Dogs (and heartworms) on the move

A great point was brought up by Kathy on my last post.  Unlike those of us in the Midwest she is fortunate to live in a part of the country where many parasites are virtually non existent.  However, times are changing.  Data provided by the American Heartworm Society shows that heartworms have been diagnosed in all 50 states now and incidence of heartworm positive dogs are on the rise as shown in the following maps.

There are likely several reasons for this.  One is an increase in testing-if you don't look for it, you won't find it!  I can guarantee if every dog was tested these numbers would go up substantially, especially in endemic areas.  As annual testing is more widely recommended across the country then we will obtain more accurate pictures of the true heartworm incidence in the nation.

Another reason is the increased mobility of our human and canine populations.  As people travel with their pets, relocate for jobs or other reasons they are bringing diseases with them to new parts of the country.  With the increase in popularity of dog sports and shows people are traveling more widely and more frequently with their dogs on a regular basis.  Think of what happens when a national event is held in a heartworm endemic area?  Thousands of dogs travel from all over the country and may be exposed to things they ordinarily would not see in their home area.

Furthermore dogs are bought, sold and shipped all over the country.  This includes rescue dogs who are frequently moved across many state lines to areas with better shelters, more resources, etc.  The most significant example of this is the dogs rescued after hurricane Katrina.  These dogs came from a heartworm endemic area (as you can see on the map) and were literally moved all over the country-taking their heartworms with them. 

Finally there have been some very limited reports of heartworm resistance or preventative failure not linked to client compliance.  These failures are very geographically limited at this time but they are being very closely investigated by parasite experts as spread of this strain (or strains) of heartworms could be catastrophic in our canine companions. 

As a side note I saw a disturbing number or anti-heartworm preventative websites while looking for graphics to use in this post.  These people are concerned with putting unnecessary drugs and toxins in their pet.  I wonder if they realize that if their pet contracted heartworms it would need to be treated with very painful, very toxic injections?  I'm not saying there isn't a a place for natural or holistic treatments but really, this isn't it.  One website advocated giving the preventatives every 6-8 weeks instead of every 4.  This is not a good idea.  Does heartworm efficacy stop directly at 30 days.  No, but it may very well drop to less than adequate levels by the 6-8 week mark.  Each product varies and you take a huge risk by using it only every 2 months.  Trust me, we don't sell it as a once monthly product to make money-it's because that is what is best for your pet.  And finally, don't fall prey to the my pet is indoors/long-haired/etc and can't get heartworms myth.  Remember when I got Lyric she was just 2 years old, long-haired, indoors and heartworm positive.

So, talk to your vet, determine your risk, and come up with a plan that works for you and your pet.  Personally, no matter where I lived I would use year round prevention.  Partly because I don't want my pet to ever go through treatment and partly because the preventative I use also protects against a wide range of intestinal parasites that can easily be picked up many places. 

Bugs Be Gone

As parasite season approaches (or continues depending on where you live!) choosing the right heartworm/flea/tick preventatives can be a challenge.  The market is flooded with choices and it can be confusing for the pet owner to know what to use and also hard for the veterinary clinic to know what to stock!  It would be nice if there was one perfect, safe, effective, economical product that eliminated all parasites.  But, there is no such thing.  My focus today will be on products that control one or more of the following-Heartworms, fleas, and ticks, although many products also control additional parasites. 

As a side note Heartworm prevention (and sometimes flea prevention) is recommended year round where I live but may vary in other parts of the country.  Check with your vet about what is recommended for you.

Advantage (Imidacloprid) is a topical product for both dogs and cats.  Advantage controls only fleas and lasts for 30 days.  Advantage is a very safe product and has a relatively fast kill rate.  It is available over the counter.

Advantage Multi (Imidacloprid/Moxidectin) is also a once monthly topical product for dogs and cats.  Advantage multi controls heartworms, fleas, hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, and ear mites. It does NOT control ticks.  While I have not used this product personally it sounds like a good choice for someone looking for broad spectrum parasite control.  A recent study showed that it performed very well as a heartworm preventative against a tough strain of heartworms.  This is a prescription product. 

