Pet Owner Question: “I rescued a golden about 1 1/2 ago he his about 2 1/2. He was abused as a pup and has had a number of bouts with diaherra. Had him tested and he tested positive to lamb, turkey, corn, soy, wheat and a number of grass.
Finally found a food he could and would eat Blue Buffalo. Recently he seemed to have a reaction to the heartguard. Vet is recommending Revolution however in reading the side effects I would be tackling all the bad symptoms again. What can you suggest. Any guidance would be helpful.”
Linda
Seminole, FL
“Revolution is highly utilized in veterinary medicine for allergic animals. It works very well and has very little side effects. Compound pharmacies such as Roadrunner, can also compound heartworm preventatives without flavoring, but you have to buy 12 at a time. Good Luck.”
Dr. Kevin Cawood, DVM
Indian Creek Veterinary Hospital
Fort Wayne, IN 46814
“Yes, I agree with you. It is a CHEMICAL which is absorbed into the skin. Plus, he is already getting heartguard which is also a chemical. ( another issue ) Please keep in mind, that a healthy immune system is the best way to avoid fleas. Fleas will always gravitate to a either an unhealthly animal or a weaken immune system. Instead, you can use natural oils like lavender,eucalyptus or pennyroyal ( the latter to not use on cats ). You can go to your local health food store and find natural flea sprays. I also like a product called Tombstone by Great Life is a combo of the above oils.”
D.McCain DVetHom.
Holistic Animal Healing
Los Angeles, CA 90064
“I would recommend asking your veterinary dermatologist (I’m assuming you have one from the allergy testing) for non-flavored Heartgard. Our nearby specialists use this all the time during food trials.
Best of luck!”
Joy N. Ritz, DVM
Decatur Veterinary Clinic
Indianapolis, IN 46221
“Heartguard is flavored with soy and animal protein so it is possible that the dog is allergic to those foods. I am a vet and dispensed many hundreds of doses of Revolution and have not seen side effects. So, my advice is to discontinue Heartguard and use Revolution. It is safe and very effective.”
Dr. Ernest K. Smith, DVM
“Dear Golden owner:
If you had him BLOOD TESTED for food allergy, you wasted your money. The ONLY way to test a dog for food allergy/adverse reactions to food is with a strictly controlled dietary trial. Any progressive veterinarian who specializes in veterinary dermatology can guide you in this. As far as vaccinations causing seizures in dogs, please send me the copy of the double-blinded study proving this. There is none!! There are all kinds of falsehoods on the dangers of vaccination, both in pets and in people. Vaccination has prevented the suffering and death of billions of humans and animals. Is it completely without some risk? Of course not. But take it from someone who graduated from veterinary school in 1979 and began during the great parvoviral enteritis epidemic……vaccination works. One last comment….dogs had seizures before the first canine vaccine was ever developed.
My daughter lives in St. Petersburg. I just mailed her “Advantage-multi”. You may wish to look into it?”
Mike Keem, DVM
Aurora Pet Hospital
East Aurora, NY 14052