# Is There A Billion Dollar Heartworm Scam?



## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

what are your thoughts on this? 

v--- read the article at the link below ---v

The Billion Dollar Heartworm Scam - Terrierman's Daily Dose -​


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I think writing a thing like that is irresponsible, particularly when you consider there are people who are waiting for excuses to avoid taking care of their pets.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I've had a dog treated for heartworm infestation (in SC) in the 80's. Not something I'd want to repeat. A neighbor had their dog treated for heartworms about 4 years ago here in OH. That's 2 dogs I know personally.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Pemphredo said:


> what are your thoughts on this?


He has another rant on his blog about Lyme disease being a billion dollar scam too :doh: :doh::doh:


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Most of the recent HW positive dogs we have treated have come up form the South. At most in our area, we have treated maybe five a year. In recent years, it is more like one or two. That article IS irresponsible on many levels. HW prevention is just what it says regardless of the mechanism, it prevents HW infection. Many people use the cattle wormer, but you'd better be careful. The gene that makes collies and white footed dogs sensitive is present in other breeds, including Goldens... The ivermectin level present in the commercial HW preventions is safe for all that carry the mutation. You could easily overdose with the liquid prevention. We had a client who was told by the rescue, that HW tx was "bad". It was a good four years on continuous HW prevention before the dog started to test negative. When we treat for HW, we follow the American HW Society recommendations. So now, it is one immiticide injection and then two injections one month later over a two day period. Those injections ARE painful.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

OMG.... just look at the rescues down here. A BIG percentage of those dogs are hw+. The treatment is brutal. I can't imagine anyone wanting to put their dog at risk. I would skimp on alot of things, but not heartworm prevention.


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## Hunter'sMom (Sep 5, 2011)

Wow. I will admit that prior to getting involved in rescue, I was a lot more naive about heartworms (though my dogs were always protected). But after seeing all the HW+ dogs (my current project dog just came up HW+) and how awful the treatment and recovery are, I can't help but feel that this article is just so so irresponsible. Also- indoor dogs CAN get heartworms! Too many people think otherwise- but we've all seen at least one mosquito in our homes, and one is all it takes!


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

We have had the very sad experience of dogs in rescue dying from heartworm infection before treatment could be started, and a few dying during treatment. One volunteer family found out their dog had heartworms and followed their vet's advice to give the monthly preventative for two years and the dog would be heartworm free, she was still infected two years later and had to go through treatment.

Do you really want to personally administer what is essentially a poison to your dog with the farm grade ivermectin when you could be over dosing? Would you really want to give heartworms two years to cause heart and lung damage while you are using the monthly preventative to see if it removes them? I wouldn't.

I'm sure there are places in the northern parts of the US that don't have to worry about heartworms. That's not the case in the south.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> I'm sure there are places in the northern parts of the US that don't have to worry about heartworms. That's not the case in the south.


Exactly.

But even parts of the north that don't have a lot of "heartworm cases" - the misleading thing is that the person who wrote that article is not taking into account the vast number of un-reported cases of heartworm. 

Those people who do not put their dogs on heartworm prevention meds - it's a sure bet they don't go to the vet either. So if their dogs have heart failure or lung problems or kidney problems or whatever else, they usually assume it was old age or bad breeding or cancer or whatnot. 

I don't give my guy heartworm meds in winter. Jacks is due for his HW test in a few weeks (I schedule it around the first of March). If the temps warm up quite a bit (up to an average of mid 40's / low 50's every day) this month, then I will go in sooner for the test and get him on prevention again.

I do think that dogs that are left outside in the backyard long enough to have bugs (mosquitoes and fleas) crawling on their legs and faces - definitely those dogs are at a much higher risk for worms. 

Considering the majority of people out there who have fenced yards leave their "inside" dogs out there for a certain period of time, then they obviously should have their dogs covered year round.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We have a LOT of heartworm here in IL. 
I agree, that's a very irresponsible thing to write. I hope not too many dogs die because of it.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Megora said:


> I don't give my guy heartworm meds in winter. Jacks is due for his HW test in a few weeks (I schedule it around the first of March). If the temps warm up quite a bit (up to an average of mid 40's / low 50's every day) this month, then I will go in sooner for the test and get him on prevention again.


