Reality Bites

When I got home, I posted Jo’s plight on Facebook, and immediately my page was flooded with responses from my dog-loving friends who reassured me over and over that it wasn’t my fault; that heartworm preventative, no matter what brand you use, is only 99% effective; that either they had owned dogs who had been on Heartgard or another major brand of heartworm preventative who had also been infected; and that JoLee would survive the treatment and be just fine.

Despite the support from my Facebook friends, the rest of the weekend was a nightmare for me. I swam like a heartworm itself in a sea of guilt, self-loathing and depression. I’d failed JoLee; it was my fault; if I hadn’t been so cavalier in my outlook and had taken the possibility of heartworm infection more seriously, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe it was because I’d taken a shortcut to cut costs, and had bought a generic brand of ivermectin through an on-line company. I was consumed by soul-crushing guilt. My little friend might die, and it was all my fault. I felt like I’d been picked up by a tornado and it wasn’t quite done with me yet. I couldn’t concentrate on even simple tasks; I was forgetful; I would spontaneously burst into tears. I was making cupcakes and noticed the batter seemed very thick - and then saw the three eggs sitting on the counter. I loaded the dogs into the Dogmobile to take them for a ride - our destination, the gas station. I told my husband where I was going, got back into the car and then saw that I had already filled the gas tank. I burst into tears. I’ve never been through such emotional turmoil.

My friend Sheila phoned to tell me she had seen my Facebook posting, and how sorry she was to hear of JoLee’s plight. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said, “but I posted on Greytalk that this is exactly why you should buy your pet meds through your vet and not on the internet.”

As well-meaning as Sheila was, the fact is (from what I’ve heard and read since the initial diagnosis), the only advantage to buying your heartworm preventative through your veterinarian is that Merial, who manufactures and produces Heartgard (and coincidentally, the cure, Immiticide), will pay for treating a dog with heartworms if their medication fails. That may save you the $600 - $800 treatment cost, but not the heartache if the dog doesn’t survive the treatment. In order to take advantage of Merial’s guarantee, you have to purchase your heartworm preventative through your veterinarian so there is a record of how frequently you bought the medication, thereby giving some assurance that the preventative was being given to the dog on a regular basis, as prescribed. JoLee’s treatment ended up costing me around $300.00, when all was said and done.

Another benefit to buying your heartworm preventative through your veterinarian is that you have some assurance that the medication has been shipped and stored in good condition. One of the stories I heard was of a situation where entire pallets of a leading manufacturer’s heartworm preventative had been left out in scorching heat; the shipment was refused by the purchaser, but was later sold to an on-line purveyor for much less.

Does the cost of buying Heartgard through your veterinarian balance out the cost of the treatment should it fail? When all is said and done, that’s a calculation you must make yourself.