Hi -
I am completely new to this group - am the owner of a german shepherd (6 months) and a welsh corgi (2 years). My wife and I are firmly against vaccinations, and feed a raw food diet to our dogs, believing a healthy host resists diseases. Homeopathy is our first choice for any needs that arise.

We are in a quandry over the issue of heartworm. The vet (of course) recommends a monthly preventative, which we are loathe to give, due to the possibility of side effects, as with any man-made chemical.

We have been told by two homeopathic vets that heartworm can be easily cured by homeopathy, but they did not say what remedies or procedures. Can anyone shed some light on this topic? Is it a sane philosophy to withhold preventatives and expect to cure heartworm as it arises through homeopathy?

Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Thad

It's my assumption that homeopathy isn't used preventively....have read vet articles that indicate using several remedies and black walnut (hulls?) extract for curing heartworm...guess the homeopathic vet stance is that dogs living holistic lifestyle should be less prone to contracting. One vet mentioned using heartworm preventative (chemical)for about half the recommended period. During the most susseptable time of year rather than all year, if one wants to go that route. Will be interested to hear what members have to say!

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Hi Thud, I agree with gpm and your own philosophy. Homeopathy greatly increases the likelyhood that an animal or person can fight off whatever dis-ease it may encounter. I am not familiar with a cure for heartworms per se, but your pet's contitutional remedy should do the trick for prevention AND in the case of dis-ease. Let's hope it's never an issue!

Martin Goldstein, D. V. M. in his book The Nature of Animal Healing has some interesting things to say about heartworm. In a nutshell, if you don't want to go with the heartworm traditional treatment you can have the dogs tested twice a year as a precautionary measure to see if they picked it up and to reassure yourself. Also early treatment makes for an easier cure. He also believes this is very treatable and he doesn't prescribe the pills for his clients dogs. Myself, I don't know if our local vet will cooperate, so for now I only use the pills from May thru September and not year round as they recommend. Sometimes these vets get testy when you question their judgment.

Just want to pass this along to those who think heartworm is not something to be tested for and treated correctly............My husband was infected with canine heartworm last year. This is a rare disease in humans - but can happen. This was passed to him by a mosquito that bit a dog and then bit him. The dog was obviously infected with heartworm! This is caused by pet owners not being responsible for the well being of their pets. He has gone through the agony of being falsely diagnosed with lung cancer.....repeated cat scans......A lung biopsy that kept him in the hospital for 4 days and undue pain and worry for him and his family. It is imperative to have your animal tested for and treated for heartworm. I have seen dogs die of this horrible disease and now a human physically suffer because of it. Prevention is fairly inexpensive....I don't think anyone wants to see a beloved family member....man or animal suffer through this.

I'm surprised I haven't seen any more action about this thread........If any of you are not treating and testing your animals (cats now too!) Please look at the site for the JAMA and search for Human canine heartworm. It might sway you to innoculate your pets!

yvonne, I am curious, once your husband was finally correctly diagnosed, what did they do to treat him? It sounded from your response like most of the pain and suffering he experienced were the result of misdiagnosis, which is something i can relate to. My wife contracted a rare autoimmune disease, and we went through three weeks of hell and massive amount of pain before they would even admit her to the hospital and get around to a diagnosis. I am very sorry for what you have gone through, and feel that much of your ire should be directed at the medical establishment, which has grown sloppy, misguided, and callous.
Heartworm exists everywhere; healthy dogs apparently have the ability to slough off the disease. I am convinced that vaccinations are responsible for thoroughly destroying the natural health that animals and humans once possessed.
Can you include the web address of the site you mentioned? I would like to check it out, because I believe in being informed in every possible way.

Thanks,
Thad

Hi - can't locate the web address, but anyone interested in knowing more about human heartworm can search under - dirofilariasis - Just to let interested parties know - When a lesion is diagnosed first through exray, the patient is then sent for a cat scan.........The cat scan does not show what kind on lesion is present, only the size and location. It is usually presumed to be a tumor, until invasive surgery can be done. We were told that my husband was bitten by a mosquito that had bitten an INFECTED dog. If the dog had had proper preventive care the dog would not be infected with heartworm and therefore, not have infected a human. Heartworm is not a life threatening condition in humans - it is in dogs!

Hi Thud - Just returned from a visit to my local vet for my dog's parvo booster, heartworm test and prescription for heartworm for the upcoming season. I brought your post with me to discuss this, as my vet clinic also uses Homeopathy and is in contact with other Homeopathic vets. My vet commented on an article that is posted in their clinic about "a local man" who contracted canine heartworm!!!! It was my husband! They advocate dogs and cats be tested and put on preventive meds to combat this, as "heartworm is fatal to animals" Once heartworm has infected the animal it is treated with arsnic (not sure on the spelling, but most of os know what that is!) The "cure" does not always insure the animal will live and prevention is, in their opinion, they way to go. Just thought I would pass this along to you. Good luck in whatever avenue you go down.

Just to toss another vet's opinion into the bag...I spoke with my vet from the East as I'm being pressured into yearly blood tests for heart worm since I don't want to do the year round thing here in the Midwest. Anyways I was advised that it does depend on the area you live in and the incidence of the disease. If your dog does get heartworm today they are treated with the same medicine that is given to prevent it along with a few other measures. I was told they don't do the arsenic anymore. In addition its not exactly the heartworm that kills them. Its' the passing of large amounts of worms during the cure that can make them have an embolism which kills them. I mentioned Yvonne's husband and they agreed that it is rare for humans to get it but they suggested its humans and dogs with more impaired immune systems that are susceptible. This vet doesn't like the idea of giving medicine year round if its not necessary which why its wise to see exactly whats happening with heartworm in your locale and he doesn't recommend the pills that do multiple things like control fleas, kill intestinal worms and heartworms.