Pearce and Langston Farm's LGDs

Pearce Pastures

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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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LouieOlive2015.jpg
 

goatgurl

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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?
 

Latestarter

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

Pearce Pastures

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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.
 

promiseacres

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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. :hugs I am sure she'll be ok. Heartworm treatment has come a long ways.
 

Southern by choice

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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.
:hugs
 

Goat Whisperer

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Aww Pearce, I'm so sorry to hear that Indy has HW :hugs 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 :lol: :love

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

Ferguson K

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We have to take our dogs individually as well.

Glad you caught it early!!
 

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