Annual Heartworm Injection

[Leema]

I do trust my vet - it's not in her best interests to make my dogs sick.

Though I do think individual owners should decide the best thing for their pets... I disagree with this statement. Making your dogs sick means return visits and more money. It certainly is in a vet's interest to keep you coming back.

[Guest lavendergirl]

I do trust my vet - it's not in her best interests to make my dogs sick.

Though I do think individual owners should decide the best thing for their pets... I disagree with this statement. Making your dogs sick means return visits and more money. It certainly is in a vet's interest to keep you coming back.

I thought that was quite an ironic statement too. Though I don't believe vets actually set out to make animals sick :) Consider that an annual heartworm injection is something vets can add to the "annual maintenance basket".

[koalathebear]

Though I do think individual owners should decide the best thing for their pets... I disagree with this statement. Making your dogs sick means return visits and more money. It certainly is in a vet's interest to keep you coming back.

I don't think that this thread was supposed to be about people trying to convince each other to do things they don't do. I merely wanted to state what I've chosen to do and have stated that my dogs are fine, as are other dogs I know whose owners have also opted for the injection. I think I'm entitled to state what is a fact. I'm not saying it is right for any other dog, I'm not saying anyone else should do it. I am stating that my dogs are on the injection and they are not sick or dead. I wanted to post this because as a newbie to DOL, it's easy to believe that every single dog who goes on the injection dies.

Perhaps the vets you have met are unethical and would prefer dogs to be sick (which is very sad), but it seems wrong and unfair to the many ethical vets out there to generalise on this basis. Our dogs are healthy and usually only see the vet once a year and we're all happy with that. Some of our visits to the dog are actually without charge, they've fit us in before even when they're frantic if I am worried and I genuinely believe that they are very happy to see that our dogs are healthy - they have plenty of sick dogs as patients, I'm sure, they don't need ours to pay the bills. Also, some of the accounts against the annual injection claim that the adverse effects result in death - which I think is hardly in the interests of any vet.

We all make the decisions we think best regarding our dogs and we live by them. I made an informed decision after extensive discussions with our local vet and I believe her when she tells me that she has never personally seen an adverse reaction to the injection. She has no reason to lie to me. At the end of the day, our local vet has been with us when our dogs came to us as pups, is with us when they grow ill and will be there to help us when they grow old and frail.

I do not feel that I have abrogated the decision about my dogs' health - I've made a conscious decision. I don't think it is surprising that I would rather believe a vet who knows and loves my dogs and will actually be there for us when they are sick over Internet people and reports from people I have never met. When you read literature online, there are accounts of adverse reactions too all sorts of medication (canine and human) so I would rather make the decision after talking through the issue with someone I actually know and trust.

Edited March 5, 2012 by koalathebear

[Crisovar]

What i find scary is people are happy to have there dog vac & heartwormed on the same day .What a chemical overload ,originally it was always product guideline never to have the 2 done on the same day ,i wonder if this has changed or vets don't bother .

We won't use it & we don't recommend it to our puppy owners & if they do use it its at there own risk .

The prices we see clients pay for the yearly jab is atotal rip off the av cost is around $150 plus total madness to pay that much

The product info sheet for Australia clearly advises Vets that annual vaccination time is an ideal time to administer the Proheart.

ETA My Vet does not recommend Proheart Inj

Edited March 5, 2012 by Crisovar

[Jumabaar]

Heartworm preventatives that we tend to take for granted as we administer them monthly are in reality very serious chemicals.

Whilst there are obviously differing schools of thought my opinion for what its worth is that I would rather give a smaller dose of poison to my dogs on a monthly basis than a larger dose yearly.

Now I know that it is not that simplistic but I have kept and bred dogs for many years and so far have not run into any problems by giving the heartworm chews monthly.

There has been some research done that says that there can be some types of heartworm that are becoming resistant to some heartworm medications - in particular the moxidextin in the yearly doses.

"According to Dr. Byron Blagburn, an expert in parasitology who has studied heartworms extensively, there are some strains of heartworms that are indeed resistant to all of the currently available heartworm prevention medicines.

As drastic as that sounds, that does not mean we should stop giving our dogs heartworm prevention medicines. However, it does mean that we need to be aware of the potential for failure. We can no longer assume that our heartworm prevention is going to be 100% effective in preventing heartworms in all dogs."

