Heartworm Needle / Should L Get Pup Done?

[Leenie]

In my experience annual heartworm is not safe. Think about it - something designed to stay in the system all year must be pretty toxic. You are better to give daily or monthly treatment - even though it is less convenient. Herbal heartwormers are available also.

[evelin]

In my experience annual heartworm is not safe. Think about it - something designed to stay in the system all year must be pretty toxic. You are better to give daily or monthly treatment - even though it is less convenient. Herbal heartwormers are available also.

Yes of course, now that I am investigating the stuff I would never have let it near my dog. My own vet thought it was safe, as do most of the vets my friends and I have spoken to. My vet didn't know it was off the market in the U.S. until I gave him all my research on it and I believe most vets wouldn't know. Certainly the Pharmaceutical companies manufacturing it would not be mentioning it to their customers for obvious reasons. But as you said..."something designed to stay in the system all year must be pretty toxic"....and you are right and I wish to God I had been more cautious.

I am hoping to hear from other dog owners whose dogs have had adverse reactions anytime after receiving this annual heartworm injection. Thank you for your input Leenie. What are the herbal heartwormer brands please?

Evelin

[evelin]

I asked DR. Hamshire to tell me the difference between the 6 and 12 but she did not respond to it. I will now email the new people at the FDA. Am doing my best to get the fact. Will keep you posted.

Which country are you in? - I gather you are in the US?

I did a quick search of this site for the thread but there were far too many to sort through. Let us know what you find.

It seems to be an ongoing debate. The last lot of figures I looked at showed that in reality very few deaths were reported. There was some thought that one adverse reaction was the development of epilepsy (hence my interest) but after some considerable research and many, many disucssions with my general vet and also the neurologist that treats my epi dog and countless other experts and armchair experts, I have to say I am not convinced that this injection is that bad.

Puggles - I am in Australia. My vets have reported Tobie's death to the manufacturers of Proheart (Fort Dodge, a subsidiary of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in the U.S.) and the investigation is ongoing. Yes, it is an ongoing debate as you say, but in the meantime, people are losing their beloved dogs from deaths not realizing they could be possibly and probably linked to the Proheart injections . I am sadly one of them, but at least I know now to look for the connection. I would just like people to be aware. Most of the vets I spoke to recently didn't even know it was off the market in the U.S. so how are the dog-owners supposed to know? They rely on their vets for info. There were 599 reported cases of death in the U.S. What about all the unreported cases? Here is a link for the FDA Comparison info: http://dogsadversereactions.com/moxidectin/comparison2.html

Am still waiting for a response from the FDA/Center for Veterinary Medicine in the U.S. regarding the ingredients of both the Proheart 6 and Proheart 12 injections to see what the difference is. Will keep you posted. Evelin

[Australdi]

I'm wondering if the size of the dog might have anything to do with it ....I had no probs with it with my dobe....are there any statistics about which breeds are having the problems?

Aus

[Nadia]

Size is not the issue.

I have seen a Bullmastiff with AIHI, also a GSD, and various other large breeds, after the use of the injection.

Also the dose is given by body weight.

[Australdi]

Thanks Nadia...I was just curious!

gee I'm glad I don't live in a heartworm area anymore!

cheers

Aus