[Dailydrool] Part 2 of my heartworm questions

[Jim and Cassandra Vance]

>From what I have researched is that there are risks with either method.  The
"fast kill" method of 2 or 3 injections kills the adult heartworms fairly
quickly.  The risk is as they die off in pretty significant numbers there is
a risk of pulmonary embolism from the dead and dying worms.  That is the
reason dogs are kept very quiet for 6 to 8 weeks.  The problem with having a
dog who "freaks" when being confined is that it defeats the purpose of
staying calm - a stressed dogs heartrate increases thus increasing the risk
of the pulmonary embolism.

With the slow kill, the adult worms have a normal life span of 2 to 5 years.
They die off naturally, but prior to dying off they are grown and
potentially damaging the heart and lungs.  Less chance of pulmonary embolism
because the worms don't all die at once as in the fast kill, they just die
off at different intervals.  Plus by adding Doxycycline it kills off the Wolbachia:

Here's info on that:
Recent research has led to the discovery of a parasite called Wolbachia that lives symbiotically inside heartworms. Studies indicate that this parasite contributes to the adverse effects of both heartworm infection and heartworm treatment, including inflammation, embolism and allergic reaction. Treatment with doxycycline to kill the Wolbachia parasite weakens the heartworms and makes them unable to reproduce, lessens their adverse effects on the body and greatly reduces the chance of adverse reaction during heartworm treatment. 

By giving monthly, or weekly doses of heartgard we are killing the eggs so
they never become adult worms that travel to the heart.

Either way presents major risks apparently.  So I am just seeking what has
worked for you all.

AND is there a test, or ultrasound, or something to see just how many heartworms are actually in Hamilton (YUK to even think about this :(

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20091229/9ca05310/attachment-0002.htm>