My first Scottie was conventionally reared. She had the shots and vet care. When spring began to approach when she was 3 years old I took her to the vet for heart worm meds. I remember seeing the poster on the wall in the vets office showing the effects of heart worm. This poster must have sold a lot of meds as it worked on me and I bought some. I gave her the meds and could see they had a effect on my dog, but was hoping this was temporary. I never made the connection to the meds, after all, if the vet sold them, they must be OK. I thought I was doing something really good for my dog. After several months of treatment I began to notice she was not herself. I noticed she was putting on weight and expressed concern to my wife Barb. Several weeks went by and her belly was protruding and we checked her out. It was not fat but a fluid. We took her to the vets to get checked out. He ran some tests and her liver enzymes were off the charts. I was told to bring her to a special hospital that specializes in this. They checked her out and drained the fluid. I was given all kinds of meds. She began to get worse fast. She would not eat and was having trouble walking so I had to carry her everywhere. She began to have blood in her stool. Then blood was coming out of her nose. She lost control of her BM movements. There was blood all over the house. I continued to take her to the vet. She went down fast and never made 4 years of age. She died of liver failure. During her illness and a long time afterward we were searching for answers. I found them. It was the heart worm meds. I got ticked and confronted the vet. Of course he denied the meds had any thing to do with this, but I could see on his face he knew different.. The package insert states the meds cause liver damage. Too bad I did not read the package insets until after Muncie died. I have to say this was one of the most horrible experiences of my life. I then began to question everything and discovered many new things. I wanted to get another Scottie but did not want to kill another dog. We found out toxins stay in the liver, this was the case with Muncie. We did our homework and found out about natural rearing. I have two natural reared dogs one soon to be 5 and another soon to be 7. Both have no health issues.
(During Muncie illness we kept asking the different specialists about milk thistle. Since it was not a drug they kept skating the issue.)
My wife Barb and I have done tons of research since my Muncie died. What I found out is what natural rearers have known for a long time. I discovered the why. Every dog is born with a certain set of genes. Certain sections of these genes can be turned off by toxins and a non species appropriate diet. This is the cause of disease. In some cases these genes can be turned back on by removing the toxins and providing the missing nutrition. This explains why one can not poison a body back to health with meds and toxins. None of which will turn the genes back on.
With this bit of knowledge, I can see the gene testing being done as useless. It is the diet that prevents gene mutation, genes shutting off and a lack of toxins. It is for this reason I will seek a natural solution for any issues that show up including wormers.
My Heat worm Story: When I lived in CA, one of my females was diagnosed with heart worm in the early 90's. I took her to my vet where she remained for 4 days and received arsenic injections to kill the heart worm. She lived to be 12. She had been on heart worm medication year round previously and had been off for a few months when she was diagnosed. Today, instead of arsenic injections, the dog would be put on heart worm preventative to kill the heart worm, which really isn't a preventative at all.
Heart worm medication kills heart worms AFTER they are already present in the body, there is no preventing done with heart worm medication. The best method of heart worm prevention is a healthy dog. A healthy dog will rid itself of intestinal worms and heart worm.
What this experience taught me is to seek out why dogs get heart worm in the first place (which is a compromised immune system) and how to prevent it from happening again (which is building a healthy immune system). I will seek out natural treatments for anything ailing my dogs. God provided everything we need on this earth for treating animals and humans naturally if we would research what we are putting into our bodies, our pets bodies, and how to treat holistically.
How do you get a healthy dog? By feeding a species appropriate diet (raw diet) and not attacking your dogs immune system with chemicals and poisons. IE: flea treatments, heart worm treatments, vaccinations, steroids, antibiotics, kibble, pesticides, city water, lawn treatments, etc.
I am not saying that in an emergency situation to immediately save your dogs life to not follow your veterinarian's recommendation. But there are holistic veterinarians out there that you can consult with on the phone or via email to address why your dog has a less than perfect immune system. They can address allergies, loss of hair, etc. all related to the dog's health not being at it's optimum level. Medications simply cover up these symptoms, they do not cure the problem.
To find a holistic vet near you, visit the web site below:
Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian. Any information obtained on this web site is of my own research and opinion. The information contained on this web site is provided for your general information only. It is not my intent to give medical advice or engage in the practice of medicine. I, under no circumstances, am recommending particular treatment for specific dogs and in all cases recommend that you consult your veterinarian before pursuing any course of treatment.