Capstar (Nitenpyram) is an oral tablet that kills all live fleas on the pet within approximately 30 minutes.  It only lasts 24 hours.  Personally, I think this product is a waste of money for most pet owners.  The only time this product is useful is if your pet picked up  few fleas at the dog park, etc.  However, if you don't know how long the fleas have been there they may have already laid eggs, or if you are not sure where the fleas came from (as in, they might be in your yard) then this product won't eliminate the problem.  At a cost of $3-$6 apiece you can spend about $10 more and get one of the 30 day products.  Capstar is available for both dogs and cats.

Comfortis (Spinosad), commonly known as the "flea pill" is a chewable tablet that controls fleas for 30 days.  For those concerned with chemicals in their pet Comfortis is a nice choice because spinosad has been awarded the green chemistry award and is approved in a topical version for organic farming.  Comfortis should be given with food as it makes the occasional pet vomit.  It is only approved for dogs, largely because cats will not eat it.  Comfortis kills fleas within four hours before there is a chance to lay eggs.  This is what I use in my personal dogs most of the time.  It is a prescription product. 

Frontline Plus (Fipronil/(s)-methoprene) is a topical product for dogs and cats lasting 30 days.  Frontline kills ticks and all stages of fleas including flea eggs.  Many people have expressed concern that Frontline is not working as well as it used to.  It's hard to say if this is due to compliance or flea resistance but may be a combination of both.  Frontline is available over the counter. 

Heartgard Plus (Ivermectin/Pyrantel) is a meaty chewable tablet that is give once monthly.  Heartgard controls heartworms, roundworms and hookworms.  It is available for dogs and cats and is a prescription product. 

Interceptor (Milbemycin oxime) is a once monthly chewable tablet that controls heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms.  It is a prescription product and is available for dogs and cats.  This is my product of choice for my personal dogs. 

Iverhart Plus and Tri-heart Plus (Ivermectin/Pyrantel) are essentially  generic versions of Heartgard but do not come in a meaty tablet.

K9 Advantix (Imidacloprid/Permethrin) is a once monthly topical product.  This product was Bayer's attempt to get in on the tick market.  This product control fleas and ticks and repels mosquitoes.  However, there are some studies that show the addition of the permethrin reduces the length of the flea killing to 3 weeks.  Although it claims to repel mosquitoes this product should not be used as an alternative to to heartworm prevention.  This product is for dogs only and use on cats can cause a toxic reaction to the permethrin.

Preventic collars (Amitraz) control ticks for 3 months and is available for dogs.  Amitraz is not safe for cats. 

ProMeris (Metaflumizone/Amitraz) is a once monthly topical that controls fleas and ticks.  ProMeris is widely known for it's unpleasant odor and because the amitraz has made several dogs ill.  Based on the places I have worked it seems this is a relatively unpopular product and I don't recommend it.  It's most useful niche is as a very convenient treatment for demodectic mange.  There is a cat version that does not contain amitraz and only controls fleas.

Revolution (Selamectin) is a once monthly topical product for dogs and cats.  Revolution controls heartworms, roundworms, hookworms, fleas, ticks and ear mites.  However the Revolution works best on ticks after several months of consecutive use.  For this reason the company provides a free preventic collar with purchase of a six month supply of Revolution (for dogs only).  At least that was still true last time I checked!  Revolution is my product of choice for cats although Advantage multi is likely similar.  Revolution is a prescription product.

Sentinel (Milbemycin/lufenuron) is an overrated product in my opinion.  This products controls heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms and sterilizes flea eggs but does not kill live fleas.  For approximately the same price you can use Interceptor and one of the better flea products.  This is a prescription product. 

Vectra 3D (Dinotefuran/permethrin/pyriproxyfen) is a once monthly topical for fleas and ticks.  The 3D product is for dogs and cannot be used on cats due to permethrin toxicity.  There is a Vectra for cats minus the permethrin which only controls fleas. 

Proheart 6 (Moxidectin) is an injectable product that controls heartworms for 6 months and roundworms and hookworms for approximately 3 months.  Blood levels of Moxidectin drop to nearly negligible levels at the end of the six months so it is important to not be late for the next injection.  Use of the product has some restrictions and requires signing a consent form.

*New* Trifexis (Milbemycin/Spinosad) just arrived on the market and is essentially Interceptor and Comfortis combined in one chewable pill.  As these are my favorite products I'm anxious to see how this product performs.  It will control heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, whipworms and fleas.  This cost is reported to be only slightly higher than Comfortis alone.

