EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I know theres probably already a post in here on this but i wanna ask anyway. I just had a pit cd of mine fixed and he had trouble with the anesthesia. They discovered he had heart worms but their not bad yet. What are some rememdies yall use to cure this??? Will if i have to but i know last time the vet did this it cost me abt 300 and dog was down for quite some time. Any other suggestions other than vet? What works? Thanks in advance

$300 is a pretty good price to have one treated...but your right, dog will be down for a while.

Depending on severity and the age of the dog, you can also start the dog on a monthly preventative to keep him from getting worse and let the worms run their life cycle and die off naturally.

My cousin gave me an English mastiff that turned out to have heartworms. The vet told me to give him ivermectin just like I would as a heartworm preventative. 1/10 cc per 10 lbs. of bodyweight. He said that this had to be done every 3 weeks to keep the young worms killed off and not allow them to reach the heart and mature. He said this could be done since it was a very mild case. He also said that I had to do this for about.two years and the dog would be.completely heartworm free. He explained it to me like this " the mature worms will live in the heart for roughly a year and a half and you have to keep the young worms from reaching the heart where they can mature and then the worms will be gone".

yes ive ben giving all my dogs ivermectin all there life i give grown dogs 1/2cc every month thats why i don't understand why he has them?? guess i just keep on giving it to him and hope for the best. I was told if they had heartworms and u gave them ivermec that it would kill the dog?? oh yeah it cost 310 bucks to have him fixed man thats crazy!!! No telling how much the vet treatment for heartworms is now i know last time i had it done it was almst 300 but that was a long time ago. I was pissed when my wife finally told me how much it cost to get him fixed tho i was doing it to see if it would help his attitude and calm him down.... Of course i wasnt thnkn abt xrays and other shots and stuff i just wanted him fixed was all!!! I guess all thats standard procedure idk i usually get my wife to take dogs to vet cuz i work most all the time. He is a seasoned catchdog almst 4y.o. but i still don't think he worth all that giving any hog mite be his last! Ive raised him since 5 weeks old but he has got on my nerves all his life! LOL he is really hyper and mouthy and if a dog looks at him wrong its on but will go to bay no matter how far and hold hog great! Still the only reason ive had him this long is because she won't let me git rid of him. I have another seasoned cd thats total opposite i mean great couldn't ever ask for any better! totally laid back quite don't pull only get excited from hearing bay and seeing hogs. I hope to find me a female just like him one day to breed him too and keep a couple pups! anyway done got way off subject! LOL Thanks guys

What ever you do DO NOT give your dog ivamec anymore. Ivamec will take that dog down........trust me I KNOW

any suggestions on what to do exactly??? I can't afford anym ore at the vet right now i do know that! I figured someone out there had another cheaper remedy????

You might find you a good country vet and get a second opinion on the heartworms, since you've been treating him his whole life... I've heard some scary vet stories. He may not even have heartworms... $$$.

Also, be sure the ivermectin you've been using hasn't been expired for a long time. One bottle goes a long way, but it also has an expiration date. I almost lost a pup on time from using expired intestinal wormer.

yes mike i mentioned that about the vet to my wife she doesn't believe it because she says he tells her stuff she can do at home for them. i dont really know him myself i always went to another one when i took them. Yes one bottle i have has been expired for a while but always kept in fridge so i figured it was still ok???? LOL thats sumthn i guess my grandpaw rubbed off on me my grandparents raised me and they were never worried with expiration dates except on certain things like dairy products and such...... Im mean im not gonna lie i have missed a month or two here and there but for the most part after they are a year old thats what i start giving them from then on. Is an xray the only way to find out? He doesn't act sick at all.....

hogdog after u knew ur dogs had heartworms and u kept giving him ivamec if that was the case or whatever it may have been, did u keep the dog cool and nonactive like keeping him inside and kennelled up? I know to do that while they r in treatment - u still even have to do that after u get them back from the vet for 2weeks or so. I know if they r active like running around and getting hott it can still kill them while they r being treated.

There is a pretty good collection of articles on Lone Star Working Dog asociation Message Forum on dog health issues and several for Heartworms and Ivomec at this link http://lswda.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=16
Of course you have to register but its FREE and its good to know info. in the Vet Corner Section.

No i worm my dogs every month with ivomec but i didnt know this dog had heart worms until he was dead.....my dad is a vet tech and they had taken him in to class for the students to work on and one of the students pointed out the heart worms lol he was a good dog.....and idk if its the same ivomec that but it clearly sais do not give to animals with heart worms.....lol it was my own fault cuz i didnt know until it was to late

Save your money.  
I give terriers 1/2 cc, and curs / bulldogs 1 cc, right in the mouth.
Most deer hunters I know don't even treat their hounds for heart worms.    

