By Summer Roper, DVM.
Introduction
Passion — I love what I do. You have to. The reality of the animal world requires not just unconditional love, but a steadfast commitment to these four-legged souls which trust me with their well-being. I’ve always wanted to be a veterinarian.
As a ten-year old girl, I remember drawing canine anatomy posters and checking out every single dog book from the library. This desire for knowledge fueled my childhood love for animals, and it expanded from wanting to take in every stray dog I saw to wanting a career in healing them.
My other passion is water. I grew up loving everything about the water — well except, fish, I do possess an abnormal fear of fish. During my teen years, I was on a competitive kayaking team, but in my early twenties, I traded in my paddle for a stack of books.
Fast forward twelve years, and I graduated with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. Since then, I pursued another passion, rescue work. My wife and I have opened our arms, hearts, and home to our pack of ten rescue dogs. Senior dogs claim a soft spot in our hearts because no one ever wants them. Our tail wagging crew ranges from seven pounds to over one-hundred twenty-five pounds — each dog is packaged with its own unique personality and needs, but together we make a family.
On tough days at my job, my dogs remind me with love and patience even the saddest and most traumatized soul will smile and trust once, again. Veterinary medicine is more than me doing surgery, diagnosing sick animals, or giving vaccines — it’s me taking the time to educate a pet owner about understanding their pet’s needs and the best way to prevent their pet from becoming sick.
I hope to combine my passion, my healing skills, and my veterinary background and extend it to others.
Heartworm
“I don’t understand why she has to have a heartworm test,” Mrs. Johnson stroked her dog, Fifi, a fluffy bundle of growling attitude. “She wees and poos on her potty pads, and her little paws have never touched a blade of grass.”
Like many dog owners, who come for their pet’s annual vaccines, Mrs. Johnson doesn’t understand why I needed to poke her baby for a heartworm test.
I explain even though Fifi has never been outside she can still be infected with heartworm larvae because stealthy mosquitoes are everywhere. Mrs. Johnson hesitantly agrees to the test. Ten minutes later, I have the lab results — Fifi is heartworm positive. After delivering the bad news, a shocked Mrs. Johnson demands to know her baby got this awful disease.
This situation happens more often than not — pet owners don’t realize the importance of maintaining their dogs on a monthly heartworm preventative. Often owners like Mrs. Johnson exclaim they never let their dogs outside long enough to be exposed to mosquitoes, therefore, they’ve never had their dog on a heartworm preventative. Unfortunately, it only takes one bite from a pesky mosquito and six months later your dog could be infected with worms inside their heart and lungs.
Dirofilaria immitis complete their lives in two parts — the mosquito and the dog. When heartworms lodge themselves in the heart chambers and vessels of the lungs of a dog, veterinarians see the devastating effects. Over time, health issues such as coughing and exercise intolerance will develop, leading to congestive heart failure and eventually death. It is important to put your dog on a heartworm preventative.
Heartworm transmission:
- Mosquitos bite and ingest a blood meal from a dog infected with heartworms. Cats can be infected, too.
- The mosquitoes ingest microfilaria, produced by mature female heartworms–inside the mosquito the infective microfilaria mature over a period of ten to fourteen days.
- The mosquito lands on and bites an unprotected dog, injecting the infective microfilaria into your canine companion.
- The microfilaria grow over six months maturing into adult heartworms. These mature heartworms can survive over four years in dogs, causing permanent damage that can persist even in treated dogs.
Choosing heartworm prevention can be like standing in a grocery store aisle during the height of hay fever season, staring at the multitude of allergy medicines and deciding which one is best. We want the most cost-efficient, effective medication with the least side effects. Same thing goes for what we want from a heartworm medication for our canine companion. Making the best decision can be frustrating, but it can also be life saving. In a nutshell, preventatives block the infective stage of the microfilaria, or heartworm larvae preventing them from maturing into adults. Prevention should be started no later than eight weeks of age in puppies. In adult dogs, a yearly blood test is required prior to starting a heartworm prevention program. Before starting a heartworm program, check with your veterinarian for the best option for your dog.
Possible heartworm prevention medications:
- Heartgard: one of the long standing products that has been around for at least two decades. The active ingredient ivermectin is what kills the microfilaria, it also contains pyrantel for treating intestinal parasites. I will use this product on patients who seem to be sensitive to other heartworm preventatives.
- Sentinel : active ingredient is milbemycin oxime as the microfliaricide and lufeneron is used as a flea birth control. I tend to use this in dogs who are not going to be in flea infested areas or have flea allergies.
- Trifexis: contains milbemycin oxime and spindosad for fleas. This product is a great all in one, but must be given on a full stomach.
- Proheart: an injectable heartworm preventative, containing moxidectin. This is great for those who forget to give a monthly preventative.
- Advantage Multi: active ingredient is moxidectin and imidiclopramid — this is a topical heartworm, intestinal parasite and flea preventative. This product is used in dogs who seem sensitive to oral medications.
Dosing on all these products, except Proheart is monthly. I tell people to schedule their dosing on the first of the month or on the day you pay rent or the mortgage so it is more easily remembered. Don’t be afraid to discuss with your personal vet about what products are right for your dog and your lifestyle and budget. There are always concerns with medications, and I can’t promise anyone their dog won’t have a reaction to anything. If you are looking for a more natural based approach, then please consult a holisitic vet in your area so they can make appropriate recommendations
Tick borne diseases
Ticks, those pesky little bugs that seem to create anxiety no matter where we find them… on ourselves or our pets. It is with good reason to be concerned when we find these arachnids as they can cause serious disease.
- Lyme disease: caused by transmission of a spirochete from the deer tick. Clinical signs include lameness, fever and kidney disease. This disease is common in the United States, especially the Northwest region.
- Ehrlicha: there are several types of Ehrlichia and are spread by different types of ticks, including the brown dog and lonestar tick. This organism is seen all over the world, including the United States and Aruba, causing very serious illness in dogs. There are several clinical phases of the disease- acute, subclinical and chronic- leading to platelet destruction, anemia, immune system dysfunction and kidney disease.
- Anaplasmosis: transmitted by the deer tick as well and infects the white blood cells. It is often transmitted with other tick borne diseases. Clinical signs can be very vague and range from lethargy, lack of appetite and painful joints.
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: spread by the bite of the American dog tick or the brown dog tick. This disease has similar clinical signs as other tick borne diseases from nasal discharge to hemorrhaging.
- Other tick borne diseases include: Babesiosis, Bartonellosis and Hepatozoonosis.
All of these ticks begin transmitting these diseases several hours to several days after biting a dog. Some dogs may be infected with these diseases and may not show clinical signs for several weeks to years. Treatment can be effective with early diagnosis, courses of antibiotics- most commonly called doxycycline and in some cases corticosteroids may be used. In severe infections hospitalization may be required.
Preventions range from oral, topical, to collars and are effective at killing ticks once they bite. It is crucial to do a thorough inspection of your pet and remove any ticks you see, including the head. Check your pet daily during tick season- spring, summer and fall or year round in warmer climates.