This may not make it any easier to choose but hopefully it will make it less confusing!

Cats...no snow

Here are some pictures of Jelly.  Obviously not in the snow because she doesn't go outside.  As you can see, she prefers to nap on the back of the couch. 

Ok, so I lied, here is just a little snow!  This might be the last as we transition to tornado season (also commonly referred to as shaking and hiding under the bed season) here...which is much less scenic than snow.

Yep, there's more

It's cool, rainy and muddy now but don't worry, I still have snow pictures. 

Legend posing with her beloved football

 This is the one I like.

 Two happy dogs

 Po-po playing in the snow!

 This one turned out kind of weird but I call it "snowgility"

 Zodiac thinks it's never too snowy to herd!

It's not child abuse if...

1.  She goes in herself

2.  She shuts the door

3.  She has an iPhone with her.

In the less cute division I had a "first" at work today.  Everyone probably realizes that there a lot of unpleasant smells in my line of work.  But of all of them, the one that makes me sick to my stomach is dog poop.  The worse the poop, the more I don't handle it well.  Today we had a sick dog in that had a major blow out of diarrhea.  I tried to help clean up but after spending approximately 2 seconds in the room I literally almost threw up and ran out.  My poor tech had to clean it all up while I tried to clean off the dog.  I've suffered through a lot of parvo and other nastiness but this is the first time I knew I would have actually puked if I had stayed in that room!  Fortunately the dog is much better and went home. 

Almost perfect

This morning Legend Q'd again in jumpers-that's 5 Qs in a row!  But alas she had one wrong course in standard.  Still though, a fantastic weekend with Q's in 5/6 runs, two QQs and 59 points.  I'd be plenty happy with that every weekend!

Lyric almost had a Q in standard but had a refusal at the table.  I see table work in her future as we had some issue with the table every day.  But she capped off the weekend with another Q in jumpers for her 2nd MXJ leg.  Plus she got first place and double MACH points.  This is the first time any of my dogs have gotten a first place in an Excellent B class!

So basically it was a really good weekend! And I was home before dark!

Perfect...so far

It's been a slow blog week so I thought I would give a trial update with one day left to go.  Plus I can hardly wait-obviously by the post title you might suspect it is going well!

Legend has a had a perfect weekend so far!  That's right, 4/4 with 2 QQs in a row.  First time she has been 4/4 since Novice and Open.  And yesteday she ran a faster standard course than she ever has and earned her greatest one day MACH point total!  I'm so proud of her-this weekend we turned all those "almost Qs" into actual Qs.

Lyric is running well too.  Her first run of the day has been super fast but not without errors, but she is gaining speed and confidence and putting everything together.  Plus she is having fun.  Pretty soon I think she's going to be awesome.  Yesterday she only missed one weave pole or she would have qualified in jumpers.  Today she did get a jumpers Q and her first 5 MACH points!  I thought that was pretty good since she did her weave poles pretty slow.  One more day to go!

Warm-up

This weekend was a "warm-up" both literally and figuratively!  First the temps are way up here-snow is melting and mud is forming like crazy.  But I'm also considering this weekend's trial a warm-up for the slew of spring trials we have coming up.  Because of the snow we didn't get in much training before the weekend but I was still really proud of how the girls ran.

Lyric was super fast and focused-getting some of her best course times ever,  no sight-seeing or visiting and no hesitation or lack of confidence about any obstacles.  However she did not successfully weave on the first attempt on any of her runs and so did not get any Q's.  We also had a bit of issue of me pulling her off a few jumps but that's just working on our timing. 

Legend was great too.  Saturday she did her random refuse the A-frame the first time thing but that was her only error.  She then Q'd in JWW on a tricky course.  Sunday we had a miscommunication about the tunnel but otherwise she ran very well in standard and then went on to get another JWW Q with one of her fastest times ever. 

I got to use my video camera for the first time too so I might post some of the videos later on.  We brought Po along and pretty much everyone thought he was cute but no takers yet.  We are off to a three day trial this weekend so I am hoping for more good runs!

Wrestlemania

I am fortunate to be blessed with some of the most tolerant dogs on the planet.  They are great puppy raisers.  Secretly, I think they like it.

Horses in the Snow

More snow photos...bigger critters this time!