# Raw Diet / Parasites



## hovad123 (Dec 7, 2010)

Are there any parasites I should be regularly testing for/worming for. I have a minimalist approach towards most of that stuff I don't give heart worm meds I just check every two months in the summer with a blood test, (even though I just got reamed by a vet tech for essentially murdering my dogs slowly). I read something somewhere that escapes me (it was on a forum and it was one of those "friend of a friend" stories) that said someone's raw fed dog died and when they did a necropsy its brain looked like swiss cheese from a parasite it got from raw meat. 

That sounds far fetched but has anyone had any issues and what precautions do you take?


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

No precautions you wouldn't take otherwise. I test or treat for nothing unless I see a reason. The story you heard was far fetched and I don't believe it for a second.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

If your feeding human grade meat then there should be no worries at all. I don't feed ground anything besides tripe to my bunch as I don't like that it can accumulate bacteria. If your feeding questionable meat from questionable sources and it always smells questionable then I'd say maybe check more often!


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We haven't had worms here for a long time. I may test this summer just because of having so many fleas to deal with they may get something but no other precautions.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Liz said:


> We haven't had worms here for a long time. I may test this summer just because of having so many fleas to deal with they may get something but no other precautions.


Fleas, really? I haven't seen fleas since I started feeding raw, but it could also be where I live!


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Yes, for some reason this year they are a problem. I also noticed we have some stray cats in and out of yards that we didn't have before. Out comes the diatamaceous earth and apple cider vinegar. Hopefully we can get this under control in a couple of weeks.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

if a dog were to have a necropsy after eating a lifetime of raw....and the brain looked like swiss cheese, i'd be asking the owner what the symptoms were before the dog died....there would, believe me be significant symptoms....especially a brain that looked like swiss cheese....so many functions would be altered and not in a good way.

we get senior panels done once a year, simply because that's what i want....and it's not because i feed raw...it's because it gives me a gauge of how my dogs are doing....and we get a urinalysis.....
but it's not because of their diet....i do it so i know how their organs are behaving....and for comparison from year to year...

as to fleas? we haven't had any here, either, liz....i wonder if it's the cats....

we also feed human grade to our dogs...except for a sardine grind and that's only because i ran out of the whole ones ...and tripe....


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## sadysaneto (Jun 28, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> Fleas, really? I haven't seen fleas since I started feeding raw, but it could also be where I live!


flea problem here.

not a big deal, 1-3 fleas, but i hate it.

tried everythin - garlic, brewer's yaest, acv, to no avail...


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## hovad123 (Dec 7, 2010)

for the fleas (if your anti frontline like I am) I found this product called wondercide evolv. it is made of distilled texas cedar NOT toxic to dogs/humans like western red cedar. i checked it out thoroughly before I purchased it and there are no side effects, they can lick it off and it won't hurt them. The bottle says one to two pumps per pound of body weight but i asked the manufacturer and said that is a guideline, they can't OD from it so use as much as you want, it's not systemic.

The Pros
It WORKS, i take my dogs to eastern long island which is absolutely the most tick infested place I have ever been in my life, if you brush against ground coverings you will be covered in ticks of all kinds, I brushed against a bush this weekend and came out with three ticks on my leg. The only time I found a tick on one of my boys when when I was applying it once a week and then it was literally one tick.

The Cons
It smells, for two-three hours after application your dog will smell strongly like a cedar closet. Also in a ticky/flea ridden area you will have to reapply two possibly three times a week. If your pets swim or get wet it will rinse off. if the smell grosses you out you may not be able to use it but it goes away pretty fast. 

here is the link to the info about swiss cheese brain I just wasn't sure if this was legit and what type of worming or testing should be done to prevent it Raw Meat Myths


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

hovad123 said:


> here is the link to the info about swiss cheese brain I just wasn't sure if this was legit and what type of worming or testing should be done to prevent it Raw Meat Myths


Yeah, That' Katie Merwick's website. Dear ol' Katie has been preaching against a raw diet for over 10 years. I don't know what it is in her brain that makes her such a fanatic against raw. The "information" she puts on her pages are pure fiction. I'm sure they do frighten some people away from raw and I really hate that. Her pages get mentioned on all raw feeding web sites from time to time by newbies who stumble across her pages. She has been discredited many many times but people who are knowledgable about raw feeding. I critiqued one of her pages one time and found 26 errors on one page! 

