmitrol daily?

I'm presuming not. But honestly, trying to read, understand and compare chemical compounds from one item to another about does my head in.

Edited by Erny
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My two had their first heartworm treatment when I moved to Brissie, they are 5 and 2 and never had it before as we were up in Toowoomba the vet said they didn't have a heartworm problem there (too cold) although a friends' neighbour had a dog die from it up there so who knows :thumbsup:

I got the injection, I didn't get it with their other shots though which is lucky becuase I heard afterwards that they can get a bit crook if they have all at once.

For flea stuff mine get Advantage in summer and nothing in winter.

I don't have a problem with using these things as needed, the worst health problem my dog has had was definetly nothing to do with chemicals that's for sure!

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I would not put my dogs on a daily tablet because I choose to fast my dogs some days, and I'd have trouble remembering to feed my dogs the tablet each day.

I have heard that if you miss a day it may give the microflaire chance to grow big enough to cause cardiac disturbance.... But I don't know where I heard it from.

Thank-you for posting Jean Dodd's opinion.

Did she mention the weather period needed for heartworm development?

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Did she mention the weather period needed for heartworm development?

No - pretty much only what I posted. This reference made : "As I am in a heartworm risk area and given the mozzies have come out ... ".

Good point about the 'fasting'.

Wondering on how people go when they aren't to feed their dogs for one reason or another (eg. prior to surgery etc.). Does this count for not giving the dog the tablet as well? Or is this one of those "deal with it when it comes up as with luck it's not likely to occur with any frequency" things? Yep .... I think I'm over-thinking it. :thumbsup:

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Yep .... I think I'm over-thinking it. :D

:rofl: You sound just how I feel sometimes - trying to do the absolute best thing but sometimes the conflicting advice, information, instructions, circumstances etc etc just make it impossible!

I have come to the conclusion I can only do what I can do - and just go with the flow these days :thumbsup:

You sound like the daily tablets are your preferred option, I'd just deal with the situation if it came about that you missed a day for whatever reason. You can only do so much, and as long as you have the best intentions (ie a lot of thought has gone into your decision) then I would take those risks.

:D

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Does it have anything on the label that suggests what you have to do if you even only miss ONE day's dose?

I believe that it is very dangerous to miss a day, I think, but im not sure, that if you miss a day you have to test them before starting again.

ETA : Just as an aside .... I'm wondering. Thinking ahead of time and somewhat hypothetically. Let's say I have Mandela on the Dimmitrol daily tabs. But then something happens where I need to go away for a lengthy stay (can't see it happening for me but it might be relevant for someone else) and I don't want to burden (or for that matter, trust) the person I leave him with to look after with having to remember the daily tab. Can I switch over to, say, Heartgard and then after 45 days, switch back to Dimmitrol daily?

Other way around i am pretty sure. You give the monthly tablet (heargard, interceptor etc) after 45 days then give the daily the day after. I am sure it was in that link that someone posted.

It might have been said (or perhaps I recall it being mentioned in Dr. Jean's link article I put up .... will have to re-read) but what is the period of grace (if any) that you have if you do forget to give either the Dimmitrol or the Heartgard?

If you give it every 45 days there is little or no grace period, there is some belief that you can go up to 50 days but this had not been proven. If you give every 30 days, there is a 15 day grace period.

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It's dangerous to give the daily tabs if you are going to miss one....just get into a nightly routine you cannot forget. We've never forgotten one in 5 years.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok - I have purchased the Dimmitrol tabs and gave Mandela his first one last night. I must have become a bit paranoid about how we dose our dogs so much with chemicals that I admit to giving it to him reluctantly.

But I've been thinking.

If the mozzies' cycle is 6 months and a tablet kills the microfilia (?), why do we have to give a tablet every single day (or for those on the other types, every 45 days)? I mean, if the dose I gave Mandela would have ridded him of any potential mozzie heartworm infestation and it's going to take another 6 months before the mozzie 'cycle' gets to that point again, why not dose him say once every few months?

