[Dailydrool] hearworm

[Cblatz]

Sitting with a dog that is sick and in pain just breaks my heart and it can be  so easily prevented. 
It's just not worth the chance that one mosquito will bite  them and make them sick. Nuff said.
 
Dottie

I understand where you and others are coming from.  I truly do. A lot of you that rescue see alot of dogs from some 
bad situations.   But, I had a dog collapse and end 
up in the hospital for 4 days in ICU because of 1 dose of prevention.    In the 20 years since I have not used
chemical prevention, and I have not had 1 dog test postitive for heartworms.

First a mosquito has to bite an infected dog and suck up baby worms.   It then takes a month inside the female mosquito for baby worms to develop.
After a month that same infected mosquito has to bite another dog to inject the teenage worms. Considering the majority of  female mosquitoes only live 2 or 3 week
the odds of an infected mosquito infecting a non infected dog are rather slim.   Mosquitoes don't travel miles more then a couple hundred feet from where they hatch.   

My dogs are only out when I let them out.  They are not out all night (or have access to a doggy door)  or before dawn.  Because I am fanatical about West Nile Disease I am 
fanatical about NO standing water.  We also do not use pesticides or herbicides on our property.  That way we do not kill natural mosquito preditors like 
dragonflies.  I always enjoy seeing the dragonflies out and about.  During the summer months I spritz the dogs with skin-so-soft/water mix.

And chemical prevention doesn't always work.   You spend hundreds of dollars on the prevention and the manufacturers still want you to test.

I'm not advocating going without prevention if you live where mosquitos are numerous or your dogs are out all the time or even in an area where there are alot of dogs.    but for those who are concerned
with year round chemical intake of your dogs,  or just want to raise your dogs in the most natural healthy way,  it is possible.


Cathy Blatz
www.summerhilldachshundsandbassets.com
http://www.geocities.com/clubbasset/index.html
http://www.dachshund-wpdc.org/
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