Heartworm Meds- Help!

[Guest zillabreeze]

I have been lurking for years. I have cried with your losses and cheered with triumphs. Ya'll are a wealth of information. Now I am reaching out. I am on my second set of females. I lost the first set within 10 days of each other in 2012. One to the dreaded OS, the other to old age (I suspect her addiction to chicken jerky, another story)

The first two were laid back, low maintenance. But Oh Boy! The two new girls are Scarlett & Tara both 6 -ish and crazy! They are collectively known as the GIP's- Giant, Idiot Puppies!

ANYWAY- I have been looking for a do-all heartworm/flea/tick med. Just purchased Trifexis- and OMG they hate it! I have spent the whole day trying to get these meds down. Broke into small pieces, wrapped in ham & mayo. Spit it out. Mixed it in with scrambled eggs. Starved them. Mixed it in with all canned food. Now we are on a hunger strike. My sink is full of dishes and I don"t even cook! SOOO- 2 questions!

How do I get this down them for the next 2 months (I'm $134 into it) And what should I switch to on the next round???

Thanks so much in advance!!!!

and oh BTW, they both came to me with hookworms, so that's a concern, too.

Edited February 23, 2014 by zillabreeze

[BellaBean]

When you give them the trifexis. Pill them with it. I do that with all of mine and have not had a problem. No they don't like it, but it's quick and painless.

[PatricksMom]

Can you get some gel caps from someone that uses cosequine in gel caps or get some in a compounding pharmacy? That way, they won't taste it and you can better hide it?

[Guest zillabreeze]

 

Pill them with it.

I'm a fool - what do you mean?

[Batmom]

"Pill them" = lift dog's mouth open (lift upper jaw while wrapping lips under teeth so they don't bite), shove pill waaaaaaaay down throat, close dog's mouth, quickly offer something good like peanutbutter to lick (ensures they swallow).

[Guest zillabreeze]

Greyaholic- thanks! I am used to the "poke down" method! Scarlett, the Drama Queen, screams until the SPCA is at the front dorr! The peanut butter follow up is a new try! She clamps her jaws like a pitbull!! But we shall try! What is my new method 2 months from now? Heartguard & Revolution, instead of a one pill does all?

[juliemac]

"Pill them" = lift dog's mouth open (lift upper jaw while wrapping lips under teeth so they don't bite), shove pill waaaaaaaay down throat, close dog's mouth, quickly offer something good like peanutbutter to lick (ensures they swallow).

 

Yep ... pill em.

 

It helps to have:

> dry hands

> pills tucked between your index & middle finger (if you can, otherwise, between thumb and index fingers).

> if you need to administer 2 pills & can hold them together, pill them at the same time!

Know that faster is better. And if you don't reach FAR back in their throat, you will need to repeat the exercise several times (with slimy hands & pills).

 

My vet told me that their mouths open VERY wide (even if they try to convince you otherwise), and that you could probably put your whole hand their mouths, so do what you need to do to keep them well, and don't let them 'play' you.

 

Pill pockets are a nice alternative, but only if your hounds don't chew their food/treats (my boy inhales, my girl chews all things carefully).

 

Enjoy.

Edited February 23, 2014 by juliemac

[Guest zillabreeze]

Haha, you guys are greyt. When I had to worm them for hooks-the mess, the drama, the syringes were something for the books! All of us were covrered in the mess! Pill pockets don't foll these nuts. When I have done the "pill poke" I quickly massage the throat. Worked for Rotties, wolf hybrids. Not Miss Scarlett! Vivein Leigh would be proud of her namesakes Oscar winning performance!

So what do we change to once these rounds are done?

[Guest PiagetsMom]

The Trifexis must taste horrible....I know it doesn't smell good! I usually cut the tabs up in quarters, and hide them in cream cheese - works for us. My pups are pretty food motivated, so they pretty much swallow them whole. I wish I could be a "pill" person, but I just can't do that to them.

[PatricksMom]

The Trifexis must taste horrible....I know it doesn't smell good! I usually cut the tabs up in quarters, and hide them in cream cheese - works for us. My pups are pretty food motivated, so they pretty much swallow them whole. I wish I could be a "pill" person, but I just can't do that to them.

It must depend--my boys think they're getting a special treat, no disguising Trifexis necessary.

[Guest zillabreeze]

Trifexis does smell!! I can smell it and I don't have that great of a sense of smell! Think I will suffer through then go back to Heartguard Oral & Revolution between the shoulders unless anyone has a better idea.

[Guest Doggone]

Trifexis doesn't smell......it stinks!! Thankfully, Autumn will eat anything mixed with wet dog food, so I pulverize it into some. I add that to some kibble, and she gobbles it down. To me, it still smells awful.........luckily, I don't have to eat it ( 'cause I wouldn't!).

[greysmom]

It helps to blow gently up their nose after stuffing the pill down - a trick from our vet - it helps activate the swallow reflex.

 

Heartguard is good. You should ask your vet about other alternatives.

 

BTW, even my dog that eats poop won't eat Trifexis straight! I have to pill all of mine.

[Guest zillabreeze]

BTW, even my dog that eats poop won't eat Trifexis straight! I have to pill all of mine. 

Thanks for the good belly laugh! Amen. Dead birds fine. Disgustining other crap okay. Trifexexis, not having any part of it! I am among friends!

[Guest june]

 

 

My vet told me that their mouths open VERY wide (even if they try to convince you otherwise), and that you could probably put your whole hand their mouths, so do what you need to do to keep them well, and don't let them 'play' you.

 

 

One of my girls got a dead bird and I had my whole hand down her throat trying to get it back. I didn't get it back but was mighty impressed with how far I could get my hand down her throat! She was NOT impressed and gave me stink eye!

