Heartworm Treatments Problem?

[Guest snakes]

OK, so a friend took his GSD to the vet today and besides for the reason of the visit she made sure he was getting HW preventative meds each month.

 

She said that the american manufacturing of HW treatments were having quality control issues and that now the only reliable meds are coming from france and other countries. So she recommended for the meantime to give preventative meds year round for now (they were doing just april-nov).

 

Has anyone else heard this?

[Sambuca]

I heard there was a major shortage of HW treatment, but I didn't hear anything about the US getting it from France.

[tbhounds]

Yup- immiticide is hard to come by these days.

[KF_in_Georgia]

There's only one US manufacturer (Merial) of the meds used to treat heartworms, and they've been having problems since at least this summer. The shortage is hurting HW+ dogs in shelters.

 

Here in the South, year-round heartworm preventative has been recommended for years. I've been treating year round for the last 10 years.

[Guest mbfilby]

Heartworm treatment preventative definitely needs to be year round in the warmer climates.

 

I'm not sure how giving treatment year round helps a shortage, or helps the reliability of the drug. I would be worried about ill effects if there are quality control issues...

Edited December 19, 2011 by mbfilby

[tbhounds]

Heartworm treatment definitely needs to be year round in the warmer climates.

 

I'm not sure how giving treatment year round helps a shortage, or helps the reliability of the drug. I would be worried about ill effects if there are quality control issues...

Heartworm prevention---- not treatment.

[Guest june]

I give HW preventive all year because our weather is so wonky. We had weather in the 40's and low 50's for several days. Central Illinois weather; if you don't like it just wait a minute and it will change I'm sure I'll soon wake up some morning to find we've had an ice storm or the temps will be below zero!

[Batmom]

We give it year round too, have for many years.

 

Really sad that the veterinary community considers heartworm infection an emerging disease -- meaning it's increasing in prevalence. Simple and cheap to prevent it.

[Guest FrankieWylie]

Being in Georgia, I never even considered that other regions didn't do year round treatment!

 

Merial has a huge base here in Athens where several of my friends work. I'll have to ask them about it. Hadn't heard anything....but, I am just now a dog owner too LOL!

[tbhounds]

Being in Georgia, I never even considered that other regions didn't do year round treatment!

 

Merial has a huge base here in Athens where several of my friends work. I'll have to ask them about it. Hadn't heard anything....but, I am just now a dog owner too LOL!

It's not interceptor or heartgard (the preventative) -- it's the immiticide (the treatment drug) that's in short supply.

[kudzu]

tbhounds is correct. The drug in short supply is for HW treatment, meaning the dog already has HW disease & needs treatment to kill the adult heartworms. The monthly medication we give is a preventative, of which I have heard of no shortage. I've also not heard of quality control issues & would find it difficult to believe every US manufacturer was having quality control issues but what do I know? Maybe there's some common manufacturing technique that is proving insufficient or some such.

 

The biggest thing I don't get is why this would then require not just getting meds that were manufactured with better quality control but also giving them year round. Sounds like some important details got lost in the retelling of this story. I'll keep my eyes & ears open but for now will have to take your friends comments with a grain of salt.

[Batmom]

The biggest thing I don't get is why this would then require not just getting meds that were manufactured with better quality control but also giving them year round.

 

The recommendation for some years has been to give preventive meds year round nearly everywhere. Doing that prevents many cases of heartworm disease, which is currently hard to treat because of the treatment medication shortage.

 

There are a lot of little myths floating around about temperatures/time needed for the larvae to mature in the mosquito (which actually varies by mosquito species), temperatures that mosquitoes can survive, etc. Hence some people -- and vets -- tend to give meds only @ half the year. Bad idea in most places, including mine (northern IL and you bet we have a real winter here).

 

 

[Guest FrankieWylie]

Being in Georgia, I never even considered that other regions didn't do year round treatment!

 

Merial has a huge base here in Athens where several of my friends work. I'll have to ask them about it. Hadn't heard anything....but, I am just now a dog owner too LOL!

It's not interceptor or heartgard (the preventative) -- it's the immiticide (the treatment drug) that's in short supply.

 

 

Ah, I see! Thanks

[kudzu]

Batmom, just for clarification I wasn't questioning a recommendation to give year round in general but instead questioning the reason stated. Decades ago when we lived in MD we only gave HW meds Spring-Fall, skipping the Winter months. That may have been fine then but these days if I lived in MD I'd be giving year round. To be honest I'd probably dose year round regardless of where I live in US, especially the East.

