# Pearce and Langston Farm's LGDs



## Pearce Pastures (Nov 22, 2015)

Oh boy, what a month of pooches!  It was time for our doggies vet visit and I can't take more than one at a time.  The vet does do farm calls but we needed some work done that couldn't be on site so 4 separate appointments were needed.  

Louie was first, our big 3/4 Anatolian and 1/4 Pyr.  He did NOT want to get in the Dodge but was otherwise great.  Vet wants him to gain some more weight---he is so active and has been known to let the baby goat share his food which drives me crazy.  DH is building a better feeder for the dogs so the goats can't get to the food (because they shouldn't anyway).  Hips are great though and he is in perfect shape, despite a teeny bit lean.

Then my Charlie took his turn and he was the best!  Loves the car, and is a perfect gentleman at the vet.  He too got a clean bill of health.

Olive was next.  She had to be sedated first because she will not leave the pasture willingly and gets very anxious.  The vet adores her.  

Unfortunately, we had some bad news with our fourth.  Indy, though very healthy otherwise, has heart worm.  It made no sense because she is on year round preventative and we also use a flea/tick/mosquito repellent, the same with all of the dogs.  They did another check to confirm and a secondary test and discovered that even after her treatment, there were still microfilaria, which suggests that the parasite is developing resistance.  The office has been making all kinds of calls to southern universities who are studying this.  Needless to say, we are upset but have a plan worked out with the vet to do a slow kill of the parasite.


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## goatgurl (Nov 22, 2015)

oh, i hate that for you and indy.  and it is scary to me that they seem to be developing resistance to ivermic because that is what i use.  hope the slow kill works well.  it is my understanding that they have to be quieter when they are being treated.  did your vet say anything about that?


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## Latestarter (Nov 22, 2015)

Sorry about the heart worm diagnosis. I sincerely hope they (Docs) are able to find another drug or manner to eliminate them.


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## Pearce Pastures (Nov 22, 2015)

The vet is wonderful and is doing a lot of work to help us with this.  Moxidectin was recently approved for use in dogs and she is looking into it for this because if ivermectin isn't working, it is less hopeful.  There is no damage to her heart at all because it was caught early so that is good.  The quick kill requires her to be very still, crated, is risky, and takes almost a year.  Slow kill will take two or three years but is less dangerous and does not make use basically isolate her so she can't move much.  Both methods have drawbacks and we are frustrated that we have to do anything---we don't skimp on care for our critters and with having them on meds to prevent this, I would not have ever thought it would happen.

She is on antibiotics to start with and is a happy girl playing in the snow today.


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 22, 2015)

I hope she is ok


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## Hens and Roos (Nov 22, 2015)

that things go well for her during treatment.


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## promiseacres (Nov 22, 2015)

What a bummer!  Ivermectin is what I was using for my sheep...but no more.  scary to hear heartworm now are resistant to it too.  I am sure she'll be ok. Heartworm treatment has come a long ways.


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## Southern by choice (Nov 22, 2015)

So sorry for your girl and for you all.
I like the slow treatment.

Terrible you are having to deal with tis but I am soooo thankful you are sharing this.

This will bring awareness and may encourage others to keep up with the periodic testing.

I drew blood on all my dogs in August to do a double check even though they are on HW prevention. 

I hope you continue to share what alternatives they decide on and how the treatments are going.


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## Goat Whisperer (Nov 22, 2015)

Aww Pearce, I'm so sorry to hear that Indy has HW  I know y'all take awesome care of ALL your critters. Its so hard to deal with things like this, especially when you are doing everything right. Glad Indy is still acting fine. 

Thanks so much for posting about this. I'm glad you are making people aware of the issue. I hope other people in your area are testing for HW! So many don't give it a thought because, like you, keep their dogs on a prevention program.

So glad the other dogs are fine, as expected  Do you know what you are going to put them on now? 

I really want to smooch Louie's face  

I cant believe y'all are already dealing with snow 
I love the south!


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## Ferguson K (Nov 22, 2015)

We have to take our dogs individually as well. 

Glad you caught it early!!


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## Southern by choice (Nov 22, 2015)

Ferguson K said:


> We have to take our dogs individually as well.



Drawing your own blood saves the trip with the dogs.
LGD's are not keen on vet's drawing blood.


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## bonbean01 (Nov 22, 2015)

Sorry to hear about the heartworm   You did everything to prevent it and I thank you for sharing this...thought ivermectin was fail proof for this.  Hoping your baby will be okay!


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## Pearce Pastures (Nov 22, 2015)

We are using Advantix for flea/tick/mosquito and for now are still on heartguard/ivermectin until we do a follow up blood test on them to see if we are still seeing the microfilaria (baby heartworms---for those who may not know, the ivermectin will NOT kill the adults but is supposed to destroy they immature ones so if we are seeing the mf, the drug is not working).

She was weighing options for us for what to switch over to and is still talking with southern labs to see how they are testing for resistance.

She should be fine in the end and right now is furiously telling off the trains going by in the distance.


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## goatgurl (Nov 22, 2015)

you use the same thing i do.  makes me nervous...


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## promiseacres (Nov 22, 2015)

Our current vet only has heartgard... since our pup is part herding dog I changed her to interceptor after checking the ingredients. 
 Interceptor has Milbemicin I think.... it's by Novartis.  And can be used for slow kills also. It's what the vet I worked for preferred.


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## Pearce Pastures (Nov 23, 2015)

Thanks promiceacres.  I will ask her about that.  There were a few chemicals she mentioned but I don't recall that one---she might have said it but it was a lot to take in.


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## Mike CHS (Nov 23, 2015)

We also use Interceptor.  We can't use Ivermectin on our Aussie because she has that MDR1 gene (found out with a DNA test).


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## BlessedWithGoats (Nov 23, 2015)

Aww!  So sorry Pearce!


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