# update on Layla and heartworm treatment



## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

You may remember, our chesapeake bay rescue has heartworms and we are planning ontreating her. The problem we are running into is her EXTREME high energy level. She will have to be on a sedative to keep her calm during the treatment, so the vet has put her on one to test out her reaction to last week. I don't remember the name of that one but it didn't work at all. Bad side effects and didn't last long. Now, she is on a test trial on Alprazolam, I think is the name. It seems to work ok, but still not lasting but about three hours or so. She has to take one twice daily, but I will be at work when the sedative wears off and won't be able to give it to her in time. So, the vet said we may try one more after this but if nothing seems to work well enough for her they are going to go with either advantage multi, or heartgard for six months to a year and do it that way. It sounds a lot safer to me. Anyone else had a dog treated this way for heartworms?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

so now they're giving xanax to dogs....

depending on the dose and it's different perhaps for a young dog......xanax should last up to and including 8 hours...given your pup is so active, your vet may either want to up the dose...i think the highest is 2 mg.....or give more than one at a time...

the thing to watch tho, with xanax is respirations...which tend to slow down....

is there anyone who can stay with your dog?

we treated a dog with heartworms.....but there were people in the house, the dog was not high energy because he was a stray and had been starved, so he was weaker.....but it's a good thing you're doing. bless you.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

The tech called me this morning asking about how Layla is handling it, and when I told her she decided right then to not worry about it that it will be too much of a risk. So, we are getting advantage multi for her, and leave it at that. It is the safest for layla and hopefuly within a year the heartworms will be gone all the way and she will still live a long life. I feel so relieved about it.


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

Not sure what stage of heart worm you dog is at, but there are a few holistic cures for heart worm. An easy one is to give your dog raw chopped garlic 5 days a week. 

10 to 15 pounds - half a clove
20 to 40 pounds - 1 clove
45 to 70 pounds - 2 cloves
75 to 90 pounds - 2 and a half cloves
100 pounds and over - 3 cloves


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

naturalfeddogs said:


> The tech called me this morning asking about how Layla is handling it, and when I told her she decided right then to not worry about it that it will be too much of a risk. So, we are getting advantage multi for her, and leave it at that. It is the safest for layla and hopefuly within a year the heartworms will be gone all the way and she will still live a long life. I feel so relieved about it.


You are doing the right thing but I THINK a heartworm's lifespan is 2 years so it will take that long to be completely rid of them but it's no big deal. It won't stress the dog out that much. This is much easier and safer than the old accelpted way of ridding your dog of heartworms.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

RawFedDogs said:


> You are doing the right thing but I THINK a heartworm's lifespan is 2 years so it will take that long to be completely rid of them but it's no big deal. It won't stress the dog out that much. This is much easier and safer than the old accelpted way of ridding your dog of heartworms.


Thanks Bill, I feel a lot better doing it this way. If it's two years that will be ok. I can live with that. My stress level has dropped!


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