# "Safeheart" Dosage for heartworm meds



## britt0325 (Jul 11, 2013)

Just wondering if anyone on here does it?

I had a horrible experience with a "holistic" vet today. I took my dog in to get his rabies vaccine and I had to take him to another vet then his usual so I could make sure he got a specific vaccine called IMRAB 3 TF. 

Well, I made the mistake of mentioning that I was going to be giving my dog Sentinel at the "safeheart" dosage and the vet literally went off at me. Basically, the "safeheart" dosage is in the package for dogs up to 10lbs. They found that it effectively protects dogs up to 50lbs against heartworms but it won't protect against other worms. 

Well, the vet started lecturing me about how heartworm isn't really something I should be worried about here and that there is more of a chance of him getting worms. That I basically was putting my dog in great peril by not protecting him against other worms as well. Then he told me that I should be giving the full dose of heartworm EVERY month throughout the year. Also, he told me that I shouldn't wait the two weeks after the rabies before giving him the meds like I was planning to.

I tried to explain to him that DE(diatomaceous earth) could be used as a dewormer if need be but I wasn't really worried about it. I tried to explain to him that my dog had previously had liver and gallbladder problems and I wanted to avoid giving him poisons as much as possible. He just didn't understand. 

I'm pretty annoyed that this vets office was listed as holistic. They do offer acupuncture and have vets working there that are knowledgeable about herbs. They also have a limited vaccination protocol and anesthesia free teeth cleaning. So I was expecting them to be pretty holistic. Turns out they're just conventional vets with some holistic methods. I'm pretty disappointed because I already have a lovely conventional vet that I prefer to take my dog to for blood work (he ships it out to some of the best labs in NY) and for check ups. I was looking for a holistic vet as well for me to take my dog to for vaccinations(this vet still uses combo vaccines rather then single and tried to tell me I needed to spend $95 every year for a titer test rather then every 3 years), nutritional input and for other holistic medical needs. Looks like they aren't what I was hoping for. 

Regardless, I'm still planning on ordering the sentinel for up to 10lbs online and thankfully I had gotten the heartworm test done at my regular vet so they'll be the one's getting the call from petmeds asking if a test was done. 

So I'm just wondering if anyone else uses the "safeheart" dose? 
Also, considering the threat of other worms, does anyone have any input or opinion about that? I'm just not sure if this guy was flipping out for no reason or what. I've done a lot of reading about the heartworm medications and I feel like I'm pretty confident with my decision but he has made me doubt myself a little.


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