Yearly Vaccines
- Thread starter jackrussgirl
- Start date
a vet you can trust is a great thing. 
when i moved 5 years ago, i was sad to leave my vet of over 15 years. she was very "old school", open to alternative treatment, took a lot of time for each patient and was very knowledgeable about my breed (dachshund at the time) because she bred them herself. her expertise saved my dog when we had a bad episode with a slipped disk.
since i have been consulting, i've sadly heard many, many horror stories about vets who are only in it for the money, don't take the time to really get to the bottom of things and basically push people out the door with a bag of prescription food after treating the dog with antibiotics, prednisone or whatever else manages to keep symptoms under control but doesn't address the underlying problem.
i apologize if i sound a bit jaded, but there are excellent, good, mediocre and bad people in every professional field and some vets just don't bother much with continuing education once they leave vet school. overall i prefer the kind who can accept that research discovers new facts on a daily basis and are willing to take alternative treatments into consideration.
i understand the principles behind vaccinations and heartworm treatment, but i have also studied the field of canine parasites and diseases long enough to understand that more is not always better and in some cases it's not necessary at all to expose the dog to certain substances.
when i moved 5 years ago, i was sad to leave my vet of over 15 years. she was very "old school", open to alternative treatment, took a lot of time for each patient and was very knowledgeable about my breed (dachshund at the time) because she bred them herself. her expertise saved my dog when we had a bad episode with a slipped disk.since i have been consulting, i've sadly heard many, many horror stories about vets who are only in it for the money, don't take the time to really get to the bottom of things and basically push people out the door with a bag of prescription food after treating the dog with antibiotics, prednisone or whatever else manages to keep symptoms under control but doesn't address the underlying problem.
i apologize if i sound a bit jaded, but there are excellent, good, mediocre and bad people in every professional field and some vets just don't bother much with continuing education once they leave vet school. overall i prefer the kind who can accept that research discovers new facts on a daily basis and are willing to take alternative treatments into consideration.
i understand the principles behind vaccinations and heartworm treatment, but i have also studied the field of canine parasites and diseases long enough to understand that more is not always better and in some cases it's not necessary at all to expose the dog to certain substances.
adrienne - i have researched the issue and based on the circumstances of where we live, my decision was to not give a HW preventive at all.
i do understand that this is not an option for everyone, but here in southern california the risk of infection is so low that it does not warrant dosing my dog with what essentially is a pesticide. this page explains things very well:
http://www.bullovedbulldogs.com/heartworm.htm
read over the info and determine the risk in your area. if it is fairly high, i would recommend giving interceptor at safeheart dosage, you can read more about that here.
i hope you find it useful.
i do understand that this is not an option for everyone, but here in southern california the risk of infection is so low that it does not warrant dosing my dog with what essentially is a pesticide. this page explains things very well:
http://www.bullovedbulldogs.com/heartworm.htm
read over the info and determine the risk in your area. if it is fairly high, i would recommend giving interceptor at safeheart dosage, you can read more about that here.
i hope you find it useful.
Mordy... you are entitled to your own beliefs, but I disagree with you. The heartworm cases here in Indiana are unbelievable ! I've taken in 4 foster dogs that had heart worm out of my 6. The golden Rescue group had to pay an average of $800 for each dog...not to say that the quiet care you have to give these dogs during recovery which means no adoption for at least 4 weeks. A once a month pill is worth it to most dog owners. Yes, it gets expensive, but then there's the alternative. I have to admit, when I had 4 goldens I didn't give the pill over a hard winter.. I couldn't afford it. But I had them tested early spring and restarted. Now that I'm down to one, I can keep it up round the year. PLEASE don't make young owners think this is an unneccessary thing !! Anyone who questions. look up heart worms on line and see what could happen to your beloved animal !! My old vet had a jar with a dogs heart loaded with heart worms on display ....not a pretty sight. You may not have the problem in your area, but many of us do and this web is world wide.. Thanks.
and that is exactly wrong. look at the page i linked to, there are so many requirements that have to be met for a dog to get infected with heartworm in the first place and then and for the larvae to actually develop and mature, not just the mere presence of mosquitoes.
my husband's family has lived in this area for around 50 years and has never had a single dog infected with HW, not even any of those that have been strictly outdoor dogs.
don't get me wrong - as i stated above and saje pointed out, you have to know the risk. if i lived for example in florida, there would be no way i would not give a preventive year round, and in many other regions at least during the time where development of the larvae inside the mosquitoes takes place. my dog gets tested for HW every 6 months, so it's not like i'm not keeping an eye on him.
i'm not talking about cutting corners and not taking care of your dog properly when i'm discussing these things. but fact is that vaccinations, HW preventives and other chemicals and drugs do have drawbacks indeed and aren't 100% safe either. there are many people out there who only want the best for their pet but don't look at both sides of the coin and in the worst case the pets are the ones paying the price. just keep that in mind.
my husband's family has lived in this area for around 50 years and has never had a single dog infected with HW, not even any of those that have been strictly outdoor dogs.
don't get me wrong - as i stated above and saje pointed out, you have to know the risk. if i lived for example in florida, there would be no way i would not give a preventive year round, and in many other regions at least during the time where development of the larvae inside the mosquitoes takes place. my dog gets tested for HW every 6 months, so it's not like i'm not keeping an eye on him.
i'm not talking about cutting corners and not taking care of your dog properly when i'm discussing these things. but fact is that vaccinations, HW preventives and other chemicals and drugs do have drawbacks indeed and aren't 100% safe either. there are many people out there who only want the best for their pet but don't look at both sides of the coin and in the worst case the pets are the ones paying the price. just keep that in mind.
