[weezerweeks]

I gave my yorkie his Heartgard Friday and last night he had terrible gas and throwing up. Could it be the Heartgard? I also gave him a 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil. I don’t give him this but about once a month. Could it be the coconut oil? I also gave him just kibble last night and usually I give him canned with a tablespoon of kibble. He has been on the wellness core kibble for several months but not by itself. Could this be the problem?I gave him homemade chicken and rice this morning and he threw up a little of this. The rice was whole. I put a digestive enzyme and probiotic in it.Suggestions on what to do. Should I take him to the vet. I also have some cerenia tablets here should I give him one? The pollen is terrible here and we walk twice a day maybe this is it.thanks for listening.I can’t stand it when my baby is sick!!!

[JeffreyT]

Yes, I’d get the dog to the vet immediately.

After reading Scared Poopless by Jan Rasmusen we decided not to give heartworm meds because they are basically poisons meant to kill the heartworm/larvae.
http://www.dogs4dogs.com/blog/2009/05/13/heartworm-medication-safety/

For prevention we always apply natural flea/tick spray like Mercolas, and test twice a year for heartworm to get it early when it’s not dangerous and treatment is easy. From what I’ve read, it’s not as easy to get heartworm as vets make it out to be.

How is he doing?

[theBCnut]

When I was working, the only breed of dog that ever came in due to toxic reactions to normal products were Yorkies. We always warned new Yorkie owners that they are as sensitive as cats to toxic substances, so I wouldn’t doubt that it could be the heartworm prevention.

[weezerweeks]

My only doubt about it being the Heartgard is he’s been on it for 4 years and I’ve never had a problem.

[theBCnut]

Unless there was something wrong with this one or there is something wrong with his liver, I wouldn’t expect it to be the Heartgard either then.

[Dori]

You should certainly report this to the vet and him your dog examined and have his liver checked. IMO.

[InkedMarie]

Did you buy the Heartgard from a different place?

[Iride4tnt]

it’s possible to develop allergy to the ingredients in the chewable.

[Jjennilee]

I know heartguard is a no no for Shelties but not sure about yorkies … The ivermectin in it according to the breeders and vets we have talked to say is toxic and give us another medicine for ours…

[theBCnut]

The amount of Ivermectin in Heartgard, if dosed properly should not be a problem for Shelties, Collies, Border Collies, etc. They can handle about 10 times the proper dose before reacting if they are positive for that particular gene, unless they are in the extreme minority. And there is a genetic test for that gene now, which affects an average of only 1-2% of the dogs within those breeds.

[Dori]

Patty, How do you feel about Sentinel? That’s my traditional vets heart worm med of choice. I live in Georgia so don’t have a choice but to use during the summer and fall months, should I switch to Heartgard?

[weezerweeks]

Dachassett I also live in Ga and my vet recommends heartworm treatment all year. We have mosquitoes all year in Vidalia,where I live and my yorkie is a rescue who had heartworms so this is the only medicine I give him. The heartworm treatment he went through was terrible but thank God we made it!

[theBCnut]

I think it is funny that some people don’t give prevention because it is so toxic, but they say they would treat their dog if it came up positive because that isn’t as toxic. Treatment is way harder on a dog than prevention. One method uses arsenic and the vet is literally balancing how much to give to poison the worms but not kill the dog. The other method uses exactly the same thing as heartworm prevention in either the same dose or a higher one. I use heartworm prevention for my dogs, but if I decided not to, I would not treat a positive dog, since if I’m doing all the things to keep mosquitos off of him anyways, he could never have more than just a very few worms, which would never cause an issue.

I don’t think a monthly dose of Sentinel is much different in toxicity than Ivermectin, it does have something for fleas in it too, but my understanding is that it is one of the less noxious ones. It’s definitely better than Trifexis.

[weezerweeks]

You are so right Patty my vet used the arsenic but first we had to take antibiotic and prednisone a month but the worst part was keeping him calm for a month while the heartworms were dying and traveling.thank goodness we just had the 2 shots 24 hours apart but did not have to go back in a month for the second one.my vet says he has had less problems with Heartgard than any other heart preventive.

[Dori]

Thanks for posting weezerweeks. I’ve been in Georgia for about 11 years. Before that Jersey, NYC, and Cape Cod. We always had the deep freeze in the northeast during the winters so I could always keep them off everything during winter months and wondered if 12 months of the year was horribly toxic but the weather here is so un predictable that they need to me on it all year long. I’ve been trying to change to every 45 days as opposed to every 30 days. I found some ones post, may have been Patty’s aka thebcnut, where she does an alarm on her phone which I just put in today for every 45 day to remind me. And to think, I moved to Atlanta for the weather. This has been one crazy winter here. A couple of days ago here in Atlanta it was in the low 70’s and tonight it’s going down to 20. My Jersey family and friends are laughing their butts off at me. Ah well. Spring is lovely and long here. At least it was.

[Dori]

Ok Patty. Then I will stick with Sentinel. I put an alarm on my iPhone to remind me every 45 days as opposed to every 30 days. I think you posted that that’s what you do. I read a lot of posts about Heartgard and was wondering if that was a better option but I’ll stick with Sentinel because Georgia is flea and tick land. I’d rather protect my girls preventative than have to have them endure the treatment for heart worms. And no thanks, I don’t want to have to be bombing my home with treating for flea infestation. I wash all their bedding and them every week to keep all at bay as best i can. Thanks for your reply to my post.

[JeffreyT]

Yes, the theBCnut, you have a point about treating the actual heartworm. It is a higher dose of heartworm meds plus an antibiotic. But my precautions (flea/tick spray, not going out dawn/dusk, etc) should ensure I will not have to make that choice.

Marty Goldstein DVM (and many holistic vets) believes heartworms are less of an epidemic than the disease causing toxicity of heartworm meds. I lost a dog to cancer and swore that I’d do everything possible to avoid repeating that nightmare.

If I chose to do meds I’d probably do the low dose Safeheart medication.

[Sam J]

Heartgard Plus Generic Nuheart for Dogs is generic Manufacturer by Merial / Boehringer Ingelheim and Ingredients –
Ivermectin and Pyrantel Pamoate is a generic product The unique active ingredients Ivermectin and Pyrantel Pamoate are anti-parasitic and anthelmintic agents respectively. Ivermectin prevents heartworm (D. immitis) infestation and Pyrantel Pamoate eliminates roundworms and hookworms by paralyzing the worms. Heartgard along with a combination of these two ingredients is able to prevent heartworms and terminate roundworms and hookworms from the body of dogs. have it after vet recommendation.

https://www.petcareclub.com/heartgard-plus-generic-nuheart-small-dogs-upto-25lbs-blue-pack/dog-heartwormer-treatment-310-868.aspx

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