[Marie]

Keep on top of your monthly heartworm preventative!

I discovered this recently when we took our daughter's adopted stray to be neutered. He tested positive for heartworm, but the vet told us that the medication is no longer available.

All they can do for him now is give him the monthly preventative and not allow any new heartworms to form, but that the adults will still be there.

The article says that there's an expensive alternative, but the vet told us that there was NO alternative treatment to kill the adults.

For the last few years, there's been a growing shortages for people and our beloved pets. My mother can no longer get Armour Thyroid and my daughter's migraine medication is no longer being manufactured. (My mother is having her thyroid medication made for her at a compounding pharmacy, but it's expensive. My daughter is out of options and is desperate.)

Now we can't treat a heartworm infection. This is a huge problem for dogs in Texas. Our vet told us that local shelters and most pet owners are just putting down every dog that tests positive.

What the heck is going on people?! We live in the richest country in the world in 2011 and we can't get basic, old medications??

[Dacula]

Bump for later reading. There is some really good information in this thread.

[Joe 6-pack]

WOOOF!

The Doggie Ping list is for FReepers who would like to be notified of threads relating to all things canid. If you would like to join the Doggie Ping Pack (or be unleashed from it), FReemail me.

[kalee]

My migraine med isn’t available either. :(

I know farmers who use pig wormer as a preventive medicine for heartworm. I asked my vet and she said it is the same ingredients and lots cheaper. There is no excuse for having an dog develop heartworm because of cost.

[TexasRepublic]

I think government interference is making it unprofitable to manufacture drugs (and a lot of other things) in this country. I do believe it is by design - they want to create a crisis in order to save us with socialized medicine. Connect the dots, people!

[The Iceman Cometh]

my daughter's migraine medication is no longer being manufactured

Whoa...what was discontinued?

[JrsyJack]

This is just an ObamaCare dry run...they’re just gauging the reaction for when they have to tell you that Granny’s not gonna make it cause we have to save the medicine for younger folks...

[headstamp 2]

So just to get this straight, the drug used to treat already infected dogs is not available. But the preventative drug still is?

[Shannon]

All they can do for him now is give him the monthly preventative and not allow any new heartworms to form, but that the adults will still be there.
The article says that there's an expensive alternative, but the vet told us that there was NO alternative treatment to kill the adults.

This is absolutely false and a shame your vet doesn't know otherwise. Being heavy into animal rescue in the South where so many rescue dogs turn up heartworm positive, I've used the "slow kill" method and it DOES work. There are no two ways about it. It works.

Under my vet's supervision I've put dogs through this treatment and they test negative in about 7 months. I actually prefer it to the "fast kill" (Immeticide injection treatment method). With the slow-kill method, the heartworm preventative is given twice a month PLUS the antibiotic Doxycycline is given. The Doxycycline is a must; it's the key to the success.

Send a private email with your email address and I'll send you a pdf I wrote because I was getting so many requests for the info.

[dervish]

I don’t know what your daughter’s migraine medication was. But there is a whole new group of meds that actually stop the migraine rather than just alleviating the symptoms. They work much better.

The medication I am most familiar with is Zomig.

http://www.zomig.com/zomig-coupon.aspx

The original medication of this class was Imitrex. But I think Zomig is an improvement.

[gopheraj]

I get mine from overseas. Armour has changed and another does the same. Higher than with insurance but I could not get a doc to prescribe it for me. Has helped me immensely. Been using it for 5 years now. If you are interested, pm me and I’ll forward the email that I was sent with the links to sites. For instance on the one that I got it at, the Armour 2 grain, 100 tab is $104.49 and ERFA Thyroid Natural 2 Grain is $89.95 It is as good as Armour.