# Heart Worm/Flea/Lepto ???



## PNWAlan (Oct 9, 2018)

We moved from Western Washington to West Sacramento. It looks like we have to go on some preventatives. Both local Vets that I have talked to said we need to be on heart worm and flea/tick prevention. A little more ambiguous about Lepto vaccine. One said we don't need it. The other said they normally strongly recommend it. But to consider the opportunities Skye may have to encounter areas and water sources that may have been contaminated whether on our outings or even in our own backyard and then make my own decision.

I searched on here for what members have been using, but those I found are pretty old conversations. I have been considering Heartgard (not the +) for heart worm, and Advantix for fleas/ticks. Strongly leaning toward forgoing Lepto vaccine.

Welcome any advice/experience/opinions/.

.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

We have used Heartgard plus and K9 Advantix II for six years with Molly and have had no adverse effects. She loves the taste of the Heartgard and gobbles it up. Interceptor is also an excellent choice for Heartworm protection. Following the advice of my breeder, I decided not to give Molly the Lepto vaccine.


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

I use Sentinel for heartworm, flea control, year round(Florida). I have used it for 4 dogs now without issues. It does not do anything for ticks though. There was a big tick outbreak here 2 years ago when I first got Shadow and found several walking on him,not attached. I freaked out. First I tried a topical and it did nothing. My vet suggested a pill, I used it for 4 months and thankfully the ticks thing is over but I am always looking.
He has not had Lepto, at almost 3yrs., much to my vet's dismay. My breeder doesn't do it either.
I think that it depends on your area and lifestyle.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

My understanding of the lepto vaccine is that there are many strains of it and the vaccine does not cover them all. I also understand that the immunity does not last long and has to be repeated often. It is also one of the vaccines with the worst side effects. Therefore, it sounds like a lot of risk for not much benefit. I would be interested in the vets thoughts on this. Perhaps the vaccine is different now than years ago when I considered it.

With Skye currently under stress of some sorts and an unknown condition, I personally would be afraid to now start him on some drugs. Even though considered safe, these are poisons at some level and the liver will try to detox them. Would hate to further stress the liver right now. Just my honest opinion. For ticks, I just use natural repellents and do frequent tick checks and I live in a heavily tick infested area where ehrlicia is epidemic. Both dogs are 11 and have no tick diseases.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Just wanted to add that simply keeping your dog from drinking standing water goes along way in preventing lepto.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

The parasite incidence map is out there for 2019 so you can check reported cases of tick and heartworm diseases in your county to assess your risk.

https://www.petsandparasites.org/parasite-prevalence-maps#2019/all/lyme-disease/dog/united-states/


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## PNWAlan (Oct 9, 2018)

Thank you all for the replies.

I am reluctant to introduce other chemicals into our lives while we are still trying to sort out Skye's liver issues. Heart worm is not as prevalent here as in the Bayous for sure. But Dr. Chen did say that she sees several cases every year. Across the road from our backyard is about 20 acres of open field. The Main Drain Canal is just one street over from our front door. The paved paths and gravel trails that we walk every day have vegetation along the edges and border the Main Drain Canal. There are also retention ponds alongs those paths and trails. We have had temps in the 60s so will probably be seeing mosquitos soon. The Doctor did give the OK for Heartgard and wrote a prescription. So I could start with the Heartgard and wait it out to start flea and tick control.

So much to think about while trying to chase down Skye's underlying issues :frown2:

.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Ehrliciosis is the main tick disease where I live which can be transmitted in less than four hours. No tick med is going to kill a tick that fast. Avoiding wooded areas and tall grass along with frequent tick checks can really help. Most of the dogs around here with Ehrlichiosis are on preventatives. For mosquitoes, avoiding going out at dawn and dusk when they feed can be helpful.


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## kodiakken (Oct 25, 2018)

We are going on a roadie here shortly from Central Alberta to Austin Texas and I have chatted with our Vetrinarian. He said to definitely do the heart worm and the tick prevention. So a week before we head out Danny goes to see the doctor and get his pills and drops.
The other two disease mentioned above I don't know anything about them but if not drinking standing water is a good start ewe should be okay. Somebody pretty much won't drink water unless it's in a bowl.
Ken.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

We use a topical application called Revolution.

_No matter how big or small, our dogs need our help to protect them from parasites. REVOLUTION® (selamectin) provides that help. Just one application a month provides protection against fleas and heartworms, treats and controls ear mites and sarcoptic mange, and controls ticks infestations due to American dog ticks. REVOLUTION can treat puppies as young as 6 weeks, and is available in sizes to treat dogs up to 130 lbs with one simple monthly dose._

https://www.revolution4dogs.com/

Our vet told us to have her also wear a tick collar when ticks could be a problem, because she said Revolution is not that great against ticks.

