Corgi Health and Growth

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Comment by Cathi 1 day ago

Always talk with your vet about options for treatments, preventatives, meds, etc. There are maps on the web for heartworm and other parasite infestations.

Comment by Cathi 1 day ago

Just to add my thoughts on using heartworm preventative meds - I've had two dogs that had heartworms. Bunny came with heartworms, at age 6 from a reputable breeder of corgis that had taken all of her dogs off heartworm prevetative's 6 mos before. Bunny needed two rounds of treatment over 6 months to take care of the issue. She's been on Heartguard for the last 3 yrs or so, since getting the 'all clear' on a heartworm test. I've had her tested a few times since then, just to be sure. She has some residual damage to her heart and lungs from the worms, which will never go away.
One of my other dogs picked up heartworms when we lived in Texas, by Houston, in the 70's. The treatment back then was very hard on the dogs, and very carefully administered.
Once you have a dog that's infected with heartworms and understand the damage and consequences of letting the worms get started, and getting them through the treatments, I would hope that the choice would be to give your dogs the preventative first.
Bunny had the treatment plan where her first dose was a strong dose by injection deep into the muscles of the back leg. She had to stay at the vet's all day in a small pen to keep quiet. For a month, she could not run or jump or do anything strenuous. The meds kill the adult female worms - who reproduce and spread larvae into the blood stream.
Then later, 6-8 weeks, she had two shots, one each day a day apart, and had to spend the day at the vets so they could watch her. Again, a month or so of little activity. Testing during this time to count the larvae in her blood stream to gauge if the injections were working.
Then, because of the degree of her infection with the worms to start with when I had her tested (two days after she came to live with us), she had to have another dose 2 months later. Again, little activity for a month.
The dogs need to be quiet because, as the worms are dying in the heart and lungs, bits break off. A bit can clog an artery or move through their system and cause strokes, blockage of blood flow, etc.
Not every dog survives the treatment for heartworms, some die during the treatment while in the vet's office being watched.
The truth is, dogs get cancer just like people and who really knows the reason. Dogs can die of many illnesses, accidents, etc. just like people.
If you can prevent an illness or infection from a parasite - wouldn't you out of love?
Find a picture of a heart and/or lungs with heartworm infestation to get a picture of what you could be choosing for your dog.
Cats also get heartworms, and they don't treat it, just give the preventative meds. Cats usually don't survive the treatment, the percentage is low enough that vets generally won't treat cats for the parasite once they have it. Indoor cats get it worse than outdoor for some reason.
Anyway, hope my experience and thoughts will help others out there with a choice for their dogs.
Cathi

Comment by Alice 1 day ago

The preventatives are not actually preventing heartworms, it is just a milder form of heartworm treatment so basically you are constantly treating them for something they don't have so that if they were to contract heartworms it would kill them before they can grow into adult worms. It can effect their immune system and organs, so yes, if the immune system is lowered they may be at higher risk for cancer and other illnesses. In some areas there are a lot of mosquitoes so your dog is at high risk and the options are use the preventative or test for heartworms constantly so if they do get them, you can treat them in time, but of course treatment is very hard on them. It's a tough decision. We have not put Finn on medication yet and I don't know if we will in the future or not.

Comment by Kaisdy 1 day ago

i heard some dogs got cancer because using that~~

Comment by Alice 1 day ago

Christine,
I'm having the same problem with medicating my dog. I don't feel comfortable with putting chemicals into his body but i don't know if that is the smart decision or just the popular decision. I started a discussion on it a while back hoping to get some advise so you should chek it out and see if it can help you make a decision.
click here
As for the alternative, there are homeopathic preventions but I don't think thhre is much proof as to how effective it is and it is more indepth. You can read more on that here.

Comment by Ann B. and Scout on February 5, 2010 at 10:24pm

Christine, I can't answer your question about Heartguard--my Scout is on a different medication for heartworms, called Interceptor, but it may be similar. Until just a few years ago, heartworms were unknown in Idaho, but now they are here, and we must medicate. Don't know if there is any alternative, at least my vet doesn't think so. I mostly answered because I was so taken by how beautiful Riley is--what interesting face markings! We are wanting another pup to be companion to Scout (who is 7), and we are waiting for a litter from our breeder here in Idaho, but I have also looked at the website of your breeder in Gaston. I'm not sure just where that is, but isn't LaPine near Bend? We like that area a lot--guess we consider Oregon our "second" state.

Comment by Christine M Kemp on February 5, 2010 at 3:36pm

Would like some feedback on Heartguard for heartworm prevention. We live on the High Desert in Central Oregon...La Pine to be specific. Starting in late spring through the summer we have sooo many mosquitos. My problem is, that It bothers me a great deal to have a dog tested for heartworm and to medicate with products that contain chemicals...even though I know that heartworm can be deadly. Is Heartguard the best solution to the prevention of heartworm?

Comment by Alice on September 19, 2009 at 3:41pm

You should check with the vet to verify what it is exactly. My friend's black lab would get something like that on one leg all the time and it ended up being that he had bad allergies and was licking and nibbling that spot due to the itching which in turn formed a wound. There are lots of things that can be done to help if that is the problem.

Comment by Kelley on September 19, 2009 at 12:27pm

Question. . . Logan has this spot on his front leg that is red, sometimes seepy, starting to scab over and he's constantly licking it. He gets the same spot in the same place every 6 months or so. Other than the licking, it doesn't seem to bother him. So my question then, does anyone have any ideas what it is and how to get rid of it?

Comment by Corgibyassociation on September 2, 2009 at 8:40am

Freya is 18.8 pounds as of 10 months old.

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