My 2 cents
Having Lucy, our JRT go blind from SARDS (suddenly acquired retinal degeneration) at just 2 1/2 years old, and the official cause "unknown" but a theory on the cause of SARDS being over vaccinating, chemicals from flea treatments, pesticides in the yard etc. We made the choice to not vaccinate Lucy for anything now... including rabies... which she had a terrible reaction to her last shot, and we can get a waiver for this with the county. We live in Oregon, where there is very little risk of heartworm. Before Lucy went blind from SARDS we had given her the Proheart6 heartworm preventative, that was recalled last fall. Who knows if this played a part in what happened with Lucy going blind. Just not willing to take a chance with her anymore.
Karen G.
http://www.blinddogs.net
http://www.dogrescueusa.com
http://www.natures-paws.com
Having Lucy, our JRT go blind from SARDS (suddenly acquired retinal degeneration) at just 2 1/2 years old, and the official cause "unknown" but a theory on the cause of SARDS being over vaccinating, chemicals from flea treatments, pesticides in the yard etc. We made the choice to not vaccinate Lucy for anything now... including rabies... which she had a terrible reaction to her last shot, and we can get a waiver for this with the county. We live in Oregon, where there is very little risk of heartworm. Before Lucy went blind from SARDS we had given her the Proheart6 heartworm preventative, that was recalled last fall. Who knows if this played a part in what happened with Lucy going blind. Just not willing to take a chance with her anymore.
Karen G.
http://www.blinddogs.net
http://www.dogrescueusa.com
http://www.natures-paws.com
Mordy said:
and that is exactly wrong. look at the page i linked to, there are so many requirements that have to be met for a dog to get infected with heartworm in the first place and then and for the larvae to actually develop and mature, not just the mere presence of mosquitoes.
my husband's family has lived in this area for around 50 years and has never had a single dog infected with HW, not even any of those that have been strictly outdoor dogs.
don't get me wrong - as i stated above and saje pointed out, you have to know the risk. if i lived for example in florida, there would be no way i would not give a preventive year round, and in many other regions at least during the time where development of the larvae inside the mosquitoes takes place. my dog gets tested for HW every 6 months, so it's not like i'm not keeping an eye on him.
i'm not talking about cutting corners and not taking care of your dog properly when i'm discussing these things. but fact is that vaccinations, HW preventives and other chemicals and drugs do have drawbacks indeed and aren't 100% safe either. there are many people out there who only want the best for their pet but don't look at both sides of the coin and in the worst case the pets are the ones paying the price. just keep that in mind.
my husband's family has lived in this area for around 50 years and has never had a single dog infected with HW, not even any of those that have been strictly outdoor dogs.
don't get me wrong - as i stated above and saje pointed out, you have to know the risk. if i lived for example in florida, there would be no way i would not give a preventive year round, and in many other regions at least during the time where development of the larvae inside the mosquitoes takes place. my dog gets tested for HW every 6 months, so it's not like i'm not keeping an eye on him.
i'm not talking about cutting corners and not taking care of your dog properly when i'm discussing these things. but fact is that vaccinations, HW preventives and other chemicals and drugs do have drawbacks indeed and aren't 100% safe either. there are many people out there who only want the best for their pet but don't look at both sides of the coin and in the worst case the pets are the ones paying the price. just keep that in mind.
bubbatd, it really depends on location.
giving HW preventive to a dog who lives in an area with a very low risk of infection is like paying for earthquake insurance in a place where one is very unlikely to hit.
people need to look at the other side of the con as well? a HW preventive is not a harmless drug (otherwise it would be available over the counter) and continuous dosing with a pesticide does affect the body. down the road you might have to pay those $600 anyway to have a problem taken care of that was caused by the HW preventive.
giving HW preventive to a dog who lives in an area with a very low risk of infection is like paying for earthquake insurance in a place where one is very unlikely to hit.
people need to look at the other side of the con as well? a HW preventive is not a harmless drug (otherwise it would be available over the counter) and continuous dosing with a pesticide does affect the body. down the road you might have to pay those $600 anyway to have a problem taken care of that was caused by the HW preventive.
JRT_Rattie_Mom said:
Before Lucy went blind from SARDS we had given her the Proheart6 heartworm preventative, that was recalled last fall. Who knows if this played a part in what happened with Lucy going blind. Just not willing to take a chance with her anymore.
I'd certainly like to cut down on the chemicals where I can for Misha as it just seems to be one chemical after another for her. I'm going to be seriously looking at what herbal or homeopathic remedies look realistic for heartworm. Someone sent me this link - http://www.petmedicinechest.com/ . Has anyone tried any of these products? I get sceptical mainly because I like more info on what is in natural rememdies so I can work out what they are likely to do.