Ava
Let's go, let's- go, let's GO!! | 
 | | Barked: Fri Apr 28, '06 4:41pm PST |  | |  | | I guess this is where we branch away from natural rearing, unfortunately. When mom first started learning about taking a more natural route to our care, flea, tick and heartworm prevention were things she put a lot of thought into. Mom's first thought was to do away with the topical and monthly chewables since everyone boasted how feeding a raw diet will keep fleas and ticks away as well as mosquitoes. After much reading and weighing the pros and cons, mom reluctantly decided to keep up with the chemicals. *flinches*
Wait, wait before we're scolded we have good reason. To start with, the incidence of Lyme disease in our area is of epidemic proportions not just in humans but in dogs as well. Since we are no longer vaccinated against Lyme disease and we spend lots of time in the woods, we're at a high risk of coming in contact with the disease. (not to mention tick born diseases that are not readily known about)We get Advantix which does a really good job of taking care of those nasty little critters plus from the scientific data the company will produce upon request, the product stays in the skin and does not migrate to the blood stream. Of course mom needed to see this in writing along with their research findings before she could believe it. While she is fully aware that even if the chemicals do not make their way into the bloodstream, they're still in our skin, it's kind of a catch 22... Do we get exposed to chemicals or disease? I guess to make up for it all, mom tries to hold off on applying the stuff for as far into the season as she can and stops it as soon as the tick population goes into hibernation.
As for heartworm, mom went back and forth with this issue but ultimately decided that she would rather have us on the 'preventative' than chance us contracting heartworm disease. Again, this was another catch 22 but mom feels she has made an informed decision based on what's best for Scoob and I. Seeing as Heartguard protects for longer than one month's time, mom gives it to us every six weeks instead of four. She also stops giving it to us once the weather gets cold enough.
Mom found this post written by Christie Keith from the Yahoo group 'K9 Nutrition' helped her make her final decision in decided on whether or not to use heartworm prevention.
http://onibasu.com/archives/kn/129112.html?highlight=heartworm
(no spaces in the URL)
This is where we really feel strongly about our humans needing to educate themselves and make decisions based upon fact rather than fear. I feel it's also important to note that to make an informed decision should be based just as much on fact as it should be based upon what works best for the individual. With that said, we're always happy to hear about dogs who have had success with natural methods of pest control as we're always eager to hear new methods. |  |  | |  |
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Dogster Obsessions: The Starter Kit for Dogs by Wildebeest
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