I am SO GLAD to see you say this. I haven't given heartworm in a few months. I live north of Dallas. It just seems like if you try to do things naturally it seems counterproductive to dose with a chemical.

 

I even remember one article I read somewhere that any dog living in the southern states will pretty much be guaranteed to have heart worm if not given meds, so I was really nervous waiting for the results, expecting them to say that they were heart worm positive since they are outside so much. All I have been doing is feeding raw, giving ACV, and spraying with essential oils about once a day and a reapply if they go outside at high mosquito times. Besides the fact that she is healthy (which is the biggest priority), I have saved SO much money just within a year.

 

You know Lila, this is how the brainwashing affected me. I've owned over 50 dogs in my life. They got rabies shots once a year, period. They ate scraps and hunted their own rabbits. I threw them a can of Alpo now and then. Not one single one of them ever got heartworm. Most of them lived to ripe old ages and only one died young of a disease, cancer. Then one day I wake up and realize that I now believe the ONLY food for them is in a bag? That if I don't give that monthly dose my dogs' hearts will be full of worms?? When I never gave it for 25 years?

And still, I have this nagging thing in the back of my head thinking I'm gonna kill them because I am foregoing the heartguard. I agree - a healthy dog is the best preventative.

 

That is so true. I am not going to choose something that hasn't been working very well over something that has been working perfectly for basically ever. I always prefer to prevent, and not treat. I am a firm believer that food is the best preventative medicine for animals of all species.

 

That's great this is Rubys second year without any flea tick or HW prevention and she's been great. And Oscar has never received anything because he's 1 year old.

It's definitley a bit scary not to in the beginning because vets make HW sound like a death sentence!

 

That is fantastic news! Just goes to show how much the vets and docs they to fear us into non essential meds, and treatments...

Tobi hasn't had his for a loooooong time now... I think since e was around 1.5 he's now 3. And he's always neg, we live in western NC and every vet says he will get it lol... We do give the guiness beer once a month though, just as a good measure, and he likes his little treat.

 

Sorry, Guinness beer? What does it do lol

 

I was just about to ask the same thing!

 

Yeah, guiness beer. I've started giving 1oz per 25lbs of body weight to tobi so he's 60 lbs I just round it up. The theory behind it is that the hops they use in a Dublin brewed draught are different, that and they use twice as many per brew according to them. Hops cause sterility in the worm and they aren't aware they are being killed off slowly. It effectively cuts thier life cycle where it is, they then die out. That is in a hw+ dog. It can be used as a hw prevention once a month effectively doing the same thing to the worm if the dog becomes infected. There are no studies, just people trying it out. There are many incidences where the dog is too old, or they didn't have enough money for conventional treat,eat so they said what the hell, and gave it a shot, low and behold the dog was parasite free a month later. Here is a video hoping results from one such incidence. Liz knows some breeders down in the area I'm at Georgia? I think that do the same thing with great results.

I just ignore the fact that challenge was spelled wrong in the article lol!

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-guinness-heartworm-challange

Guinness for Heartworm Prevention Results - YouTube

 

Tobi, how do you give it? With a syringe? Does Tobi seem to like it at all?

 

No he despises it lol... So I give it with raw honey, about one tsp, and a raw egg, I throw it all into the blender shell and all and he just eats it that way, I tried the syringe thing and it worked so badly most of the few o landed on the floor after me made himself spit it out. I'm the only one in the house that likes it lol!

 

LOL! Ok, I gottcha! Something to think about!

 

Goodness Richter would just lap it up. Still glad we don't have to do that around here. Something good about freezing weather.

 

Lol I bet my dog would like it too! He eats everything, I have to be careful when we go to the farmers market because he eats all the veggies the fall to the floor and I worry he will eat something toxic to dogs.

 

That is very interesting. Something to definitley keep in mind.

 

That's so funny Tobi as Stanley just loves Guinness and tea and coffee..... well he sometimes get to drink the milky froth out of our cups if he is lucky - not a regular occurence of course!! and it helps that he has a long narrow snout as it fits beautifully inside a mug.

Luckily we don't have heartworm in New Zealand.

 

Why is that? Is it just the americas that have heart worm?

 

For the last eight years I have only been giving my dachshunds heartworm only during e warm months. As far as flea and tick products I have used them maybe a handful of times in twelve years.

 

Consider your puppy’s vet as comparable to your own (or your kid’s) physician. What will you do?

 

Whether it be a dog doctor or a human doctor, I always do my research and never just agree to what they recommend. Often times they are too quick to medicate and prescribe, when all one simply needs is a life style change. Example: Went to dermatologist because I though I had lice but ended up having dandruff. She recommended I use head and shoulders, which I did for a while and worked, but when I stopped the dandruff and itching would come back. What worked for me was cutting breads and sugars by about 80%. No itching or flaking anymore, ever! Instead of loading the top of my head with potentially carcinogenic chemicals all I had to do was cut food out that is horrible for you anyways, and I didn't even cut it out completely! Most of the time, a life-style or diet change is all that is needed. My motto is prevent, don't treat.

 

I just started the hops also. There is beer in my fridge for the first time in years! So far my dogs all love it, except one. He looks at it sideways but in the end he just couldn't walk away from it.

 

I may have to try the Guinness, both my dogs are totally repulsed by the Heartworm Free. I have never seen them make such a disgusted face lol.

 

I feed raw and I'm completely understanding about wanting to keep toxins to a minimum, but I have to say this. Heartworm tests only detect adult heartworms. Your dog could very well have microfilaria circulating in their bloodstream and no adults yet. If you live in an area where heartworm disease is very common, you are taking a huge risk. A few months ago I started giving heartworm preventative every 45-60 days instead of every month because, like you, I wanted to minimize toxins given to my dogs. After seeing literally 100+ dogs test positive for heartworm disease this summer, some even on preventatives, I quickly changed my mind. Heartworm disease is not something to play around with. Treatment is very expensive, up to $1,000 for large dogs, and is much harder on their immune systems than the preventatives which really do not contain THAT high of toxins to begin with. Heartgard is just low dose ivermectin which is also used to treat mange, mites, and some worms.

While I believe raw is awesome and the only way I'll ever feed my pets, it can't prevent heartworm disease. It's spread by mosquitoes so one bad bug and *poof* heartworms. It has nothing to do with how good your dog's immune system is. If you live in an area where heartworm disease isn't all that common then the risk is pretty low. But if you're like me and you live in the south (especially the Mississippi River Valley), your dog WILL get heartworms. It's almost guaranteed. We have like crazy heartworm invested mosquitoes here! But seriously, it's extremely scary. I give my dog heartworm preventative every month and I'm STILL worried after seeing a few dogs with resistant heartworms, luckily paid for by the company.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I'm just trying to help. I hate seeing these dogs have to go through the treatment. :frown:

 

They are on heart worm prevention but it is not traditional, and I also take other measures to reduce their exposure to heart worm. I am confident in the measures I am taking and know the risks of both traditional and holistic prevention. Thank you

 

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were using other methods. I hope they work out for you. Next time you visit the vet you can ask them to check for microfilaria under a microscope as well as the heartworm test just to be double sure if you'd like.

 

I will do that. If these natural methods do not end up working, I have no problem doing a traditional preventative.