# Vet called - GSP is heartworm pos



## Rudi's Dad (May 4, 2004)

Heres hoping for a great outcome.


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## micooner (Dec 20, 2003)

Lets see HW neg in nov but pos now. This is what i would do and a bunch on here will look down their noses at this but I would give the dog the "ol"" pig wormer treatment" give it a few months then test again, It cant be that infested if neg in nov JMHO ps have used 1% ivermectin pig wormer for 30 years now with no heartworms here in monroe county.


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## midwestfisherman (Apr 19, 2001)

Pheonix said:


> $700 is VERY VERY normal if done properly.


Sooo, a vet who does the treatment for less money isn't doing the treatment properly?


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## Mike McDonald (Sep 10, 2007)

micooner said:


> Lets see HW neg in nov but pos now. This is what i would do and a bunch on here will look down their noses at this but I would give the dog the "ol"" pig wormer treatment" give it a few months then test again, It cant be that infested if neg in nov JMHO ps have used 1% ivermectin pig wormer for 30 years now with no heartworms here in monroe county.


The severity of infection is related to the number of successful immatures heartworms injected into the dog by mosquitoes, you have no idea how severe the infection is now. Your recommendation could very well kill the dog. If a veterinarian made this recommendation it would be malpractice. Ivermectin causes the microfilaria to all die at the same time which can have disastrous results. macvet51


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## Mike McDonald (Sep 10, 2007)

midwestfisherman said:


> Sooo, a vet who does the treatment for less money isn't doing the treatment properly?


The accepted standard of practice is at a minimum, thorough physical exam, CBC, Serum Chemistry, 2 views of the chest. These should all be done before treatment. Depending on the stage of the disease 1, 2, or 3 the injections vary in timing. Hospitalization is recommended for all treated dogs. If the lab tests and x rays are of high quality and the treatment protocol matches the recommendation by the manufacturer's of immeticide and the accepted protocol within the veterinary community then it would be considered proper regardless of the fees. macvet


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

Pheonix said:


> We have treated 2 dogs straight out of rescue that were HW positive. $700 is VERY VERY normal if done properly.





midwestfisherman said:


> Sooo, a vet who does the treatment for less money isn't doing the treatment properly?


I think I'm with midwestfisherman on this one. I don't want to hijack this thread or get into an argument here but I don't believe that just because you find the treatment for less that you're getting an unsafe or improper treatment.

This time last year when Big Dave was dealing with HW in his Yellow Lab Boo, he found a number of other vets that said it could be done for much less than what he was originally quoted. Shortly after this all took place, I took Smokey into the vet for his yearly physical and vaccinations. I mentioned what had happened with Boo and how much Dave was quoted and my vet said that was way high. My vet is a very good vet that I trust completely. Her father has been a vet for a long time and she is in practice with him now. I completely trust both of them. Smokey gets very good care and it's MUCH cheaper than I used to spend at my previous vet. 

Just my .02

John


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## dauber (Jan 11, 2010)

MIHuntress said:


> Thanks for the continued responses, everyone.
> 
> Anyway, just wanted to give everyone an update on what I've found. Treatment will begin shortly.
> 
> Looking for continued good vibes and prayers for quick recovery.


 
Sending all the good vibes and prayers we can MIHuntress. Hope she's fully recovered for fall!!


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## JAM (Mar 30, 2000)

Good luck for a speedy recovery. Since the HW has been diagnosed early it seems she'll be up and around soon.

Prayers sent...

JAM


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## Luker (Dec 27, 2005)

I hope every thing goes ok, im sure everything will be fine.

_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


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## Wendy (Oct 6, 2008)

I made the mistake of taking my dogs off HW preventative during winter and one of my old dogs now has it. It never occured to me that the misquitos would also do just fine in their heated kennels. I keep all my dogs on HWP all year now. Since she is old (10yrs) and a mastiff... they were going to charge me over $1200 to fix her. The alternative was to continue to maintain her on HWP for the rest of her life. The HWP will kill the larvae, but the die off causes infection in the dog so they get antibiotics, steroids and antihistamines. The dog will live out her life and so will the adult worms -worm life span is 3-5 years. For this particular dog, she's also got some joint problems (even though her OFA was excellent). And we will end up putting her down soon for that vs HW. For us it wasn't a cost effective procedure for an already compromised dog.


