Heartworm Survey

I received an email from my fellow blogger and dog health advocate Jana Rade. She writes the widely viewed blog DawgBlogger, publishes the DawgBusiness journal, and the daily online paper DVM's daily, and on twitter @DawgBlogger.

http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.ca/. 

http://paper.li/DawgBlogger/dvms

She can also be found on twitter @DawgBlogger. If you have any kind of dog query I guarantee she has researched it, published about it, and helped other dog parents with it. 

The question she asked me was;

Question: Have you been seeing heartworm positive dogs in your area? Do you feel that dog owners underestimate the seriousness of the issue?

Your answer can be as long or short as you like. Publishing your answers includes backlinks to your website/blog. Here are links to the past surveys. 

http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.ca/2013/02/veterinarians-answer-what-is-biggest.html

http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.ca/2012/12/veterinarians-answer-what-is-your.html

http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.ca/2012/11/veterinarians-answer-what-do-you.html

Here is my answer;

Hello Jana,
What a great question!


I think that in light of the last few years of a struggling economy and many people being squeezed so tightly to try to make ends meet among a long list of demands from all sides that heartworm disease has become more prevalent.


I have spoken to many clients who have had to choose between "ideal care" for their pet which included flea & tick prevention, heartworm prevention, all recommended vaccines and high end food. For many of my clients their concerns about feeding their family and keeping a roof over their heads meant foregoing the recommendations of me, their veterinarian. I saw heartworm prevention sales decrease, and routine visits followed. I also saw an increase in advanced illness because many people took a "watch and wait approach" which in some cases caused more advanced, expensive, and more difficult to resolve diseases and illnesses. 

Between the decrease in available funds for pets due to the economy and a false sense of safety about the prevalence and consequences of heartworm disease I have seen more dogs test positive for heartworm disease in the last few years.


I do think that many people do not understand how easily and unknowingly the disease is spread, the simplicity and how economically in which it can be prevented, and the expense and danger treating this disease poses to their pet.


It seems that no matter how many times I tell clients about this potentially life threatening disease, the danger and expense of treating it, and the advances of modern medicine in being able to prevent it so effectively. I still see dogs that test positive.


One mention of advice (my twitter hashtag is after all "FreePetAdvice), Please buy your heartworm prevention from your veterinarian. If you do your pet is protected by the heartworm manufacturers guarantee, IF you give it monthly (as prescribed). And please test your pet yearly. If your pet tests positive you need to know ASAP.


I can be reached anytime at "Diary of a Real-Life Veterinarian" or if you ever have a pet question, curiosity, or just want to visit other pet loving people at www.Pawbly.com
Thanks Jana for always asking such great questions, and always educating us pet lovers.

Here is another link to an article on about the cost of treatment for heartworms;

http://www.smartbrief.com/05/20/13/ounce-heartworm-prevention-worth-pound-cure#.UZzClKKR-So

A link to an article on why we recommend annual heartworm testing;

http://www.smartbrief.com/04/11/13/why-annual-heartworm-testing-important-0#.UZzC9qKR-So

A link to an article on the rise of heartworm disease;

http://www.smartbrief.com/04/07/10/study-heartworm-cases-pets-are-rise#.UZzDP6KR-So

A link to understanding the heartworm cycle;

http://www.smartbrief.com/12/01/11/understanding-life-cycle-heartworms#.UZzDxqKR-So

Did you know that heartworm disease can be found in all 50 states? And that there is no treatment for cats?

http://www.smartbrief.com/04/03/12/early-spring-requires-extra-vigilance-preventing-heartworm-disease#.UZzEDKKR-So

Do you think that you can't afford heartworm prevention? Did you know that there are many options for prevention and that some of them are very affordable. Commercially available from about $4 per month. At over $1,000 for treatment and the considerable risk the disease causes, can you really afford NOT to treat?

What are your experiences?

Please share them with us, and please help educate others in the importance of protecting pets from this disease.

Thanks,

Krista

Have any questions about heartworm disease? Or heartworm prevention?

Ask us at pawbly.com. Always free, always there for you and your pet!

ASK --> CONNECT --> LEARN

My Dogs Waistline

Waiting for dinner.

As a veterinarian I give a whole lot of advice. It's my job after all, educating, treating, advocating, and assisting people to learn about their pets needs. These needs are multifaceted complex and evolving. It is one of the many reasons I love being a veterinarian.

Today's subject is assessing your pets waistline. We often use the description of your pets waistline to describe assessing your pets weight. A defined waist is one of the ways we determine optimal body condition score. When assessing whether a pet is overweight we use the top and side view of the body profile. We want to see a taper at the waist when viewed from above and from the side. Here is a very good chart from Hills to help identify your pets body condition score (BCS).



