My first thought regarding this thread is what is the point? Are there documented studies which state that existing heartworm preventatives such as Ivermectin are harmful to our pets?
Robert D Bard wrote:
DE is great but we are not willing to gamble on it helping heart worms. Our Rottie is 11 and been on Ivermectin for all these years and is in very good health. Our pug has been on same stuff for 13 years but age is catching up with her.
Robert D Bard
Two thumbs up to Robert D Bard’s post. Like Robert I don’t take chances on my Boxer’s health. I feed her a quality feed, add supplements, provide exercise and follow the prescribed dosage of Ivermectin each month. She lives inside with the rest of the family.
Enzyme11 wrote:
I don't know of a natural orally-ingested product that will neutralize the third or fourth stage larvae or the adult-stage worm (which are the infective stages as they exist within the affected animal), but that doesn't mean such compounds don't exist. … There might be such effective herbal/natural compounds for heartworm, either known or not yet known, …
Enzyme11 wrote:
It seems to me that a complementary/parallel path is to reduce the animal's attractiveness/susceptibility to mosquito bites by feeding and/or applying products that either maintain/help maintain a high level of general health (which is where I would place the effect of DE for this particular application) or which repel mosquitoes.
Like supplementing Brewer’s Yeast and Garlic is supposed to maintain your pet’s health and thus reduce the animal's attractiveness/susceptibility to flea infestation…It doesn’t always work. Citronella candles are used to repel mosquitoes, but those do not work 100% either.
[quote="Enzyme11â€]One effective way to avoid heartworm for dogs who don't require a lot of exercise is to keep them inside of barriers that are impervious to mosquitoes, at least during warmer weather. [/quote]
Which dogs don’t require exercise? What about going outside for elimination purposes? Furthermore, I don’t know where you live, but in Texas, there is no such thing as a barrier that is impervious to mosquitoes. I have great concern that such a suggestion would find its way to this forum and much less by a mod.
I find it quite simple, if you don’t want to provide your pet with every opportunity to live a full and healthy life, don’t get one. Our pets have no choice but to entrust their existence to us. If you want to experiment, experiment on yourself.