Heart Worm Blood Test

[grey8greys]

The kids have their yearly physicals tomorrow. They are on Interceptor 12 months a year, my question is, do you feel it is necessary for blood work every year to test for heart worm? I have always done it every year, but wonder if it is really needed . My Vet says that the blood test also test for lyme disease. Kerri will be 12 in Nov. so I don't mind doing senior blood work on her, and Abel is 7 1/2 yrs old. Also how important is the urine test. I can always get it from Kerri, but Abel is a little harder to get it . They usually pee at the same time I always take their poop to be tested and the Vet always wants to send Drontal home with me to worm them, if their poop test is negative is it necessary to worm them?

Thanks in advance.

[BauersMom]

Your vet is likely doing the 4DX Snap test for heartworm - in which case, yes, it's worth to test. It does heartworm, Lyme, anaplasmosis and ehrlichia.

 

I always run fecals (and no, you don't need Drontal if they are negative) but only urine on dogs older than ~9 along with the senior panel.

 

Hope that helps

[TheFullHouse]

I always have the test done even though mine get preventative all year round.

[Hubcitypam]

My vet tests for heartworm every two years if the dogs are on preventative all year.

[Guest iconsmum]

I'm in Ontario. No heartworm meds at all and a once yearly blood specifically to check - our heartworm rates are low and the winter kills mosquitoes so I wouldn't keep anybody on meds. Worms - edible diatomaceous earth every three months for a week in their food and fecals two or three times a year just to check - I would not give Drontal or anything else unless I had a positive fecal for a specific parasite and even then I'd start the DE first unless it was a de resistant worm.

[cleptogrey]

my vet doesn't, but he is one of a kind. if there are symptoms then he tests, but i keep my dogs(he keeps his)on preventative all year long. never have had a problem over the past 21 years of trusting the preventative. also, fecal samples are only done if required for therapy dog certification. if my dog is not loosing weight, not having loose stools and acting healthy why test? prior to interceptor my dogs had hookworms, round worms and just about anything that could be picked up in jersey city. but those were the days when heart worm preventative needed to be administered daily! the once a month regime is a blessing.

 

but do what you feel comfortable with. if you and your vet think it's necessary to test for h.w. then do it.

[JJNg]

I recommend heartworm testing every year, and I even test my own dogs every year. Of course, I also live in the southeast where heartworm disease is very common. Even if you are giving heartworm preventative every month, it is not 100% effective (think about it like birth control). There are also increasingly more reports of dogs on monthly preventative getting heartworms, mostly in the Mississippi River valley.

 

Heartworms do not cause any detectable symptoms until it is very advanced and there is inflammation in the lungs, or heart failure. This is why it's so important to test regularly - you can catch it a lot earlier, at a stage when it can be most effectively treated.

 

if my dog is not loosing weight, not having loose stools and acting healthy why test?

It is important to test for intestinal parasites because dogs can carry them without showing any signs. And some of the canine intestinal parasites are zoonotic and can cause significant problems in humans, especially children. Here are a couple articles:

 

http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/pbs/zoonoses/larvamigrans/cutvisoclm.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001657/

 

For the OP, if your dog is on Interceptor consistently and fecals are negative, I don't think it's necessary to deworm. However, some vets feel like taking the extra precaution of an additional dewormer is a good idea, and it's not going to hurt.

[GeorgeofNE]

I've never had a vet suggest routinely deworming my dog.

 

They INSIST on annual heartworm tests around here, but now that it's the SNAP test that checks for all sorts of things, it seems like less of a scam to me. Mind I say that because what should be a simple annual well dog visit always ends up costing me at least $200.

 

I was shocked that my vet said that if I wanted, I could stop giving George heartworm preventative because of his age (he's 9). I said, "What? Why?" and he said, in his own words, that George would likely die of some other cause anyway before heartworm would kill him if he happened to get it. I thought that was an odd suggestion, and asked for a prescription for Hartgard Plus anyway.

 

That was not the vet at the clinic we usually go to--

 

So, to the OP, yes I have annual testing done, and yes, he's on preventative year round.

[cleptogrey]

we encountered ghirardia a couple of years ago, sympotms were obvious. but since the dogs(since 1991) have been on interceptor all other parasites testing have always been NEGATIVE. remember i test for therapy dog certification. i did test for heart worm when my welsh terrier showed signs of breathing distress(it turned out to be l.p.). he was always(until the very end) on interceptor and as presumed the test results were negative.my vet is not one for testing, he is older and as i said he has a very different attitiude which is NOT for everyone. but he has brought 3 dogs back to life, parvo(the saluki lived another 7 years), diagnosed addison's disease quickly(lived another 10 years), and an adverse reaction(shock) to rabies vaccine(we never vaccinated the w/t again).

[grey8greys]

Thanks for all your replies. I will have the blood test done, I do every year, just wanted to hear other's opinions. Kerri's urine is in a jar for senior testing and I will be taking both kids' poop to have it tested. Kerri is due for her rabie and lepto shots and Abel is not due for any shots. I'll up date their visit later

[Guest Swifthounds]

If you're going to do leapt (not a core/recommended vaccine) and rabies, consider doing them at least three weeks apart. They are the top two vaccines for reactions and if given together and a reaction occurs, you won't know which vaccine caused the issue.

[grey8greys]

Kerri and Abel's physicals went well today Kerri got her senior / heartworm blood work done, rabies and lepto shot, and Abel got heartworm blood work done and his eyes checked, he has been rubbing his face lately, eyes look greyt! Both had their poop checked and Kerri had her urine checked. Bought 1yr supply of Interceptor that last me 6 months and 30 days of Rimadyl for Kerri, she has been having some soreness in her front right leg. Walked out of the Vet's office less $607.00 Also renewed Kerri's dog license for 3yrs. another $30.00. We are ready for Dewey Beach now