We have been giving the lepto vaccine to Shama every year, because that was what our vet recommended. She has not suffered side effects as far as we can tell.


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## mabel (Dec 31, 2019)

In SOUTHERN UTAH there was an outbreak of lepto. We are waiting to bring home a new puppy from northern Utah. I will ask the breeder this question about lept vaccine. There was a passing through visitor that had a dog in So. Utah that spread this Lepto virus as I just found out. So not sure what to do. Usually in Utah and Nevada we don't give Lepto.


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## HavFancier (Jan 25, 2020)

Hi, Alan. I wish I could help. Hashi doesn’t have her first vet appointment until February 11. We live in NJ and we used Frontline and Heartgard for our big Labs. I hope you are all enjoying your new home.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

I've been giving Inceptor Plus for heartworm for several years. They also get NexGard for ticks and fleas. Lepto was recommended, but I decided against it.


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

I know a lot of people don't give lepto - I have never had to really consider if I wanted to or not because here in Uganda, the DHLPP is a required annual vaccine. Perry has never had any problems with it. I do make sure that I space his rabies and DHLPP a few weeks apart (don't know if it does any good for anything beyond my piece of mind!) If/ when we move I guess I'll have to think about it and decide if we continue or not.

we do heartguard for heartworm and advantix for flea/ tick - though since he's just in our yard and I've never seen a tick on him, I have been spacing them out longer than every month (but he did get a tick-borne illness in November, so I'm rethinking that policy and starting him back on monthly doses).


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I’m kind of surprised that moving from one humid climate to another you’d have such different advice. Of course the environments are completely different, but there’s plenty of mosquito activity in both regions. Maybe there is a big difference in the number of confirmed cases.

My Havanese did horribly on Heartgard. If your vet strongly recommends preventatives, I would specifically ask about the different options and doses. Heartgard caused a cycle of diarrhea that led to anal gland issues and all kinds of problems and it started over every month. I opted for blood tests instead since our climate is relatively dry. I have since learned there are other heartworm preventatives that would be better options if we decide we need one again, and that we can use a smaller dose. There was a thread that mentioned it here on the forum but I’m having trouble getting it to come up with the search, too, I think because it’s mentioned deep within in a long thread. I don’t really know if it’s the fake chicken flavoring or other ingredients in the chew or the actual drug that caused the problem, so I’ll stick to a straight pill and I won’t use a combination dewormer like Heartgard plus. If we have to use heart worm meds in the future I will also do the invermectin testing, just to be safe. I think it’s unlikely my Havanese has the mutation because my understanding is the reaction would have been much more serious, but there is no question he had a problem with what he took so I wouldn’t want to take any chances. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of information out there about this, especially regarding Havanese specifically, so it took almost a year for us to confirm. I suspected it earlier and mentioned it to a vet and was immediately dismissed, which I’m still kind of bitter about.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> I'm kind of surprised that moving from one humid climate to another you'd have such different advice. Of course the environments are completely different, but there's plenty of mosquito activity in both regions. Maybe there is a big difference in the number of confirmed cases.
> 
> My Havanese did horribly on Heartgard. If your vet strongly recommends preventatives, I would specifically ask about the different options and doses. Heartgard caused a cycle of diarrhea that led to anal gland issues and all kinds of problems and it started over every month. I opted for blood tests instead since our climate is relatively dry. I have since learned there are other heartworm preventatives that would be better options if we decide we need one again, and that we can use a smaller dose. There was a thread that mentioned it here on the forum but I'm having trouble getting it to come up with the search, too, I think because it's mentioned deep within in a long thread. I don't really know if it's the fake chicken flavoring or other ingredients in the chew or the actual drug that caused the problem, so I'll stick to a straight pill and I won't use a combination dewormer like Heartgard plus. If we have to use heart worm meds in the future I will also do the invermectin testing, just to be safe. I think it's unlikely my Havanese has the mutation because my understanding is the reaction would have been much more serious, but there is no question he had a problem with what he took so I wouldn't want to take any chances. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of information out there about this, especially regarding Havanese specifically, so it took almost a year for us to confirm. I suspected it earlier and mentioned it to a vet and was immediately dismissed, which I'm still kind of bitter about.


My yorkie had similar problems on Heartgard and Mia was just "off". I even had ivermectin compounded by a pharmacist at the lowest necessary dose because I also suspected the fake chemical flavorings. This made no difference. I am now trying to do more frequent testing that test for the actual microfilia so it is caught earlier. This differs from the typical antigen testing that only tests for adult worms. Once there are worms, more difficult to treat. This test is offered by Healthgene and is mentioned in the article below. Note also that while Mia was on heartworm and flea meds, her thyroid values kept dropping. Since stopping these meds, her thyroid ranges are now normal. I suspect this is why she seemed off while on these drugs.

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/heartworms-in-dogs/


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