Scary info from the vet re heartworms/roundworms. [View All]

During the course of the conversation with the vet today she mentioned that the number one cause of blindness in children in the US is roundworms that they get from their dog. She said roundworms are eliminated through heartworm medicine and she always shudders when people are in with small children and don't have their dog on heartworm prevention. She said after Katrina they started seeing a lot of dogs on heartworm medicine get heartworms up the Mississippi River and that area is spreading. Apparently those are mosquitos on steroids that got blown north. Anyway, she said she had a couple of dogs last year that got heartworms despite treatment. If you buy the medicine from the vet (ours will match any price, even the petmed one), then the drug supplier will pay for the heartworm treatment ($500-700) if your dog gets it and their records show you have them on it year-round. I said I took mine off during the winter and she said it really needs to be year-round here because it needs to be given for two months after mosquitos are gone and one month before they come back. So in TN that is basically year-round. She also said the drug company is emphasizing dosing as every four weeks, not monthly. She said she had to change her routine of giving it to them on the 1st of the month. Guess I'm going to be more diligent with the heartworm medicine.