Heartworm Meds & Seizures

Do you live in an area where heartworm is actually a concern? Testing him twice a year won't prevent them from getting heartworm if you do live somewhere where it is a concern, it'll just help to catch it early on. If it is a concern, is it possible to try a different heartworm med? Could you get in touch with the breeder of your dogs and see if they have any recommendations? At the very least, the breeder should know one of the dogs has seizures.

I adopted both of my Poms (littermates) from a shelter so I cannot cantact a breeder.

 I live on Long Island, NY. I do not know if this is an area of concern for heartworm??

 Yes, I realize that testing twice a year won't prevent heartworm. It scares me to give them the meds and also scares me not to!!

 From what I have read any heartworm medicine is bad for a dog prone to seizures. I do not know whether I can blame the Interceptor or not? He had not taken any heartworm meds before he had the last seizure so I cannot be sure...

 I am very confused at what to do.

pomtwins

I live on Long Island, NY. I do not know if this is an area of concern for heartworm??

The NY/NJ area is teaming with mosquitoes this summer (I live in Jersey).  They are spraying in areas they haven't ever sprayed before.  So I would say that yes, heartworms would be a real concern for you.

Deb W.

 STOP GIVING THAT MED!  The effects are clearly harmful and may accumulate over time.

 There are things you can do instead:  feed a small amount (about 1/4 teaspoon) of garlic mixed in with the food daily for a week, then go to every other day.  I buy the large jar of minced garlic from Shaw's, but then, I have 4 dogs.  My vet does this for her dogs.  Garlic is NOT a hazard in small amounts, and it does not build up in the system.

Spray Off! or some other sort of repellant on your windows screens, standing inside spraying out.  If you want go DEET free, that is fine.   This will help keep mosquitos out of the house.  DO NOT spray this on your dogs.

Plant some mosquito repellant plants around the house and yard -- the more the better!  Here is a link:

 http://eartheasy.com/blog/2011/04/5-easy-to-grow-mosquito-repelling-plants/

So like marigolds are annuals, you will have to plant them every year.  Others are perennials.  And some like the catnip spread so you need to watch and keep it contained in the area you want it.

Good luck with this!

Thanks for your reply. I am very afraid of these meds and agree that they must be doing bad things to our animals. I am concerned though because I have to agree with Deb W. about the amount of mosquitos this year in our area.

The article also says meds really only need to be given every 45 days for 100% prevention and every 60 days gives you 99% prevention!!

***Low Dose “Safeheart” Medication Approved by the FDA

Freedom

STOP GIVING THAT MED!  The effects are clearly harmful and may accumulate over time.

Do you have any reputable sources for this information?  I would be very cautious about advising people to use your methods to prevent infection with heartworm. 

To the OP, you should look at the American Heartworm Society's web site for a source of accurate information.  I have no advice except that heartworm is now found in all 50 states.  You have no evidence yet that the Interceptor is what is causing the seizure activity.  Idiopathic epilepsy is the most common form.  Many times there is no known trigger.  Record the duration and frequency of the seizures.  I hope your dog responds to the herbal treatment. 

Always very well said, Jackie. 

What about talking to a Vet about switching to Heardguard Plus? If you get them de-wormed at the Vet regularly, and use Heartguard Plus as reccommended, you are still preventing all the same parisites as Interceptor.  Heartguard Plus has a different active ingredient.  It has been known to cause problems in Collie breeds but those side effects, likely, may not appear in your Poms (again ask the Vet about these side effects). Also, often times it is a little cheaper than Interceptor.

I am so sorry you are dealing with this -- seizures are VERY scarey. 

My very first question is this -- is this REALLY Interceptor or is it the brand name "Trifexas"????

Novartis hasn't been distributing Interceptor for months because of a manufacturing facility problem.  Many vets have switched to Trifexas because the main drug is milbemycine oxime (which was what was in Interceptor).  Trifexas is manufactured by a different company.

 However -- Trifexas has an additional ingredient of spinosad which has been linked to seizures and which the company warns on its website (I don't know if it is on the label) NOT to give to dogs prone to seizures.  (spinosad - that extra ingredient -- kills fleas by causing them to seize to death). 

Look at the box -- the vet may have given you something "like" Interceptor but is it Novartis brand Interceptor or the other brand? 

Interceptor is generally pretty safe (it's ivermectin that is typically involved in problems with some dog breeds).

Part of the problem with the reduced amount of the drug (like in Safeheart) is the same thing they are finding in some areas with HeartGuard and Iverrheart.  Those are dosed extremely low -- but the problem is, it is not always a sufficient dose to kill the heartworm microfilaria and then you wind up with dogs who have been on the "preventive" for years but who have developed heartworm anyway.

What Jackie says is true - you need to use a product as it's labelled and as your vet directs.  If your vet has other instructions they deem necessary they will take that into account. 

I live in the South -- we are facing a big problem here because of the resistance to ivermectin because the companies dosed it SO low that now it's caused problems. 

One of the reasons Interceptor has always dosed milbemycin the way they have is because it kills other parasites beyond just heartwrom microfilaria (like hook worm and whip worm). 