I'm sure I'm wrong otherwise the good Dr. Jean Dodds would have mentioned this and now that he's started on it, I'll continue to administer the daily Dimmitrol until the warmer months pass by. Perhaps it is just that I have my mind tangled up in another project just now; that I have a headache and that I have a tooth that is causing me some grief; that I'm thinking in a bit of a muddle.

I'm not even certain if this post makes sense. Aaaaagh! Somebody straighten me out, please? :thumbsup:

Edited by Erny
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The reason you give every day as it only takes One mozzie to bite and infect your dog

Yes ... but isn't the cycle 6 months (or thereabouts) for it to evolve to causing a problem within the heart?

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Daily tablets work differently Erny. Don't ask me how, i just know its different. I forget, is your dog over 6 months and if so, did you get him checked before you started giving the daily tablets because it can be VERY dangerous to give the dailies to an infected dog.

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Thanks Alison. No - he's only almost 5.5 months of age. In addition to which, mozzie season only started about a month ago.

That's what I don't quite get. It is ok to start provided it is before the 6 month old mark, because of the mozzie cycle. Yet it has to now be daily until mozzie season is past. I obviously am simply not understanding the whole thing very well, but it does have me puzzled.

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Hhhhmm. Not arguing with you - just voicing my puzzlement. I'm sure you're closer to the 'mark' than what my thoughts are. If what you say is kind of right though, it would mean that the 6 month cycle of mozzie's has no bearing and that any pup even born inside the mozzie season should begin to receive the medication from day dot.

Sorry Alison. I know you're trying to help answer my query so I don't want to sound as though I'm debating this with you. Only to express that it still isn't making sense to me and the direction it is taking my thoughts in.

Edited by Erny
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The daily tab only kills the larvae that enters the dog on THAT day....so if you miss a tablet, it does not work backwards and so heartworm infection will still be there. The monthly ones kill back up to 45 days or so.

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Thanks Tess32. That makes sense.

But what about any infestation that (in my instance) pup might have had before I commenced the tabs? I started him on them before he was 6 months old. But it's the "it's ok if he isn't yet 6 months old" part that I think is causing me my confusion.

ETA: Actually - I'm not sure that that does make sense. If the daily tabs "don't work backwards" then it wouldn't be quite as critical to blood test an older dog first ...... would it?

Edited by Erny
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Thanks Tess32. That makes sense.

But what about any infestation that (in my instance) pup might have had before I commenced the tabs? I started him on them before he was 6 months old. But it's the "it's ok if he isn't yet 6 months old" part that I think is causing me my confusion.

I think you cannot reliably test for heartworm until they are adults anyway, so 6 months.

The 6 month rule really applies to the monthly retroactive tablets. I would just start the daily tabs now. The risk is very slight, the problems occur when they are given to dogs with an actual infections as I think it kills very quickly and so excess toxins are released.

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Thanks Tess32. That makes sense.

But what about any infestation that (in my instance) pup might have had before I commenced the tabs? I started him on them before he was 6 months old. But it's the "it's ok if he isn't yet 6 months old" part that I think is causing me my confusion.

ETA: Actually - I'm not sure that that does make sense. If the daily tabs "don't work backwards" then it wouldn't be quite as critical to blood test an older dog first ...... would it?

They only safely kill at one stage of the heartworm....it is known to be dangerous to give the daily tabs to an infected dog because of the way it reacts.

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Sorry Tess32. I'm either really thick (which is possible) and not 'getting' your explanation (and to which I thank you for trying to resolve my query) ..... but that means that Mandela could have already been infected and that giving him the daily tabs (which I have been for the past 3 days) is/was dangerous.

So why the "up to 6 months of age" recommendation/suggestion? Why not "from the get go"?

I'm sorry if I'm not making the point of my query very clear.

Edited by Erny
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