I have been told over n over that ivomec can speed the heartworms up.  So make sure they don't have them before you give them ivomec.  It works good I use it but I know for sure my dogs are clear of em.  Good luck!!  And its always smart to get a second opinion especially get one from a good ole country boy!

Well hogdog9, I guess this mastiff I have is an absolute miracle. I he is for sure heartworm positive and I have been giving him ivomec for a little over a year now and he is still alive. I give him 2ml every three weeks and I don't do anything special for him, he is outside in the heat and cold and have never had a problem with it. Slck, did you actually weigh the dogs or did you assume 1/2ml was enough. Maybe the dosage you were giving just wasn't enough, thus making it ineffective. My vet told me 1/10ml per 10lbs. I know of people giving three times this amount with no problem of toxicity.

hey matt my long time friend at the local feed store gave me this a long time ago. grown dogs cur size over a year old 1/2cc a month don't give it to nothn under a year that is what i have always gone by never even asked anyone else about it cuz this man really knows most his number 2.... and yes i gave him some last nite and gonna continue to do so but i gave him a whole cc and he is 67lbs. gonna keep him inside and kenneled up long as i can stand it to watch him. Im kinda wondering abt that vet anydamway? But dont' really wanna pay for another xray. Now if it was a jam up strike dog it would be different i would have done had him to another vet to verify and would have done what i had to do. cd's are not that hard to make to me. this one gets on my nerves anyway! LOL but u can trust him to go to bay and hold hog no doubt! anyway thanks to everyone for ur help i will let yall know what happens

if you wait till 1 year to give the ivermec you will have heart worms.12 weeks old is the time to start them on it.

ok thats just what i was told a long time ago and have always went by it this is the first one of my dogs to have them if he even really does?? The only other one i ever had that had heart worms was a beagle given to me from my dad that i used to rabbit hunt. I let the vet treat her and she lived a long time after that

slckhunter1978,

There's never been any scientific proof that Ivomec will kill heartworms.  No need to keep the dog kenneled, and really no need to give him as much as you have.  If you're not going to have him treated with Immiticide, then I would mix 1cc of Ivomec with 9 cc's of propylene glycol, then give him 1/10cc of that each month.

Slck, where are you located? The vet over here in Kaufman is really reasonable on everything. I think last last time I had a dog tested it cost about 35-40 dollars including office visit. The good thing is that he is old school and will tell you how to do all you can at home.   

yeah im in converse abt an hour south of shreveport. took him to the vet in many. i like jeffery anderson in coushatta myself and if i have any more problems i will take him there. What is immiticide - can i get that or just the vet? And what do you use to measure 1/10th of a cc?? i don't have anything that small or accurate. Or u just make a good guess at it??

Immiticide is an arsenic based product that is more than likely what the vet would use to treat the dog if you chose to have him professionally treated.  No, you cannot get it nor would I ever suggest trying to use it yourself.  As for 1/10cc, any small syringe will work.  They should have them at your local feed store, or a TSC if you have those around.

yeah i can make good guess already have all them syringes tenths r just not marked on it. i can make close guess really doesn't matter no big deal but u talking given a dog that size just 1/10th cc per month??

You can buy small syringes that measure in 1/10.

You can get 1cc syringes at walgreens for 1$ its what diabetics use

Slick, I've always measured your dosage the same way as cattle. 1cc per 110 lbs. 55 lbs=1/2 cc. and mix it with either prop glycol or distilled water. Every month i give my big dogs 1cc mixed with  4 cc  of one of them and they are all clean. Never had any problems.

Slck, not 1/10 per month, 1/10 per 10 pounds per month. A fifty pound dog gets 1/2 cc, a 30 pound dog gets 3/10 cc per month, etc.

matt look down the thread thats what bryant said i was asking him but yes i started giving mine 1/10 cc per 10lbs that seemed to be the going rate so im going with it. although what i always gave them is pretty darn close to that anyway cuz most of them are around 50lbs some more some less..... Thanks

Good luck with it, hopefully the one with them don't get any worse and you can still use him.

My granddad ran beagles all his life and used to put a clove of garlic in their bowl once a month, never had a problem and they never had shots, ive tried this alittle bit with my dog now and he seems fine, hes been tested but i also give him his monthly shot too

Garlic contains thiosulphate, a chemical that is toxic to dogs.  I wouldn't make a habit of giving them that.

not in high dosages, its also toxic to worms

:edit:

bryant after some research i found somethin just for everyone to do alittle light reading but good point and i wouldnt recommend anybody to try this without a vets recomendation first

http://www.natural-dog-health-remedies.com/garlic-for-dogs.html