 

I use heartguard plus and frontline for my pups.

[PrairieProf]

Umm, why don't you just switch to a topical heartworm med then? I actually hate topicals (sticky icky vs a nice easy pill) but my vet said Advantage Multi (or I guess Advantix) is the best so that's what we use.

 

But I also pill my dog directly the way Batmom describes and have from Day 1 (I come to dogs from years of pilling cats!), and roll my eyes at all the pussyfooting people do. Compared to pilling a cat pilling a greyhound is so freaking easy. And when you've seen them hork down a giant turkey leg you don't have any silly ideas that swallowing any pill is going to traumatize them.

Edited February 23, 2014 by PrairieProf

[greytpups]

When I pill the pups, I stroke their neck which causes them to swallow. I didn't know about blowing in their nostrils but I do know throat stroking works for us. Don't be afraid to stick you fingers way down their throat. It's the only way that pill is going down.

[krissn333]

We use Heartgard here and Frontline for fleas and ticks. Honestly our only worry is them getting ticks when we go to my folks' house. We've never had a problem with fleas but because I do meet and greets with my dogs, I use it.

 

Anne, I had read somewhere that if you have cats you should not use Advantix, especially if your cats lay with your dog. Wonder if they've changed the formula so that is no longer an issue?

[TheFullHouse]

I use this to pill my dogs. Works like a charm, very easy.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ezy-Dose-Pet-Pill-Gun/dp/B0009YYNU0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1393185830&sr=8-6&keywords=Pill+gun

[Guest OPointyDog]

+1 on the pill gun. We call it the "pill shooter." One of our cats had to have pills every day, and it was the only thing that worked. Turned out to work well on our grey x GSD who was a pill-spitting genius. I always give an AMAZING treat afterwards to reinforce that it wasn't a punishment. The cat liked whipped cream and the dog got liver treats....

[krissn333]

Rosie kitty gets canned food after her thyroid pill twice a day. No treats after her denamarin though (empty stomach!). I have a pill gun but she is so squirmy about it, it's useless. I just pill her with my fingers...much easier for me. So far we've only had a couple of spit-outs but I'm able to retrieve the pill and get it back down there.

 

The methimazole apparently tastes terrible so I coat it with a tiny piece of pill pocket. Goes down MUCH easier that way

[KF_in_Georgia]

Advantage makes multiple products. Some aren't cat-safe (i.e., K9 Advantix), others are. Advantage Multi comes in a formula for cats as well as one for dogs. Advantage Multi is prescription-only because it includes heartworm preventative as well as flea preventative in a single, topical dose. The topical does not control or repel ticks; people with dogs in tick-prone areas often use a Preventic collar to control the ticks; it's the one collar I've known of greyhound owners using safely. (The ingredient in Preventic collars is dangerous to cats if they chew on the collar, but reportedly is safe to use around cats that leave the dog's collar alone.) So far, I haven't had tick problems with my guys (knock wood), but they're only leash-walked in the neighborhood or the park; no one's going into the deep woods or rolling in high grass.

 

The Advantage Multi topical is stinkier than Frontline Plus; but it works the same way, and by the second day after application, it's pretty much been absorbed into the hound's coat. (I put bandanas on freshly-treated dogs to remind me to be careful where I pet them.) I also time applications for the first Monday of the month rather than just "the first of the month"--a Monday application will be safely absorbed and no longer smelly by the next weekend's meet and greets or therapy dog visits. I had my dogs on Heartgard Plus until last summer, but I got tired of the inevitable diarrhea the dogs had after the oral med; I never wanted to try Trifexis, given how sensitive everyone around here was to the gentler Heartgard Plus. My newest dog got his first dose of Advantage Multi this month, and he was fine with it; Silver has been getting it since August.

 

But for Christmas--in case of other medical issues--my family gave me the pill gun I had on my wish list on Amazon.

[PrairieProf]

 

 

Anne, I had read somewhere that if you have cats you should not use Advantix, especially if your cats lay with your dog. Wonder if they've changed the formula so that is no longer an issue?

I use Advantage Multi, not Advantix. Although my vet said it really wasn't an issue unless the cat was right up against the dog or something while it was wet -- mine don't do that, but I didn't want to chance it. I use Frontline Plus too during tick season.

[GreytTerp]

We also use Heartgard (our boy eats it like a treat, and it doesn't have any nasty smell either) for heartworm, and we switched to Frontline Plus for flea/tick mostly for the 4 or so different tick preventions. On the rare occasion when our hound needs to take a pill, we smear it in peanut butter (cover it well), and then stick the wad of peanut butter-hidden pill to the roof of his mouth, and down it goes, no problem. I've even done this with large antibiotics and never had him spit it out or fail to eat it.

 

Also - good to know that we're not the only ones with a beast that has eaten entirely whole dead birds...when it happens, the first thing you think of as you're straddling your hound trying to pry his mouth open is, "I need to get a poo baggie on my hand because my parents always said never to touch dead birds!". By that time of course, the entire bird has been swallowed like a python. Oddly enough, the two dead birds never caused any disruption, aside from some feather-coloring..., of his BMs...

 

Back on topic though - check with your vet for suggestions if Frontline doesn't seem to be working for you. There are some parts of North America where the 30-year old product no longer works very well.

[Guest HoundSmitten]

I use a "pill-poker" tool, too. You don't have to open the dog's mouth as wide as you do for your whole hand. He doesn't like it, but he tolerates it, and he gets a yummy treat afterwards, so he has some incentive to put up with my intrusive behavior Mine has a silicon tip, so it is soft, but the tip gets very slippery as soon as it touched the wet inside of his mouth, just slides right down. I saw one just like it at my vet's recently, so I know they're still available.