I need a recommendation on a vet badly.

[Reefer Rae]

It was a slow relaxed walk , I never let him get to the point of breathing with his mouth open and we took a few breaks for him to water the flowers . With all the stuff I've read the heart guard treatment is a very common one to use on older / weakened dogs . It's less traumatic than the injections in the back muscle and slower to kill the worms . The meds are designed to kill them in the first stages of life and has little affect on the adult worms. With a heart worms life span of 9-12 months if the dog can be maintained and symptoms treated , it is possible for the dog to out live the worms and recover . I've compiled a list of vet phone numbers from y'all and family recommendations and the wife has a mission today . To talk to as many vets as possible and narrow down a second and third opinion . A decision on treatment will be made by Monday .
He thanks you

[Geor!]

We use a vet in Gilmer. People actually fly show dogs in from as far as California to have our vet do certain surgeries on their dogs because he's reasonably priced, and very good.
For perspective, my ex's dog got into antifreeze last summer. The bill for 12 hours at the emergency clinic was $700. Scooby was transferred to Dr Spencer the next morning and he spent a week with treatment, monitoring, kidney function testing, and had to finally be put down, and his total bill was $400.

It's quite the drive from Cleburne, and with gas, you may not save much, but if you want to add him to your call list, I'll gladly give you his number.

Great vet!

[Geor!]

It was a slow relaxed walk , I never let him get to the point of breathing with his mouth open and we took a few breaks for him to water the flowers . With all the stuff I've read the heart guard treatment is a very common one to use on older / weakened dogs . It's less traumatic than the injections in the back muscle and slower to kill the worms . The meds are designed to kill them in the first stages of life and has little affect on the adult worms. With a heart worms life span of 9-12 months if the dog can be maintained and symptoms treated , it is possible for the dog to out live the worms and recover . I've compiled a list of vet phone numbers from y'all and family recommendations and the wife has a mission today . To talk to as many vets as possible and narrow down a second and third opinion . A decision on treatment will be made by Monday .
He thanks you

Good looking dog. Use this ordeal as a lesson though and get your dogs on a heartworm plan to prevent this from happening again.

[Broncojohnny]

I got two 13 year old Boston Terriers that are about to keel over. I have already spent about $600 on them in the past two weeks. This week is going to be even better. They both got a little bit of heart disease and liver damage going on and one has two tumors in her foot that we are going to get cut out later this week (about $700). The other one is getting an ultrasound this week (about $400) so we can figure out exactly what medication she needs. I spent about $1700 two years ago having an ulcer on her eyeball repaired. These are going to be expensive dogs by the time they cash in their chips, hopefully a few more years from now.

[bcoop]

I've got an old hillbilly uncle that won't put his dogs on heart worm prevention, then gives it to them when they get heart worms. It usually kills them in a month or three.

Probably has more to do with the fact that by the time you see symptoms, it's already really advanced. And little to do with the prevention meds killing the dog.

[Treasure Chest]

Great vet!

It really had nothing to do with the vet. The dog was 14, he drank a significant amount of antifreeze, from the time of ingestion until he was found was a good 12 hours, and the emergency vet treated him incorrectly for the amount of time from exposure.

He also spays/neuters for under $100, did my English bull dog's four lid eye surgery and removed a blood clot from her ear at the same time for $150.

He has very little overhead and makes the bulk of his money in the large animal hospital, so he keeps his pet prices low.

[Mysticcobrakilla]

Probably has more to do with the fact that by the time you see symptoms, it's already really advanced. And little to do with the prevention meds killing the dog.

Ding ding ding!!

I've personally witnessed the "maintain" heart worm treatment work flawlessly on more dogs than I can count.

[Baba Ganoush]

I was told my dog had them, but she was non symptomatic, so I was skeptical. The treatment was very expensive and hell on the dog, some don't survive it. I continued to give her the pills every month. Fast forward a year and the same vet gave her a clean bill of health on her annual visit. So either the heartworm medication that you give them monthly can cure them, or the vet I chose and many others are crooks.

Good luck.

[Mysticcobrakilla]

I was told my dog had them, but she was non symptomatic, so I was skeptical. The treatment was very expensive and hell on the dog, some don't survive it. I continued to give her the pills every month. Fast forward a year and the same vet gave her a clean bill of health on her annual visit. So either the heartworm medication that you give them monthly can cure them, or the vet I chose and many others are crooks.

Good luck.

You are correct in thinking the monthly (some of them) treatment can cure heart worms, it just takes a while. A year to two years is about par.


Oh....a lot of vets are crooks, it takes a special one to care about the animals and not the money. Look for one that deals mostly with horses and livestock.

[Shorty]

I was told my dog had them, but she was non symptomatic, so I was skeptical. The treatment was very expensive and hell on the dog, some don't survive it. I continued to give her the pills every month. Fast forward a year and the same vet gave her a clean bill of health on her annual visit. So either the heartworm medication that you give them monthly can cure them, or the vet I chose and many others are crooks.

Good luck.

The pills prevent new worms from forming and existing worms eventually die.

[Reefer Rae]

The active ingredient in heart guard has been shown to shorten the lives of adult worms in several study's . Is kills them slowly which for a older inactive dog in poor shape seams to be the way to do it . Once the symptoms are obvious survival is about 50-50 in older weakened dogs.

[mikec]

My wife just told me that our vet is the one who told her about the slow kill by continually giving the treatment.

So, it works and it's not nearly as hard on the animal.

[Jenn]

The active ingredient in heart guard has been shown to shorten the lives of adult worms in several study's . Is kills them slowly which for a older inactive dog in poor shape seams to be the way to do it . Once the symptoms are obvious survival is about 50-50 in older weakened dogs.

If you're going to go the route of monthly Ivermectin dosage (active ingredient in Hartgard) make sure to ask if Doxycycline (antibiotic) would be appropriate for your pet's treatment as well. Studies have shown that monthly Ivermectin dosing in conjunction with Doxy has a higher efficacy than just Ivermectin alone. Best wishes for your pup

[Reefer Rae]

Thank you

[Reefer Rae]

I was just thinking y'all deserve a update . It's been two months and he has gained about 10 lbs . He has some bad days here and there but the heart guard , antibiotics and water pills seem to be optimistically working . The first vet gave him 2-4 weeks the other two I talked to said the heartgaurd treatment really had no risks and could only help in his condition . Here's a update pic .