dan

So I work at a clinic and have been noticing MANY allergy cases coming
in. Does your dog have allergy problems? If he/she does, we have been
resorting to a different method of treating allergies rather than
giving steroid injections and oral steroids. I talk about this at my
blog that you can check out at the address below:

http://www.180-pets.com/index.html

I just started this blog because I wanted to discuss topics that can
help people learn, and sharing the knowledge that I have learned while
working at the veterinary clinic.

-Dan

buglady

.........OK, went and looked. You need to make corrections on your
information.
With regard to your post on heartworm:

"Mosquitos are the transmitters of this worm and microfilaria are
transmitted into the bloodstream. Microfilaria remain active in the
bloodstream for 1-3 years. Immature stages develop and grow in the IM
(intramuscular) fascia or SQ (subcutaneous) tissue for about 2 months and
then begin migration to the right ventricle,"

First heartworms are actually nematodes, like roundworms. Microfilaria are
live born offspring of adult heartworms that are already IN the heart of a
dog. When a mosquito bites a dog with microfilaria, they are taken up by
the mosquito, develop further and are introduced back into a dog through
another mosquito bite as larvae. Microfilariae that are already in a dog
will never develop into full grown heartworms unless they're cycled through
the mosquito. The whole piece above is confusing. Please check your facts.

"If you live in places where there is a large mosquito population, then you
should consider starting your animal on heartworm medication so that you can
prevent the disease."

No, no, no. You should have your pet tested for heartworms before embarking
on heartworm preventatives. Heartworm preventatives can be used for
treatment, but still the pet should be tested first.

"If your animal gets heartworm, the treatment is Arsenamide, which is a
poison."

The only drug approved in the US as an adulticide for heartworm is
Melarsomine dihydrochloride (Immiticide). Caparsolate is no longer
available. They both contain arsenic, though Immiticide doesn't have to be
given intravenously. The microfilaria still need to be killed afterwards as
Immiticide does not kill them. The last PuMed article I found with the term
Arsenamide was from 1954.

I suggest you either rewrite this section or direct people to this website
for accurate information: http://www.heartwormsociety.org/heart.htm

Better yet, stick to posting about your day in the clinic.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

flick

<snipped>

My vet places dogs 4 months old on HW preventative without testing.

There is still a widely believed myth that dogs *must* be HW neg. before
being given preventative, or else they will have a bad, possibly fatal
reaction. That was true with the old daily med from 35 years ago, but not
with ivermectin.

flick 100785

buglady

........He didn't say 4 month old dogs. Since it takes 5 months to get
mature heartworms not testing a 4 month old dog makes sense.. As a blanket
statement, though, it ****s, especially from someone who works in a vet
clinic. If a dog has heartworms and has a huge microfilarial load, you can
still have problems.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

flick

Nothing to do with heartworm should happen without discussion with a vet.

flick 100785