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## 2ESRGR8 (Dec 16, 2004)

All this drama over a $40 bottle of Ivomec at TSC.
A lesson for us all.

Best of luck to the pup.


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## N M Mechanical (Feb 7, 2008)

With this discussion what heartworm preventive do you all use? I use Sentnal(sp)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## 1styearff (Mar 3, 2010)

Dr. MacDonald is 100% correct. The treatment depends on what stage disease the dog has. At my last practice staging (bloodwork, x-rays), pre-treatment medication (doxycycline for Wolbachia infection, +/- steroids) and treatment varied between $950 and $1500 depending on the size of the dog. At my new practice I would have to guess it's less than that (given the area), but I haven't treated a dog here as of yet. 

You are correct: the Immiticide, which is used to kill the adult heartworms, is only manufactured by one source and is expensive for us to purchase. It is also dosed based on weight. If a dog needs more than one bottle per injection, even an extra 0.5 ml, we have to charge for the entire second bottle as it no good after being punctured.

Remember, also, that most veterinarians/veterinary clinics are small businesses and have very small profit margins and typically high overhead. Most (probably closer to "all") cannot compete with online pharmacies or big box stores for prescription medications so if we price match, we make even less. I don't want to sound greedy - it's not all about the almighty dollar - but we do have to charge appropriately for our services to keep the doors open and our employees paid.

MIHuntress - Good luck, I hope your buddy does great!


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## 1styearff (Mar 3, 2010)

N M Mechanical said:


> With this discussion what heartworm preventive do you all use? I use Sentnal(sp)
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Sentinel is a great product. Heartgard, Interceptor, Tri-Heart, and many others are all good effective products as well. My dog is on Sentinel, my wife keeps her dog on Heartgard (personal preference).

I never advise using oral ivermectin because: 
1) It is illegal for me to do so, 
2) Due to the concentration/strength of the drug it is very easy to accidently administer a 10 or 100x overdose. 

There is no antidote for ivermectin overdose and some breeds (herding dogs, among others) are genetically more susceptible to the adverse effects. There are numerous approved products on the market, in my opinion (along with the FDA, CVM, American Heartworm Society, and others) it's safer and easier to stick to one of those products.


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## chewy (Mar 27, 2006)

ivemctin from tractor supply year round.


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## dauber (Jan 11, 2010)

http://www.heartwormsociety.org/download/Heartworm-Incidence-Map.pdf

We use Iverheart.


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## ausable riverboat (May 10, 2010)

20 years ago I talked to Dr Foster of Foster and Smith. He told me to use 1/10cc for each 10lbs of body weight per month of Ivemctin I have never had any heartworm problems. If the X-Rays show small worms why couldn't you use smaller doses of Ivemectin to kill the heartworms.


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## Mike McDonald (Sep 10, 2007)

ausable riverboat said:


> 20 years ago I talked to Dr Foster of Foster and Smith. He told me to use 1cc for each 10lbs of body weight per month of Ivemctin I have never had any heartworm problems. If the X-Rays show small worms why couldn't you use smaller doses of Ivemectin to kill the heartworms.


I knew Dr Rory Foster, I went to vet school with him, the original Foster of Foster and Smith. His brother Race is the new Dr. Foster of Foster and Smith. I can't speak for Race but I'll bet if you spoke with Rory he told you .1 not 1 cc for each 10 lbs. Why don't you go to vet school then you know the answer to your question. I don't give information about boat building because I don't know crap about it maybe you could adopt the same policy for veterinary medicine. macvet51


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## ausable riverboat (May 10, 2010)

Mike you are right it was one tenth of a CC. Sorry to trip your trigger so bad.


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## chewy (Mar 27, 2006)

alittle touchy today?


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