Even as I stand in the examination room discussing a pets examination findings I sometimes get caught in the ever sticky predicament of having to admit that the advice I am giving isn't always the advice I am adhering too.

As my grandmother used to say, "Do as I say, not as I do." (In the spirit of full disclosure this was always in reference to her chronic consistent chain smoking, something that neither I nor my pets do).

When I received a request from uber-blogger Jana Rade, whose amazing blog can be found at  http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.com/, or on Twitter @DawgBlogger,  I thought "OK, time to put my money where my mouth is." She asked me to complete the mini dawg blog survey to "Show Off My Dogs Waistline" campaign.

So here it goes:

Exhibit A, Savannah, my 16 year old beagle mix. She has lost much of the muscle mass in her rear legs over the last two years, and we struggle to keep her active, mobile, happy, continent, and ambulatory. She has difficulty keeping standing when eating or drinking, and can no longer get up stairs, or sometimes even onto her 5 inch high bed. She has moved from her 5 inch high bed basket to the bed on the floor. Even the bed on the floor gets 'missed' sometimes. I usually find her close to the bed, but either partially in, or almost on it.

As a true beagle she spent most of her life pushing the bulging waistline. She has always been, and remains, very highly food motivated. Keeping her at a healthy weight was a challenge until she approached 13 years old. Thankfully she still loves to eat a snack and we keep her on a very high quality dog food. She eats twice a day, gets a few good quality snacks in between, and is kept warm, visible, and safe if outside. Managing a geriatric pet is a challenge. Keeping her happy and healthy is a combination of good advice, persistence, and being flexible with your plan. I advise my clients with geriatric pets to keep a little bit of meat on the bones so  that if they get challenged by a disease or illness they have a bit of fat on reserves. Also, we want to maintain lean body mass, not fat, but muscle on these guys. Keeping them active and ambulatory is the only way to maintain muscle mass. It is the aging challenge for all of us. There are many little tricks to try, monitor eating every meal and every day, and any amount of unplanned weight loss in an older dog is reason to go see your vet immediately.

Side View of Savannah. 

Top view, note her back legs are splayed in front of her, and she is barely on her bed.

Exhibit B, Charleston. My three year old pit bull mix. He is built like a pit bull, thick, long, and muscular. He is inside with me most of the winter. Snuggled on his bed, hibernating with his brother until the spring erupts, when they both hit the fields in search of trouble. He, like me, is a bit softer and rounder in the winter then we, (oops, I mean he) is in the height of swim suit season. (I promise we both will be leaner, lighter, tighter, and trimmer in June. I'll post an updated picture of his waistline and use it as the reference for us both then).

Side view of Charlie.

Top view of Charlie.

Exhibit C, Jekyll, the three year old beagle. He is a powerhouse. He has to be. He is Charleston's best friend, wrestling buddy, and refuses to let his long legged pittie brother get the best of him. Where Charleston is fast and has an elegant antelope stride, Jekyll is the torpedo-like bullet. I call him the sand bag. If he wasn't so strong, round, and solid Charleston would have broken him years ago. He has the stop, drop, and roll while Charleston plows over him like a master stunt-dog on their daily rumble-run-and-play sessions. All of my veterinary and non-veterinary friends think that my little Jekyll is fat. And here I go sounding just like my guilty clients I persistently reply, "He is not! He is solid, strong, muscular, athletic, and he has short little legs." (Sigh of slight admonition....)

Jekyll side view.

Jekyll from the top.

In my defense, my puppies (Charlie and Jekyll) run four miles with me 3-4 times a week in the winter and 5-6 times in the summer. They are very active pups and on a high quality commercially available diet. I monitor their waistline, muscle mass, coat, teeth, nails, ears, joints, mobility, gait, mentation, eating, urinating, and defecation habits daily. I know that a slim waistline is very important. It is a critical part of overall health. My two beagles have some weight challenges, they are after all beagles, and beagles LIVE for food, but I have also provided them lots of exercise, a very good diet, minimal treats, and measured amounts of food. I would say that the pups are BCS 3/5, Jek pushes 4/5 but he is all muscle, and Savannah is 2-3/5, she is what we vets call sarcopenic which is a loss of lean body mass that occurs with aging.

If you are concerned that your pet has a large waistline, or if you ever have any questions about any aspect of your pets health sit down with your vet to discuss them. There are often important medical reasons that can cause or contribute to your pets appearance, and there are many ways to help identify what is contributing to their BCS. We have advice to help get and keep your pet in tip-top shape and keep them there.

"Oh mom, wake us up when it's summer!"

"See mom, I look good! I'm the most handsome pup ever,
and so adorable, and charming, and  irresistible!"

"Yes, Jekyll, you are all of those things, and more."