How Important is Heartworm Preventative?

[GuppyAteMyDog]

my mom is a vet. it is necessary!!

cool !, i wish my mom was a vet , i am actually studying veterinary science right now i am in my second year ,still a little squeamish at blood and guts side of it though but i can't tell you how satisfying it is to see an animal who was sick or injured become better from my doing , although i still get watery eyes when we euthanize animals and my colleagues give me a hard time for it (those evil XXXXXXX)

[ekfishlover2011]

Im starting studying for a vet next year. Euthanizing is going to be the only part i will have issues with i think. Ive seen a lot, so i hope that would help me with surgeries and horrible injuries that need fixed and stuff. I hope.

[MCHRKiller]

If they are causing that big of a fuss over it use a combo product for fleas/heartworm/earmites/ etc called Revolution. I use it on my dog and cat...very effective against fleas and very very safe. I pay around $200 for a year supply of it on each animal....so it costs the same as Frontline.

[escamosa]

Every dog that I own gets treated for heartworm. It only takes one mosquito, whether or not there's lots of them around your area. Where i come from, heartworms are very rare, but slowly but surely the mosiquito population is gradually introducing them.

[GuppyAteMyDog]

Im starting studying for a vet next year. Euthanizing is going to be the only part i will have issues with i think. Ive seen a lot, so i hope that would help me with surgeries and horrible injuries that need fixed and stuff. I hope.

awesome good luck it only gets harder from here don't give up and try your best , i just hope i preserve some of my humanity and don't end up like my lecturers and instructors who routinely euthanize animals and become so accustomed that it's like making a sandwich, one of them actually said thiat to me !

[Lady Hobbs]

Parvo is a terrible one, too, and a dog really suffers. Most common in pups. Problem is, they can't get the vaccination for it until they are a bit older.

It's a very contagious virus and everything has to be cleaned in bleach including area's outside. The vet was able to cure my daughters dog of it but it cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

Euthanizing should be no harder than any other injection. Harder for me to see a dog suffering than a dog going to sleep. Only hard if it was my dog, of course.

[Rue]

I agree with Hobbs.

Every job has its 'bad' aspects. And vets have to euthanize animals. Period.

We often deal with the tragedy of euthanasia by resorting to black humour. Perfectly normal. Don't worry about losing your humanity...most of us don't...we just learn to deal with the unpleasant, upsetting aspects of our jobs.

BTW...I worked at a vet clinic for many years.

[GuppyAteMyDog]

yea you guys are right thanks for the advice , but it still bums me out, especially since i am a Hindu and i am supposed to value all life ( not that i grieve for the billions of baby brine shrimp or other live foods i used over the years lol )

[GuppyAteMyDog]

Euthanizing should be no harder than any other injection. Harder for me to see a dog suffering than a dog going to sleep. Only hard if it was my dog, of course.

yea it's true just a routine iv administration of the drug , but sometimes animals (especially dogs) really act out and need to be restrained more than normal i think it's because they can sense the uneasiness emanating from their owners, the other thing i observed is that laborers on a farm or other facility tend to be really rough and careless when restraining animals to be euthanized they have a kind of "it's gonna get put down who cares if the rope is too tight " kind of attitude which needless to say makes the whole procedure even more cumbersome

[ekfishlover2011]

I got the previous owner to explain heartworm and heartworm preventatives to my grandmother, and she now agrees that i should get him tested and then as long as hes clean i can start the preventative. About time i got them all on the responsible owner train.