She is just some nutcase who has a vendetta against feeding raw for some unknown reason. If what she says is true, we would all have dogs dying all over the place. We don't.


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## ShanniBella (Jul 1, 2011)

hovad123 said:


> Are there any parasites I should be regularly testing for/worming for. I have a minimalist approach towards most of that stuff I don't give heart worm meds I just check every two months in the summer with a blood test, (even though I just got reamed by a vet tech for essentially murdering my dogs slowly). I read something somewhere that escapes me (it was on a forum and it was one of those "friend of a friend" stories) that said someone's raw fed dog died and when they did a necropsy its brain looked like swiss cheese from a parasite it got from raw meat.
> 
> That sounds far fetched but has anyone had any issues and what precautions do you take?


I don't feed raw as of yet but that sounds ridiculous! LOL! Anyways, I just wanted to add that I use no pesticides or chemicals on or around my pets. I don't believe in those flea and tick oil/repellents....you put something on your dog that is killing little parasites and slowly killing your dogs/cats is how I look at it. They are actually doing a story on those flea treatments on one of those night time news shows I believe this week. However, I do give heartworm 4 months out of the year (summer). Heartworm is nothing to mess with especially if you are in an area that has a high mosquito population. JMO


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## hovad123 (Dec 7, 2010)

Are there any at home tests for heart worms (not the one where you make your dogs toenails bleed) right now I do a test at the vet every two months but I would rather just do it myself.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

In our case I do believe it is those miserable cats. Last time we had fleas we also had neighbors with free roaming cats. I have to put something out to repel the casts and we should have it taken care of. Usually we have no fleas either or maybe one or two hop a ride fromt he lake or something. I hate fleas.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

hovad123 said:


> Are there any at home tests for heart worms (not the one where you make your dogs toenails bleed) right now I do a test at the vet every two months but I would rather just do it myself.


Not that I know of. Just curious, why not use preventative? If your dog ever comes up possitive, it is WAY more expensive to treat than just give prevention.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Liz said:


> In our case I do believe it is those miserable cats. Last time we had fleas we also had neighbors with free roaming cats. I have to put something out to repel the casts and we should have it taken care of. Usually we have no fleas either or maybe one or two hop a ride fromt he lake or something. I hate fleas.


That is how it was for us!! I didnt have a single problem with fleas for 2 years(even with an in/out cat) then we moved and the neighbor used "flea collars"....within 2 weeks we had fleas on both cats and all in our carpets!! And within 2 weeks of moving away from there this past spring there wasnt a single flea on the in/out cat at all(I would check him when he comes in the house since nothing kills them on impact!) Now, even though we have a yard with grass and gravel/dirt none of the 4 pets have fleas at all!!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

hovad123 said:


> Are there any at home tests for heart worms (not the one where you make your dogs toenails bleed) right now I do a test at the vet every two months but I would rather just do it myself.


Don't think there is such a test. I think if you do it every 6 months, it will be more than sufficient. Doesnt' matter whether you do 2 months or 6 months, once a test is positive, your dogs will have to take "prevenative" every 30 days for the next 2+ years.


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## hovad123 (Dec 7, 2010)

My understanding with heart worms is that their life cylce is complicated. You could technically give meds every other month, the only reason vets suggest once a month is because most people won't remember every other month. Also the "preventative" is the same stuff you give them to kill heart worm and it's not great for them. Because I live in NJ and not down south where 50%+ untreated dogs get heartworm I am leery to expose them to things that are unnecessary and possibly bad for them. In order for a dog to get heart worms (i think) it has to be bitten by a male and a female and if you check them every two months and treat if they come up positive it is no different then treating monthly.

