Any heartworm medicine i can giveQ: I took my dog to the vet the other day and was told my dog had heartworms, and the treatment cost would be $1,000 i am not working and i am unable to pay that much. is there anything else i can do?is there any medicine i can administer and buy myself? help please, i love my dog, but my finances will not permit me to pay for this costly treatment. A: I would ask for retest of heartworm test and have it sent to outside lab. i have occasionally seen in office heartworm tests be false positives. that being said if true positive, then i woudl call around as this sounds very high to me for two injections of immiticide over 24 hours which is how we treat heartworms now. if still not affordable, then you could consider putting dog on monthly heartguard or interceptor which will prevent further reproduction of existing adult heartworms but will not kill adults
Shop for: interceptor
Reactions?Q: I see you told an owner about continueing to give heartgard to a pet that is positive for heartworm disease. aren't you concerned about the anaphylactic shock that is going to occur and potentially kill her dog? i mean, isn't that the reason we test for heartworm disease prior to tprevention, so we can rule out being positive? A: In actuality there are many vet cardiologists who actually recommend monthly heartworm preventative to heartworm positive dogs if patient too big a risk for treatment i.e too old or too large a worm burden or severe lung disease present, etc; in these cases monthly heartworm preventative can actually prevent further reproduction and larvae development while of course not doing anything for adults present. ||anaphylactic reactions are extremely rare with monthly heartworm preventatives in positive dogs and only used to occur when old daily preventatives were used where dog had to be negative for heartworms as anaphalaxis more likely.||these are the medical facts. of course always best to know status of all dogs but your statements are not true
Shop for: heartgard
CoccidiaQ: What can you do to prevent reinfestation of 3 month old puppies who are currently battling coccidiosis. they have bloody stools and are on rx from a vet. we didn't know they had it until we took them to our vet the day after we purchased them. they are on their second course of tx. i want to keep them well. i have quaranteened them and sanitzied everything i know to sanitize with bleach and ammonia (except the puppies themselves of course). i stopped letting them go outside and have them back on paper. help. A: Some pups are hard to treat for this but realize that they eventually usually outgrow these parasites. the coccidia are actually normal inhabitants of a dogs digestive tract but overgrow in puppies and cause signs often due to stress on their developing immune systems.
VomitingQ: I was using advantage but i noticed my bichon getting sick afterwards. are all these medications going to cause vomiting? should i take a homeopathic approach? (it was applied on shoulder blades...dog did not ingest medicine) A: Some pets are sensitive to topical insecticides. you could consult holistic vet www.theavh.org or see dr. |pitcairns guide to natural health for dogs and cats by richard |pitcairn, dvm, phd which has some natural approaches in book
Shop for: advantage, homeo
Hip pain for older german shepardQ: I have a 12 year old german shepard who over the last year has started to really slow down and is appearing to have problems with hip pain and difficulty getting up and laying down and has a limp in its gait when it walks...a couple of things - i am noticing the signs of hip displacia with him but i also noticed that he started having an immediate problem after roughhousing with my other large dog....could the two be related? - my dog is overweight....i have been giving him leaner dog food to try to fix the situation but he doesnt want to run around like he did...he has a lot of backyard room to do so..... - he appears to have problems more in cold weather then warm - i have bought the glousetomine (spelling?) for joints from the pet store...but it doesn't seem to work nearly as well as putting aspirin in his dog food? why would that be? A: Aspirin is a direct anti-inflammatory while the glucosamine works more slowly in building up joints over weeks to months. you may want to try one of antiinflammatories at 1800petmeds like dermaxx or rimadyl. i also like their cosequin supplement as well. also add extra vitamin e to her diet at 400iu daily and vitamin c in form of ester c at dose of 1000 mg twice daily
Shop for: vitamin, aspirin, rimadyl
Bumps between toesQ: My jake russell as gotten 2 red bumps between her toe. it goes down then it seens to fill up again with fluid. we have gone to the vet 2 times. we got a med. called tritop. i soak her foot when i think about it in epsom salt. it helps. it seems as if something sets it off, outside or inside.the vet does not seem to know other then sometimes this happens and its nonthing to worrie about. it does not seen to upset the dog as it does me! any ideas louann A: Could be simple allergic reaction. i would not worry if not enlarging or bothering dog. only way to defintiively diagnose is with biopsy
MedicationQ: My dog is 15 and taking temiral-p for his skin problems. the vet wants to do blood work. do you feel this is common practice and necessary? thank you A: Yes it is since this drug has small amount of prednisone in it and so liver/kidneys shoudl be monitored
Shop for: prednisone
BehaviorQ: We have two large dogs, each 6 yrs old. during the day they are in a pen adjacent to the house, when we are home they are in the house. they (not for sure which one) are getting very destructive when left alone outside while we are at work - like chewing up the door frame and even the door knob. i have used chew-stop, but has not stopped the problem. what would you suggest? A: Sounds like separation anxiety and you coudl ask your vet about meds like amitryptylline or clomicalm
