Flea/worm/heartworm Prevention

[Lily123]

I hope this is the right spot for this topic. I have some questions about what people use for worms/fleas/heartworm. I have been using Revolution on my JRT and the cats but I've seen some threads on here regarding how many chemicals are involved. I was automatically going to start the new puppy on Revolution but would I be better just putting him on something for heartworm and worms and only treating for fleas if there is a problem? We had problems with fleas years ago (when the Frontline stopped working) but haven't had any since. I do live in a hot, humid area so I don't want to end up with problems again. Also, I remember reading a thread somewhere about not using the monthly heartworm monthly but six weekly. Could I use the Revolution six weekly do you think? It seems the more I read the less I know and the more confused I become. I want the animals to be healthy with as little chemical intervention as possible but I also don't want worms or fleas! Just interested in what people use and how it works for them. Thanks for any advice.

[Erny]

It seems the more I read the less I know and the more confused I become.

LOL .... thats a conundrum that you are not alone about.

I want the animals to be healthy with as little chemical intervention as possible but I also don't want worms or fleas! Just interested in what people use and how it works for them.

Good for you for giving this consideration .

Worms : Dr. Bruce Syme (Vet in Castlemaine, VIC) explained at a seminar that the dog's system is designed to manage a mild worm burden. We apply drugs to create a squeaky clean intestinal tract, leaving no 'job' for the dog's system to take care of as it normally would. That's where imbalance can occur, with the dog's otherwise "unemployed" system looking for something to do, so it turns to things that it really ought not. That's it in simplistic terms.

So, IMO (not a professional one) whether you chose to administer worming drugs or not depends on what your dog's been up to and what his environment is like. Does he go on ventures where he gets to eat Roo poo, other dog's poo etc.? Is he in contact with that sort of stuff, generally speaking? If he's not (nor is my dog) then I don't think worming is a necessity. Just recently I read (here on DOL, I think?) about some veterinary article reporting they are now finding there is a resistance to the worm drugs we commonly give our dogs. Given that we've been 'groomed' to worm every 3 months, year in year out for the dog's life, I don't wonder at it. I wondered about this for my horse too, who is wormed regularly, but I expect a ground grazing animal is different and most likely to be affected by worms, especially in an agistment type arrangement.

I am more inclined to have a worm-burden count done - it's simple and quick (on the spot) and involves only in taking a fresh stool sample to your Vet who will check it.

If I were concerned that my dog might have picked up nasties (I don't think a worm-burden count is the be all and end all), then I might worm him, but it would be only when I thought there was a higher possibility risk. I wouldn't do it on a continual rota type system.

Heartworm : I live in Victoria. Where I live, our climate is not congenial to the mozzie cycle for heartworm. Won't say it would never happen, but from what I've read, heard and researched, I believe it to be very unlikely. To me, the risk is low enough to not be well balanced with the constance administration of heartworm preventative drugs. But if you live in a heartworm environment, then Dimmitrol Daily heartwormers is I believe the 'safest' heartworm drug to give. The downside being that they are daily and you need to be able to remember to give it daily. Also, if you're in an environment where through winter the temperature becomes cool (even just overnight) you probably don't need to give heartworm medication during that time. If daily tabs is a concern to you, then I'd go for the monthly chewables. I understand these will cover your dog for 45 days (not just one month) but they are promoted as 'monthly' because it is tended to be found people will forget if they take it to the 45th day cycle treatment. In fact, I think it would be easier to remember a "daily" and get into the habit of that, than it would be to try to remember "45th day" treatment.

Fleas : I don't have a flea issue so I don't drug my dog against fleas. I guess the only way you'll know you have an issue is by keeping a look out and perhaps conversing with those in your neighbourhood to see if fleas on their dogs is a bit of a common problem. The odd flea isn't so bad - thumbnails are good for squishing those, but I agree, an infestation of them isn't what we want. If you wish to, I can send you up a shoo tag to trial - although I don't think there's much point in doing that unless you know whether you've seen a flea or two on your dog. If there's no fleas, we wouldn't know f the shoo tag was doing the job or whether it was just because you don't have any fleas around. Optimal conditions for flea larvae to hatch is I think 70% and > humidity & temperatures of 21 - 32 degrees C. I haven't lived in QLD so I am unfamiliar with exactly how epidemic they really are, up there.

I wouldn't use spot-ons, only because if I am to administer drugs, I'd want to tailor them to suit only what my dog needs, nothing more. Spot-ons have their place for some, but to me they are a bit of a 'one stop shop' with a 'one size fits all' basis to them.

Being in QLD you would probably need to consider paralysis tick prevention, depending, I guess, on the area you live in (bushy etc) and the places you take your dog to.

In Victoria, we don't have the issues you 'warm climate dwellers' have to deal with, so we're lucky there. Ours are confined to a certain building in Spring Street.

Edited May 2, 2010 by Erny

[InspectorRex]

LOL erny about "Spring Street"

I have Collies which have been DNA Tested for Ivermectin Sensitivity( this drug and relatives of it are in most heartworm prevention products) and they are Affected so cannot have Heartgard, Revolution etc.

I use Dimmitrol daily for Heartworm Prevention and have no problem remembering to give them each day as I keep the Dimmitrol next to their food bowls but be careful as Dimmitrol have now brought out a "Chewable" tablet and it DOES contain Ivermectin so for my dogs I stick to the normal Dimmitrol Tablets.

( in affected breeds , Collies, Sheltie, Aussie Sheps, OES, Akita's, sighthounds etc Ivermectin can be fatal even after one dose).

As for worming I use Popantel All Wormer and have done for many years,in the late 1980's I gave one of our dogs Drontal and he threw it up with blood in the Vet surgery so did some research with the Vet and ever since then I have used Popantel every 3 months( not always to the day) as they are exposed to heaps of things at dog events and on their walks.

For fleas- I use Frontline Plus( they say every 4 weeks but sometimes this is longer) as we have cats around and also the dogs go out to events etc. I would rather use prevention than try and treat a dog with Flea Allergy Dermatitis( had to do this many years ago as one of the dogs would break out in hives from just 1 flea and it was a nightmare for the dog and for us).

It comes down to what best suits your dog's needs.

[Michelleva]

hmm interesting thread.

We've just bought home a sheltie puppy. The breeder was giving her daily heartworm meds, but said we could change over to revolution so its only once a month, which is what I planned to do. But reading inspector rex's post, is there a problem using this medication on a sheltie??

[InspectorRex]

Michelle- DO NOT use Revolution on your Sheltie puppy UNLESS you have it DNA Tested for Ivermectin Sensitivity and the DNA Result is CLEAR!

Revolution contains a Mectin based drug and if administered could prove fatal,

if you pm me your email address I can send you heaps of information on the ivermectin sensitivity which is cause by a mutation of the MDR1 gene in these breeds.

Stay with daily Dimmitrol, not the Chewables as they contain Ivermectin, much safer as they do not contain Ivermectin.