Anyone that can clarify or give more info please do, i hate over medicating and I constantly feel like the pet industry is telling me to do potentially harmful things because they make big $ (i know i sound like a conspiracy theorist and i am sorry)

This info is much more concise Citadel Tibetan Mastiffs Heartworm Timing


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I live in FL and I'm absolutely petrified of Mol getting heartworm so I treat her all year round. She gets Heartgard every 5 weeks or so. In winter it's every 6 weeks. I don't give her flea protection at all. I don't know why, but she hardly ever has fleas, and she is out in the fields and grass everyday and the dogpark every now and then. If I notice her scratching, I run a flea comb through her hair, but this whole year all I've found is 2 fleas. Thats not worth risking her health with a flea protection as far as I'm concerned. 
The people round her are pretty good at treating their dogs for heartworm, so there aren't that many cases. However, a couple of years ago there was a human, poor bastard, who contracted heartworm, he lived not more than 20 miles from here.
I am just debating with myself about heartworm and my kitten. The mozzies are really really bad right now, and I know cats don't get heartworm as readily as dogs, but if they do there isn't any treatment available for them. The preventative treatment for them is Advantage Multi and I just hate thinking about putting that on her, but I'd also absolutely hate her to get heartworm, so the old brain is going round in circles right now.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

when we lived in georgia, all of our dogs received a shot once every six months. it was a brand new drug...i wish i could remember the name of it...and it was effective and easy.


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

I haven't seen a worm or a flea in so long that I can't remember when. I am regular though with heartworm meds. When I moved to Ga from MI in the mid-70's I didn't know anything about heartworms-I'd never had any, in fact never heard of them. I soon found out and would give my guy the meds during the late Spring into the fall. Well, my GSD got them, the cure did not go well and I had to send him to the Bridge. I have never forgiven myself for that one. 

However, I do not know where you are located, that may make a difference. If anyone knows of any way other that the meds-PLEASE let me know. I am open to new treatments. Thanks


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

hovad123 said:


> My understanding with heart worms is that their life cylce is complicated. You could technically give meds every other month, the only reason vets suggest once a month is because most people won't remember every other month. Also the "preventative" is the same stuff you give them to kill heart worm and it's not great for them. Because I live in NJ and not down south where 50%+ untreated dogs get heartworm I am leery to expose them to things that are unnecessary and possibly bad for them. In order for a dog to get heart worms (i think) *it has to be bitten by a male and a female* and if you check them every two months and treat if they come up positive it is no different then treating monthly.
> 
> Anyone that can clarify or give more info please do, i hate over medicating and I constantly feel like the pet industry is telling me to do potentially harmful things because they make big $ (i know i sound like a conspiracy theorist and i am sorry)
> 
> This info is much more concise Citadel Tibetan Mastiffs Heartworm Timing


It was my understanding that they would only need to be bitten by an infected female mosquito. Also, mosquitoes can travel rather far, wind helps a lot so keep that in mind. When I lived in FL, especially in the Glades, it was totally necessary...there were mosquitoes everywhere. In Maine...there's a few...not a lot...so, I'm not giving them that treatment anymore. I don't have an issue with fleas here, didn't have an issue in FL either. But here, I am using what I can to prevent ticks. I am going to look in to your wondercide because I don't mind the smell of a cedar closet...sounds nice, actually.


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## hovad123 (Dec 7, 2010)

the wondercide is good stuff and i am happy with it overall, i was really uncomfortable using the spot on treatments. the only reason i mentioned the smell is because my mom goes ballistic when i spray them because she HATES the smell. it isn't that bad and it doesn't last that long either. the biggest downside is remembering to reapply more than once a week. you will know when it wears off because you will start to find ticks. that being said i have been using it all summer in NJ and Long Island and counting this week (the dogs went swimming and I forgot to reapply) i have found a total of four live ticks and one dead one on my two large dogs so all in all i think it works.


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