I went to a holistic vet a few years ago when I had Lacey to help with her IMHA. Seemed to help somewhat. She had an acupuncture session. Don't remember the other treatments or what was given her.
I have been thinking on the lines of this, I know of two people that do, not to start a fight please, they do not do heartworm meds., they do natural ,and holistic.
I do homeopathic heartworm treatment and worm treatment and feed raw. I am thinking of titre testing instead of yearly vaccinations. Only thing is if we ever need to use a kennel, they require yearly vaccinations. I made these decisions after following our local golden retriever rescue who promote this strongly. I am comfortable with my decision but not interested in starting a fight
Question on the titre testing, it checks for anti-bodies correct? Does that test give a certificate for protection, just wondering if that would be accepted instead of rabies cert or other vaccinations? Just curious.
Titers are acceptable to almost every municipality unless your dog bites someone- then you'd be looking at same situation as any dog whose rabies vac's were not up to date.
I can understand people wanting to try alternative methods or treatments, however, not giving your dog conventional monthly HW prevention is not something I would ever do nor recommend.
I adopted my girl at the age of 2 through a GR Rescue. She had Stage 3 HW, had four months of treatment. I did a foster to adopt of her while she was being treated, the GR Rescue paid for all her care and treatments.
She came through it without any problems, partly due because she was young. However, it is a slow treatment, it's hard on dogs, and it's very very expensive to treat.
The Rescue had some older dogs that came in HW+ and were treated. HW treatment for older dogs is harder on them. One dog came through his treatment but later died from complications, very sad. He was a wonderful boy.
I know of two people,here in maine, that are really wonderful pet owners, they do not do normal heartworm meds.,and flea meds., limit vaccines, I also talked to a lady,that is a vet tec, she has a huge horse farm, raises boxers, she believes in limited vaccines.
There is nothing wrong with doing limited vaccinations provided you are doing Titers.
Rabies of course is required by law in every state I believe.
But not giving monthly HW prevention is a whole different thing...........
I recommend you do some research about HW, what it does to a dog, the type of treatment is used to get rid of them, the chemicals used are harsh and nasty and the side effects it has on dogs that go through HW treatment.
I live in an area prone to ticks & mosquitoes HW meds are a must as are meds to prevent fleas & ticks. I don't know anything about holistic so I'm not knocking but I sure do find comfort in yearly blood test & exams. Rabies shot are required by law here & also county registration. If the county sees your dogs rabies are not up to date they will send the SPCA to pick your dog up & it's a hefty fine to get them back. Of course they also offer $5 rabies shots at the SPCA
Sorry, I really did not want to post because Terri, I think you know my stance on HW prevention by now. BUT, somebody who does not do heartworm prevention is NOT a good pet owner in my opinion. And some so called natural holistic approach to HW prevention is not going to cut it. Maybe people like that need to see a dog diagnosed with a heavy load of heartworms, see them laboring for breath and see them go through treatment for it, that could potentially kill them. The treatment is dangerous and very very expensive and it takes weeks and weeks of keeping a dog quiet for them to be able to recover. Without treatment - the dog will die of heart failure for sure.
So, I had my say!
I do heartworm, but like I said this person does not,and believe me they are very good dog owners, so I am just looking into information.I wonder if up here in maine,it is really needed,in some parts.
Again, I suggest you do a search to read the info about HW, what it does to a dog, the treatment, side effects and also discuss it with your Vet.
HW is not something you want to mess with, it can be so very easily prevented and relative inexpensive for the preventative in comparison to the cost of treatment.
I can't understand why anyone would not want to give their dog the monthly preventative especially if you have read the information about HW.
I would only consider holistic medicine for arthritis and anxiety issues. Never would think of substituting heartworm prevention and vaccines. Just not worth the outcome if holistic avenues failed. I trust my vet on vaccinations and preventative care. She's the one with the sheepskin.
I think when talking about Holistic care it is important to clarify what holistic means in this context:
In Medicine; Characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.
No where in there does it state turning away from science based medicine.
I see a holistic vet on the side of my regular vet for all my animals. I like Dr. Ruth Dalto at Holistic Healing for Animals here in Yarmouth, ME. She does yearly holistic exams, chiropractic alignments, acupuncture when needed and holistic supplements. All holistic vets are different on what they push on you. Dr. Dalto respects my viewpoint and is flexible with what I want to do with my animals. She never pushes me one way or the other. I do vaccines and heartworm on my animals. However, with the indoor cat, I don't do all the vaccines. I always do heartworm though, that is a no brainier. I think that it is good to take a holistic approach on some things, but that is not one of them.
I see nothing wrong in looking into this, I do heartworm ,like I said before ,would not do anything to harm my dogs,in any way.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Golden Retriever Dog Forums
2.8M posts
62.6K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Golden Retriever owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeds, training, puppies, food reviews, service animals, and more.