Gun Dog Forum

My lab mix currently has heartworms but I do not have a $700-$1000 for treatments at the vet. I heard about people getting heartworm treatment for other animals like live stock from a store and using a smaller dosage on their dog. Has anybody had experience with this?

Its for prevention..... Others might be better to comment here but the issue is if killed off quickly you run the risk if clogging the dogs heart. Preventative like ivermec only kills larval heartworms so its a long slow process to take care of completely. Why vets charge so much is beyond me. Again I'm no vet and maybe someone with qualified knowledge will chime in. With heartworm its the old adage, a ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Good luck hope it turns out well for you.

Don't know where you live, but $700 seems outrageously high to me. I would shop around with some country vets that will let you do it yourself with proper protocall and telephonic consultation. I would guess under $200.00.

You can do it with Ivermectin, but it is a large, even dangerous doseage for at least 30 days that needs supervision.

Thank you. Ill talk to the vet my dad sent his horses to or try to find a country vet like you said.

KyleandCharlie wrote:My lab mix currently has heartworms but I do not have a $700-$1000 for treatments at the vet. I heard about people getting heartworm treatment for other animals like live stock from a store and using a smaller dosage on their dog. Has anybody had experience with this?

This is for Heartworm Prevention -- not heartworm treatment -- try to do this and you'll kill your dog.

Many (most) Vets will let you pay in installments.
Either the dog will die from heartworms or die from improper heartworm treatment.

Actually del lolo ivermectin is also used in the slow kill method of heartworm treatment as well.

But for the Op to take that info and run with it from an internet forum would be unwise.

Heart worms are not something to experiment with....proven medications are the only smart way to treat.

Neither is Google a good place to get information if you have a one track mind.

Bounty_Hunter wrote:

KyleandCharlie wrote:My lab mix currently has heartworms but I do not have a $700-$1000 for treatments at the vet. I heard about people getting heartworm treatment for other animals like live stock from a store and using a smaller dosage on their dog. Has anybody had experience with this?

Please do not give veterinarian advice on something as debilitating and deadly as heartworms without a degree. Holistic treatment will equal death for a dog with adult heartworms.

Neil wrote:

Bounty_Hunter wrote:

KyleandCharlie wrote:My lab mix currently has heartworms but I do not have a $700-$1000 for treatments at the vet. I heard about people getting heartworm treatment for other animals like live stock from a store and using a smaller dosage on their dog. Has anybody had experience with this?

Please do not give veterinarian advice on something as debilitating and deadly as heartworms without a degree. Holistic treatment will equal death for a dog with adult heartworms.

AMEN TO THAT!!!!

Charlie

If you can't afford the vet. you have a big problem. Is there something you could sell or get a loan or.........A vet is essential to save the life of your dog ; he may be active now but the worms are multiplying.

At the vet:
"Prior to therapy, the heartworm patient is assessed and rated for risk into one of four categories. Important factors include: how many worms are thought to be present based upon the tests performed, the size of the dog; the age of the dog; concurrent health factors; severity of the heart disease; and the degree to which exercise can be restricted in the recovery period. Some hospitals use computerized formulas to categorize heartworm infected patients. Care and meds etc. depend on the category." quote

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=610

I took him to the vet and got started on the treatment and got the baby worms killed for months but wasnt able to drop the cash for it. Didn't know they had payment methods

I hope it all works out for you. No one wants to lose a dog that way. I'm sorry you have to go through this. Look into some of these possibilities.

https://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=n ... p+for+dogs

I don't know where you live but we have the Farley Foundation here.

https://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=n ... cz3PehrCPg

That care credit looks promising. Wish I would have had that when his leg was broken.

You can't get it now for that dog, but in the future consider health insurance for dogs. It forces you to put away some $$ every month for emergencies. I use

info@petsplusus.com

Go to the heartworm association there it will tell you some methods you can do .but if you rake the slow approach as ivermectin will only sterilize the adult worms it doesn't kill hem as oeeviosly thought what happens then is they can take up to a couple years to die off duringnwhuch time you should not run your dog as extreme exercise and the worms can cause more heart damage.
500-1000 dollars is about average for heartworm treatments.
Good luck.

The doxycycline is the money pit.

birddog1968 wrote:Heart worms are not something to experiment with....proven medications are the only smart way to treat.

Neither is Google a good place to get information if you have a one track mind.

I didn't know you were a vet too, Did you go to the same veterinary college as Neil ?

Bounty_Hunter wrote:

birddog1968 wrote:Heart worms are not something to experiment with....proven medications are the only smart way to treat.

Neither is Google a good place to get information if you have a one track mind.

I didn't know you were a vet too, Did you go: to the same veterinary college as Neil ?

We are wasting our time with this guy! This is a gundog forum where anything concerning gundogs can be discussed and now there is even an off topic link where just about anything can be discussed, but BH will/can discuss/debate only one topic, regardless of what the original thread is about. And he has no common sense or credibility when debating that. I am finished feeding this troll.

Charlie

BH,

I suspect you mean heartworm preventative and not heartworm medication. Even the quacks that promote holistic prevention are not so bold as to say it will treat adult heartworms. You have so much to learn before giving advice, this is serious stuff.

Birddogger is right, you are not worth the effort, I will just ignore you from now on.

Nope and if you read back I stated I wasn't and that no internet posting should be followed except to seek a vet. Grow up.

I've seen to many dogs die from HW, move down to southern Maryland for a summer then try your holistic nonsense....HW IS A KILLER.

Foxes die from it like any other canine.

Removed as it was a response to a troll.

Kyleandcharlie,

There is only one (mostly) full kill method of heartworm (hw) treatment avalible that will kill all of the worms in a short (2 months) period of time. Some vets will recommend a one injection process, but the latest research suggest one injection at day 0 followed by another injection both day 30 and 31, is the most effective at killing most at least 99% of the worms. This treatment brings forth some risks and requires some serious cage rest. While this is best medicine, this treatment of hw is not for every dog. Older dogs, sick dogs, or overly active/unable to cage rest are all reasons that a dog may not be a good fit for treatment.
What other people discuss or suggest is a "slow kill" method that basically means being on a monthy prevention, which usally shortens the life span of HW to 2-3 years. In my part of the country we have resistant poupulations of hw to ivermectin, but something is better than nothing. If money is an issue or the pet doesn't fit treatment, I usally suggest that dogs get on some form of moxidectin (advantage multi, pro heart injection) and a months worth of doxycycline to kill a parasit that lives inside the hw and helps it thrive. While this is not a treatment per se, it does keep dogs from getting more hw and can hasten death of worms. Keep in mind that the worms are still causing damage for as long as they live. (Even patients that undergo the full treatment get the moxidectin and doxy)
I would not recommmend high levels or duration of any prevention that would cause a massive die off of microfialra, as this carries some very high risks of anaphylaxis. My goal here is not to persuade you on what to do, that is a decsion best left to you and your vet, but just to give idea of what the two main "treatments" that commonly used (at least in my practice).

Peter

The vet I usually go to was going to do the one injection the first day and then two injections 4 weeks later while he takes pills to kill off the baby worms. Thank you

you might ask your vet about doing the 2 shot protocol (2 shots 24 hrs apart). That should reduce the cost.