Comments on Stop Poisoning Heartworms: Risky Business

Our rescued husky-German shepherd was diagnosed with Thrombocytopenia in December 2016. He was also diagnosed positive for heart worm. 9 months of rigorous steroids and antibiotics and he is finally bouncing back. We are almost completely off the steroids. Unfortunately, we still have the heartworm to deal with. The shots the vet is recommending are troublesome.
They are very expensive and I worry that pumping him with even more chemicals will upset the health he has finally regained. Any helpful information would be very appreciated.

I use Wondercide products and like them. I live in Texas and to control mosquitoes in backyard I have built tiny caves with rocks, whole building is about 5x 3 ft., and they are heavily populated by frogs. They must be eating something because some of them are the size of small chickens. Lots of birds come in, too.. My girl has daily runs around the yard for about 3 minutes each, chases a few squirrels and then spends most of her time inside. My kitties are inside kitties too. To keep her immune system strong we take kefir and supplements from Dr. Belfield.com. No shedding GSD.

Hi, my boxer started having seizures when she was switched from Interceptor to Heartgard. Consequently, I am not giving her heartworm medication or insecticides to ingest anymore. I have just bought organic lemon oil to mix with water to spray on her coat. Hope it keeps the mosquito's away!!

I have been researching natural flea killers for my kids and have tried a few. I stuck with one called Evolv from wondercide.com. It works very well for me and i live in Florida where fleas and mosquitoes are plenty. It also repels mosquitoes. They also have a yard spray that i use.

Thank for this great site. I just found you googling Trifexis, and have signed up for your newsletter.
In the Southeast mosquitoes are always a problem, especially for those of us who like to send a lot of time outdoors. I'm a mosquito magnet unfortunately.
I have found pretty good results for several years now, both for humans and for our miniature short haired dachshund, with "Repel", a non-pesticide commercial repellent pump spray that I get at Wal-Mart's camping department. This is the same brand name and manufacturer as the Repel with DEET, but this is completely DEET-free.
Label states the active ingredient is 'plant-based 30% Oil Of Lemon Eucalyptus", which the label says in turn is 65% "p-menthane-3.8 diol". 70% unnamed 'other' ingredients. Pleasant smell, washes off with soap and water, and I find it works well to keep mosquitoes from landing (they just circle in frustration, then move on).
For our outside dachshund, I spray the 'Repel' onto the cotton bandana around her neck or onto the fabric of her Puppia nylon halter (her 'sports bra'). I'll spray it directly on my bare skin, but not on the dog's skin.
This repellant works well for humans and as far as I can see it works for her as well. I've been using it on myself since at least 2007, and our dog joined us in 2010. Never any side effects or skin reactions to humans or dog. I'm aware of the problems with DEET and found this product as a safer alternative.
I'd like to know what you think, Dr. Falconer. So far I've been very pleased with the effectiveness and no side effects of the Lemon Eucalyptus 'Repel'. Is there something I should be aware of, or is this a good product to continue recommending to others?

I stopped giving this crap over 3 years ago. My dogs are all raw fed and raised with no chemicals. We live in rural South Carolina and our neighbor has a pond. There are a LOT of mosquitoes here. I have my dogs tested for heart worms every 6 months.
They always test negative.
I've also read of vets in Europe and Japan successfully using Guinness Stout beer to treat dogs with heartworm. Wish more vets over here were open to non-pharmaceutical solutions.

I purchased your ebook on heartworms several months ago. We have many cats that we "serve" and one canine. The "kids" have been on raw for seven years. The dog, Jethro Bodine has only been a member of our family for nineteen months. We found him extremely malnourished and heartworm positive. Unfortunately, I had not found your website and he was treated for the heartworm in the conventional manner. It was a nightmare watching my boy fighting to get better. The only vaccines that Jethro has received is the rattlesnake vaccine and a rabies vaccine. I do not plan on ever vaccinating him again. The cats are not vaccinated and are indoor only. No one has fleas and we do not use anything for fleas around here. We use nematodes on our lawn. I am rambling, but trying to explain. Jethro had his last Heartgard dose three months ago. And yet I am petrified. I have read about giving black walnut hull to dogs for parasites. Is there something more I can do to protect him? I live in the Fort Worth, Texas area. Should I be spraying a natural mosquito repellant on him when we go outside? If so, what should I use? I only want the best for Jethro and the cats. Here is what we feed the "kids". For breakfast the kids get chicken legs and turkey legs. For dinner we give a ground mix made from fresh farm eggs, chicken liver, whole ground chicken thighs, chicken hearts, salmon oil and an immune blend supplement. Jethro gets beef brisket bones and beef heart several times each week. Here and there Jethro gets bison. If there is anything I am not doing that I should be doing, please comment. One last question, with the diet that I am feeding, is there any need to give glucosamine, MSM or hyaluronic acid for the older arthritic kids? Thank you for your time.

Hello! I have a little Toy Fox Terrier that is going to be 12 and I took her to have her teeth cleaned. The vet wanted her to have a Rabies Vacc. and I told her no. She does the wellness blood test and returns to tell me that my dog tested positive for Heartworms. I first thought that maybe this was her way of not having to do the dental on the dog. But she called me the next day and told me a lab confirmed the positive result. Which still doesn't mean it is. So then it was recommended to me by some natural friends that I contact a Dr. Wessner in Florida for his program for treating heartworm and I called him. He called me back left a message and I tried calling him and no return call. He does not have a website and he seems to be really hard to get a hold of. I was just wondering if you were familiar with this vet and what you thought about his program. That is if you were familiar with the program. It can be found on Danebytes.com. It sounds really good to me since it seems gentle and holistic. I do not want my little girl to go through the conventional route using the toxic mix of poisons.
I thought it would be a good idea to get another heartworm test done by another vet just in case?. My little girl doesn't get any vaccinations,commercial garbage feed ,any pesticides or other toxins.
So could you please give me your thoughts about any of what I have written here. Or do you have any suggestions. Thank you so much for your time. I do appreciate it.

I have been back and forth with the hartguard-plus with my two Morkies-Plus, I live in south Florida-Lots of bugs-I spray a holistic spray on them-but would like some more natural ways to keep them safe. They are due for their dose the first of March-I hate giving it to them!!!!Any advice??? I do use Frontline plus (another poison I have been back and forth with)They picked up ticks and thats when I started them back on Frontline plus. Living in Florida does not help-Please advise-and thanks for your articles-
Joanne Dean

i haven't given any of my 3 dogs and 5 cats anything for heartworm for over 3 years since stopping all meds and going raw. i use a non-toxic parasite powder (buck mountain) and occasional essential oil spray on the dogs when we're in the woods. i also keep citronella plants around the porches for mosquitoes and will rub my hands on them sometimes and wipe across theircoats .

Hi Will,
I have followed your advice to focus on maintaining a strong immune system and not relie on toxic heartworm pills for our Malti-Poo, Sam-E.
Additionally, as soon as, mosquitoes appear in the spring I turn-on 24/7 a bug zapper in our backyard and spray Sam-E with a homemade dilution of 15 drops each of Lemongrass oil and Cinnamon oil in 16 ounces of water, before each morning walk. I think it helps.
Very Best Regards,
Michael

Howdy Will, just recently signed up for your newsletter. Good job!!