 
I know it's done that way a lot, I always wonder what would be your reaction if you tested and he has heartworms?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

mylissyk said:


> I know it's done that way a lot, I always wonder what would be your reaction if you tested and he has heartworms?


It would obviously be my fault for waiting too long to get him back on pills.

I should say his last pill was given on Nov 1, a month after the temps dropped and mosquitoes went away. 

We used to stop with the last pill in September, but now knowing the pill doesn't "prevent" heartworms, but worms the dog for the past 30 days... I'm now waiting a bit longer.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

How long is he off prevention? There is a period of time after infection that the antigen level in the bloodstream is not high enough for the test to react to.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

December, January, February - these are the three months that he will go without coverage. The dead of winter, fwiw. Even with the "warmer" temps that we've had, I haven't seen any mosquitoes. I was outside quite a bit this week, working stays with Jacks out in our backyard. This particular area is where the majority of mosquitoes usually are. During summer, I would not go out there without spritzing myself and lightly wiping Jacks' coat with OFF. I did not see any bugs out there - period. 

As I said, we will test around March 1 and start pills then, unless we experience a warmup sooner than that and I will get him in.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

Megora said:


> December, January, February - these are the three months that he will go without coverage. The dead of winter, fwiw. Even with the "warmer" temps that we've had, I haven't seen any mosquitoes. I was outside quite a bit this week, working stays with Jacks out in our backyard. This particular area is where the majority of mosquitoes usually are. During summer, I would not go out there without spritzing myself and lightly wiping Jacks' coat with OFF. I did not see any bugs out there - period.
> 
> As I said, we will test around March 1 and start pills then, unless we experience a warmup sooner than that and I will get him in.


You should have nothing to worry about. With heartworm biology, the climate would have to warm significantly to allow for heartworm development in northern states in December, January, and February. Just because we get a warm day or two in those months, even if it is warm enough for a few brave mosquitos to emerge, doesn't mean it's warm enough for heartworm larvae to development. You need at least a couple of weeks of the temperature being 57 degrees or higher to allow development.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

IowaGold said:


> You should have nothing to worry about. With heartworm biology, the climate would have to warm significantly to allow for heartworm development in northern states in December, January, and February. Just because we get a warm day or two in those months, even if it is warm enough for a few brave mosquitos to emerge, doesn't mean it's warm enough for heartworm larvae to development. *You need at least a couple of weeks of the temperature being 57 degrees or higher to allow development.*


and that means that the south is going to experience a brutal HW season this year, as much as we are enjoying the warm winter.  I killed two mosquitos in the back yard yesterday.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Historically, in Maine, we use prevention May-December. My husband's practice used to see more HW positive dog than we do. Basically, when the farm dog gets hit by a tractor and it comes in and the owners say,"Oh by the way, check him for HW."


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Pemphredo said:


> what are your thoughts on this?
> 
> v--- read the article at the link below ---v
> 
> The Billion Dollar Heartworm Scam - Terrierman's Daily Dose -​



WOW!!! Look at how many dogs get Heartworm around the country despite the availability of a preventative. Imagine how much higher those numbers would be without the widespread accepted practice of using the preventative. 

*SCAM???* You *MUST* be kidding!!!!:doh:


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Dallas Gold said:


> and that means that the south is going to experience a brutal HW season this year, as much as we are enjoying the warm winter.  I killed two mosquitos in the back yard yesterday.


I agree, I think my area will see an even larger number of Heartworm cases this year since it's been so mild here. HW is a huge problem in my state-too many people are either unaware or just irresponsible about keeping their animals on prevention. I keep my dogs on HW prevention year round.

I just read an article saying that HW is no longer being found only in dogs, a number of Cats are testing positive for HW now and it's harder to detect.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

This is a classic case of a blogger with very little scientific literacy developing a fundamental misunderstanding of statistics based on a handful of unrepresentative data points. The person starts with an agenda (in this case, that vets and pharma companies are bad) and _then_ the analysis of the evidence comes afterwards. That way, you always arrive where you thought you'd arrive and you never have to do any hard thinking or challenging of your own deeply held positions.

This is bad science and an irresponsible conclusion.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> I just read an article saying that HW is no longer being found only in dogs, a number of Cats are testing positive for HW now and it's harder to detect.


But it's not the same "beast" as with dogs, right? Because cats chomp down on birds and rodents and spend a bigger majority of their time outside, I think their bodies can handle/resist worms better - right? 