I won't use Trifexas because of the spinosad in it - I have a pug who is already showing seizury behavior and she is already on specific herbs and supplements my vet has given her to prevent the seizures from worsening into full blown seizures.   

I would talk further with your vet -- if Interceptor triggered this there could be other indicators not easily seen.  Ask your vet to do some bloodwork.  Sometimes vets are reluctant to suggest something that will cost more money, but I know in my pug her "pre-seizurey activity" is caused by her liver and I have to be cautious with ANY medicine that may stress the liver because it could cause a seizure even if that thing wouldn't normally trigger that.   

Just wanted to thank everyone for all of the replies...I am looking into this as much as I can. I don't know what the best thing to do is in terms of heartworm meds. I have always given both of my Poms this treatment and certainly would worry if they did not take it and not be protected.

I want to rule out as much as I can. I don't know if the heartworm meds are causing a problem but the more I read about canine seizures the more I learn about heartworm meds being a possible cause. Or course there are other causes and for my little guy it may just be genetics since his blood and urine results are all normal.

I hope that the herbal treatment solves this and will defintely discuss my other concerns with my vet.

Thank you again to everyone for taking the time to give me your thoughts on this.

 I said it was harmful to her dog because he has a seizure each time she gives it.  I myself use it on my dogs, but mine are not experiencing seizures.  I did not suggest she stop giving to the other dog, the one not having any issues.  I have one dog who cannot take another med, as it makes her almost comatose no matter how low the dose is.  The vet told me to never give a dog or pet any med which is causing a problem; meds are to help, prevent, but not if side effects are severe -- and in my opinion, a seizure is severe.  So she needs to find another option for this dog, one that works with few or not side effects. 

Freedom

 I said it was harmful to her dog because he has a seizure each time she gives it.

He hasn't had a seizure every time.  The type of seizure he seems to be having can be easily missed by even the most dedicated owner which can make it hard to pinpoint a cause with any accuracy.  I agree that seizure disorder is very serious but wouldn't having to be treated for heartworm be serious?  If it is the interceptor, I agree she needs to find another option but anecdotal remedies aren't my first choice without some proof that they work.

The thing that doesn't make sense to me is that this happens a WEEK after she gives the "Interceptor".  If this is JUST Interceptor (and not Trifexas) then the milbemycin is OUT of the body in 24 hours.  Gone.  Finished.  Over.  Because it's not systemic.  It doesn't 'stay' in the body.  It goes in, and on **that** day it kills any microfilaria in the body. 

If it were going to cause a problem it would **that** day.  Not a week later.  Any drug can cause a 'reaction'.  Maybe not likely ... but reactions do happen.

But if it were going to provoke a reaction it would *that day* because of the nature of milbemycin.

 Now, if this is Trifexas and there is spinosad in it?  That's different because the spinosad component in the Trifexas *is* systemic and stays in the body all month (gradually diminishing)

My first thot is that it *looks* like it is the Interceptor because of the timing.  However -- what time of the month does the OP give the preventive?  It may simply be that it coincides with a full moon -- that can easily be related to seizure activity (it doesn't "cause" it fully -- but it's well-established that a lot of seizures and neural problems occur during the full moon phase of the moon.  That's one of the reasons why one of the first things a vet/dr will say is to keep a diary of the seizures, what day, what time they happen & duration. 

A LOT of things can happen on a monthly cycle -- cities spray for pests on a schedule, a neighbor may spray for mosquitos or other pests, or such.  Even in most homest there are things that occur monthly -- types of cleaning, even spraying for pests inside. 

There are so many of these things that most times you really can't figure out what triggers a seizure.  That's why they call them idiopathic.  Which comes back to exactly what Jackie said -- you can't **for sure** prove that Interceptor is to blame, and logically it just doesn't work. 

You know they say this is a bad year for mosquitoes..they started projecting that early because of the warm winter, however in my area, which is around Cleveland Ohio,  there has been no rain............and we don't see mosquitoes.  I water my plants all the time and make sure the drip trays are not holding water afterwards to make sure no standing water around.  I don't have a dog that has seizures but I have decided Gibby is not getting HW meds, I can't believe anyway in the world that its not bad for them. IF I lived in the southern states I might think differently but I don't. Great Danes are not healthy animals...not making things worse with pesticides.  Yes.....it kind of scares me.........but it scares me more to give it to him. I got hes HW test in spring, gave him one pill....and didn't buy anymore.   I will get him another test in October. No...it wont' prevent HW but from all I understand... if you get them tested every 6 months, if the test proves to be positive the treatment is not much different then the original preventative to begin with. My friend had a fox terrier that died with seizures a few years back and her vet feelt it was HW meds.  Just saying. 

I seriously would not give my dog HW meds if he had seizures. No I would not try different brands, I would not give him preventatives.  Thats me, not telling you what to do.  Reading more and more and more about this crap we are putting in our dogs........no...I would not.

Again..it scares me that I made that decision...but been thru enough with having dogs with immune problems and allergies. I feel that to give them these poisons is adding to these problems and we never know if they are going to run into a HW mosquito to begin with. I will keep getting Gibby tested every 6 months, and if by chance he had to get treated for HW after a test......it will be early in the game and the HWs will be small and less of them.