From a different angle & IMO, all chemicals that are given to dogs should be kept to the lowest dose/frequency possible without compromising the dog and that includes immunisations and all types of worming meds.

Is this in Australia or is it just in the US (the strains of resistant heart worms)?

I also prefer to do monthly doses for my dogs. I buy in bulk and have it marked on my calendar.

I do however understand vets, and less enthusiastic dog owners opting for a yearly injection. There are reactions but I guess you have to weigh the number and severity of reactions against what you are trying to prevent.

[Jumabaar]

I do trust my vet - it's not in her best interests to make my dogs sick.

Though I do think individual owners should decide the best thing for their pets... I disagree with this statement. Making your dogs sick means return visits and more money. It certainly is in a vet's interest to keep you coming back.

Most vets these days opt for doing health checks and preventative treatment which ends up with more profit IMO than actually treating sick dogs..... Much better mark ups on chiropractic treatments than there are on surgeries lol.

Also making dogs sick might be good for business in the short term but dead dogs and word of mouth does tend to kill a business pretty quick. Also making dogs sick regularly probably would mess with a vets mental status so even on a personal sense it is in the vets best interests to not make her dogs sick ;) So I think KTB probably has the right of it.

[zeebie]

My older dog had heartguard monthly as a pup then revolution topical, then at 12months commenced yearly injections, As we travelled overseas it was compulsary to have certain blood tests done one of which was heartworm screening this was done when he was 5 and result was negative, had it been positive he would have been excluded from travel to NZ as they have zero import of dogs from anywhere who have had heartworm or who show positive screening. So for me personally having the yearly injection has certainly kept him clear and we live in a heavily mosquito populaten area. :)

[Dogsfevr]

My older dog had heartguard monthly as a pup then revolution topical, then at 12months commenced yearly injections, As we travelled overseas it was compulsary to have certain blood tests done one of which was heartworm screening this was done when he was 5 and result was negative, had it been positive he would have been excluded from travel to NZ as they have zero import of dogs from anywhere who have had heartworm or who show positive screening. So for me personally having the yearly injection has certainly kept him clear and we live in a heavily mosquito populaten area. :)

I think you will the dog was tested for Babesi virus which is tick related not heartworm.

The blood test is done to check the red blood count & that is why they are also frontlined before leaving

[WreckitWhippet]

not keen on injecting my animals with a scheduled poison that lingers in the system for 12 months

Same here.

I use miminal chemicals on the dogs, we are in cool climate country and the risk of heartworm is small. The heart worn injection is not a "vaccination" , it's an injection of a chemical.

[Staffyluv]

Ollie was vaccinated every second year and he had the annual heart worm injection at another appointment. Our vet never did both at once with us.

It is the same with our new guy. He was vaccinated and desexed and went back 2 months later for annual heart worm.

I have never had an issue with it (touch wood)... In saying that, with what I have read about it lately, I will be reverting to monthly tablets once the 12 month injection period is over...

Only because of the chemical overload..

I am also considering vaccinations every couple of years as Ziggy will probably never go to a kennel and it is another thing that does not need to be done as regularly as every 12 months...

[zeebie]

This is the AQIS (Australian Quarrantine Inspection Service) requirement -

Dogs First visit 10 days prior to departure

Full health examination

Frontline top-spot applied

Blood collected for Heartworm and Babesia testing

Second visit 48 hours prior to departure

Full pre-export veterinary health and welfare inspection

Heartworm prevention administered even if fully pre vaccinated

Internal parasite treatment administered

Travel documents issued if all test confirmed negative

As my dog is a fully accredited working dog he also had to have rabies vaccine done previously as it takes at least 6 months to be effective and checked, this is to ensure he is safe from lyssavirus (Bat carried) and similar to rabies.

Despite all the vaccines he has had in past 8 years as well as numerous hours flying around the country and overseas he remains very healthy and active. I would much rather him have these "poisons" in small doses then be affected by any of the diseases they are given to prevent or minimise if contracted. The treatment for active heartworm is organic arscenic and depending on dog status when treated it often has serious complications.

Oh and dogs are not the only species affected by heartworm, cats, ferrets, sea lions and humans can be infected if bitten by the particular mosquito that is carrying this nasty little larvae!