[Batmom]

Gotcha. My impression/guess is that it's just that -- if the dog *does* get heartworm now, the options to treat it are very limited. So best do all possible to not get it.

[cleptogrey]

when heartworm meds were originally introduced it was one pill daily pre and post mosquito season(that's going back to the early 70') and annual testing. since the 80's i have kept my dogs on interceptor all year long, no problems what so ever. when there was a concern about one of my dog's breathing difficulties he was retested for heartworm, (i generally skip the annual test), NEGATIVE test results. i have not, nor has my vet( i have asked) about adverse reactions to staying on inteceptor.the dogs stay worm free(prior to interceptor i had an on-going battle w/ hookworm). i just bought another 6 months of interceptor, haven't heard about any problems. isn't interceptor manufactured by novartis?? ivomectin(sp??)is the key ingred. in interceptor.

Edited December 18, 2011 by cleptogrey

[GeorgeofNE]

I give it year round--the recommendation USED to be that you only use it in the warmer months, but now, around here, they suggest year round. It is a lot cheaper to do that than treat heartworm--although I was shocked at George's last visit when one of the vets at the clinic suggested that because of his age, I could discontinue entirely if I felt like it.

[Guest snakes]

Just to clarify for everyone,

first - this wasn't meant to be a discussion about whether or not to treat year round, decide that for your own situation with your vets input.

 

Second - It is the TREATMENT for heartworms once infected that I guess is now hard to come by. (i was inquiring whether others had heard about this)

 

Third - The preventative is still in good quantity and quality within the US.

[tbhounds]

Just to clarify for everyone,

first - this wasn't meant to be a discussion about whether or not to treat year round, decide that for your own situation with your vets input.

 

Second - It is the TREATMENT for heartworms once infected that I guess is now hard to come by. (i was inquiring whether others had heard about this)

 

Third - The preventative is still in good quantity and quality within the US.

Well now, I guess that's it in a nutshell!!

[Guest mbfilby]

Heartworm treatment definitely needs to be year round in the warmer climates.

 

I'm not sure how giving treatment year round helps a shortage, or helps the reliability of the drug. I would be worried about ill effects if there are quality control issues...

Heartworm prevention---- not treatment.

 

Oopps misread the OP... Thanks..

[TheFullHouse]

We transported a hound who turned out to be heart worm positive back in the early summer and the vet couldn't get the meds to treat the pup until November. They even have a new treatment protical they are using now until they can get the drugs again.

 

Giving preventative year round is a lot safer than treating heart worms.

[JJNg]

IMO, giving HW preventative year-round is the safest way to go, regardless of where you live. If the vet felt that only giving it April-Nov was enough for that area, why would they suddenly change that recommendation to year-round, now that Immiticide is more difficult to get? Doesn't that imply that giving it year-round would have been better anyway? I wouldn't want my dogs, or my patients, to risk getting heartworms, even if the treatment (Immiticide) was easily available, so I'm just not following the logic there.

[Hubcitypam]

All I know is that when I lived in IL 15 or so years ago the protocol was to use preventative until October and test again in April.

 

My current vet recommends year around heartworm preventative and testing every two years. Poodle and Girl are due for this this year but I wonder...if one of them did show up positive (highly unlikely but you never know) the recommended course of treatment for both of them considering their age (both 11+ combined with other pretty severe medical issues) would seem to be Heartgard type Ivermectin would be the way to go...and we are already doing that every month.

 

I'll ask my vet about this as 3 year old Barkley has to get his shots and HW test (where does a year, two couches and a door go?) on Friday.

Edited December 22, 2011 by Hubcitypam

[Batmom]

We used to do just @ April - October as well but when I moved back up here (northern IL) @ 10 years ago, vets were recommending year round. I expect that's partly because the meds have gotten better and partly because the disease has spread, infected other types of mosquitoes that are better able to incubate the larva at lower temps, etc.

[kudzu]

If the vet felt that only giving it April-Nov was enough for that area, why would they suddenly change that recommendation to year-round, now that Immiticide is more difficult to get? Doesn't that imply that giving it year-round would have been better anyway? I wouldn't want my dogs, or my patients, to risk getting heartworms, even if the treatment (Immiticide) was easily available, so I'm just not following the logic there.

Yeah, that's what confused me.