Our cat is on the same "schedule" as the dogs...


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

No, cats get the same heartworm and it takes just one worm to kill them. It is not only a canine disease anymore.
And that article, my only comment: What a moran!

By the way, I lived in Michigan for ten years and working in a vet clinic, our general practise was to give heartworm preventative all year round. So, I do not mind giving heartworm preventative all year round, no matter where I live. I would rather be safe than sorry. Heartworm treatment is not fun for the dog and can be very dangerous and sometimes deadly. 
Living here in the south, there are so many cases of heartworm positive dogs, it is a crying shame. In Michigan, it was a big thing when there was a positive test in a dog, happened only a couple of times every few weeks or so. Here in Tennessee, when I was working in a vet clinic, there was a positive test weekly. I have to say, all the positives I saw, were from people that had outside dogs not on heartworm preventative.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

BTW, there is no treatment for HW in cats.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

This is an interesting article about heartworm disease in cats.
There is also a little video clip of a vet talking about heartworms in cats. Wow, was I surprised, the vet in the video is the vet in Nashville, that I usually take my guinea pig to. Lol.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

Actually there is a treatment that very few vets are able and willing to do. It is removing the worm/worms surgically. I think Michigan Veterinary Specialists in Southfield, Michigan have a vet on staff that has done the surgery. At least that vet was working there in the 90s, don't know about now.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

is there a link to the article? Thanks!



cgriffin said:


> This is an interesting article about heartworm disease in cats.
> There is also a little video clip of a vet talking about heartworms in cats. Wow, was I surprised, the vet in the video is the vet in Nashville, that I usually take my guinea pig to. Lol.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

cgriffin said:


> No, cats get the same heartworm and it takes just one worm to kill them. It is not only a canine disease anymore.
> And that article, my only comment: What a moran!
> 
> By the way, I lived in Michigan for ten years and working in a vet clinic, our general practise was to give heartworm preventative all year round. So, I do not mind giving heartworm preventative all year round, no matter where I live. I would rather be safe than sorry. Heartworm treatment is not fun for the dog and can be very dangerous and sometimes deadly.
> Living here in the south, there are so many cases of heartworm positive dogs, it is a crying shame. In Michigan, it was a big thing when there was a positive test in a dog, happened only a couple of times every few weeks or so. Here in Tennessee, when I was working in a vet clinic, there was a positive test weekly. I have to say, all the positives I saw, were from people that had outside dogs not on heartworm preventative.


Betty (Penny & Maggie's Mom) and I attended a seminar at Toby's veterinary clinic once with a representative from one of the drug manufacturers (can't remember which one). Anyway, she mentioned a few dogs along the Mississippi River in the south were discovered to suffer from HW disease despite getting preventive on schedule. I gather they investigate these cases carefully because of the treatment guarantee the HW manufacturers pay for if your dog turns up positive despite giving preventives. A couple of the dogs hid the preventive under sofa cushions or elsewhere, or the owners didn't dose properly or on schedule and those dogs weren't covered by the guarantee. 

Living here in the South the veterinarians preach year-round coverage, for good reason. It's a shame owners disregard this advice or stop it for whatever reason. The HW preventive is much cheaper than the treatment and the emotional agony many otherwise loving owners suffer after learning their dog suffers from a deadly, yet preventable disease.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

OH, duh, I totally forgot the link! Thanks Hotel 4 dogs. lol

Heartworm in Cats - Causes, Symptoms & Treatment of Heartworm - Cat-World


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> No, cats get the same heartworm and it takes just one worm to kill them. It is not only a canine disease anymore.


Actually... we were well aware of heartworms in cats, as we are/were cat people before we were dog people. And keep in mind there are other bugs that cats get that we seriously did/do not want in our home (EAR MITES!). 

But I was under the impression that cats are somewhat resistant to heartworm, and that's why there aren't as many cases as with dogs. Despite there being twice as many cats in homes as dogs.. 

I mean, just thinking about how cats are kept out where I live. Our cat was a unwanted kitten dropoff at a barn where the cats live their entire lives in the barn or sleeping in or under trailers near the barn. The barn lady usually gets the cats neutered and spayed, she puts food and water out for them. And that's it. They get wormed once or twice a year, if they are. These cats live well into their 20's.


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