[Salukifan]

Despite all the vaccines he has had in past 8 years as well as numerous hours flying around the country and overseas he remains very healthy and active. I would much rather him have these "poisons" in small doses then be affected by any of the diseases they are given to prevent or minimise if contracted. The treatment for active heartworm is organic arscenic and depending on dog status when treated it often has serious complications.

Oh and dogs are not the only species affected by heartworm, cats, ferrets, sea lions and humans can be infected if bitten by the particular mosquito that is carrying this nasty little larvae!

So would I - hence giving a heartworm tablet monthly, not a needle annually.

The heart worm jab isn't a "vaccination" by the way - it does not trigger an immune response to a disease.

The options aren't as drastic as jab or your dog could get heartworm. There are both daily and monthly tablets as an alternative to the annual jab.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Telida Whippets

[mr.mister]

My first BC died a horrible death from immune-mediated thrombocytopaenia (sp?). He haemorrhaged massively from within. He developed this condition after being given the annual heart worm injection. Never again will I give it to any of my dogs.

I think the easy thing to forget is that the annual heart worm injection isn't like a vaccine with a killed off virus in it. It's 12 months worth of what is really a very nasty chemical. That is a lot of pretty potent stuff being injected into your dog's system all at once.

I would rather have to give a dog a heart worm tablet every month than have a dead, or very sick dog.

[persephone]

I think the easy thing to forget is that the annual heart worm injection isn't like a vaccine with a killed off virus in it. It's 12 months worth of what is really a very nasty chemical. That is a lot of pretty potent stuff being injected into your dog's system all at once.

Edited March 6, 2012 by persephone

[Salukifan]

My first BC died a horrible death from immune-mediated thrombocytopaenia (sp?). He haemorrhaged massively from within. He developed this condition after being given the annual heart worm injection. Never again will I give it to any of my dogs.

I think the easy thing to forget is that the annual heart worm injection isn't like a vaccine with a killed off virus in it. It's 12 months worth of what is really a very nasty chemical. That is a lot of pretty potent stuff being injected into your dog's system all at once.

I would rather have to give a dog a heart worm tablet every month than have a dead, or very sick dog.

There's no way in God's green earth I'd give it to any collie breed for a start.

[Crisovar]

There was a "bad batch" of the 6 monthly injection in the United States and some dogs ended up dying.

I think this is where most of the concern for the vaccine comes from. Also we sometimes see an injection site reaction- a small granuloma forms at the injection site and can feel like a hard lump, it is a bit scary as it can pop up weeks after the injection so appears to be unrelated. A FNA or biopsy can usually confirm an inflammatory response rather than a cancerous growth.

This can happen with any injection though.

For a large breed dog, the monthly tablets are more economical for me. I set a reminder on my phone so I give them on time.

Firstly Proheart 6 is not a vaccination. It is an injectable time released pesticide.

When Proheart was allowed back on the market in the USA it was with a huge list of conditions attached to its use. The Risk Minimisation Plan was extensive.

Its use was restricted to Vets that were registered to administer under a special Proheart 6 Program, and and they had to receive signed informed consent from owner prior to administering the the injection. The information that had to be provided to the owner was very detailed and listed the many risks attached to its use.

Its release back into the market was certainly not taken lightly.

Warning: “Do not administer ProHeart® 6 within 1 month of vaccinations.” Clearly stated on each package of the product.

Yes it no doubt has its place amongst those owners who for some reason cannot manage an alternative preventative regime. But I would think it would have to be a last resort, even

the USA packaging states it is to be used only when there is no other suitable alternative.

[puglvr]

Minimax I believe you have a pug and it is generally accepted among pug circles that you don't give pugs the annual heartworm as they are one of the breeds who can and do have serious reactions to it.

[Miranda]

I would never use it.

[minimax]

Minimax I believe you have a pug and it is generally accepted among pug circles that you don't give pugs the annual heartworm as they are one of the breeds who can and do have serious reactions to it.

I do have a pug, yes. I was already pretty sure the vet wasn't going anywhere near my 6 month old with the injection, but now I'm extremely sure!

[dancinbcs]

I will never use it again after having dogs develop severe allergy problems after using it. One recovered but died young from cancer. The other has has had ongoing allergy problems ever since, that have cost me a fortune and ended any chance I had of showing this dog. I also have friends who have dogs that have reacted the same way. It screws up the immune system, sometimes permanently.