Are Heartworm Preventatives Necessary?

Dear Nora,
I just “found” your blog when looking for information on Grapes and it is very helpful!  I looked as best I could and did not find any posts regarding the monthly protection we are routinely instructed to use to prevent heartworm and Lyme disease so I wonder if this is something you have looked into?  I would greatly appreciate hearing your views.
Thanks!
Anne

Hi Anne,
Thanks for your email.  I have indeed looked into heartworm, lungworm (the UK equivalent) and “lyme.” As a result, I do NOT treat my own animals with “preventatives” of any kind. Nor do I recommend them.

Fear sells

It’s pretty obvious to me that the heartworm scare is yet another sales device. It was, I suspect, manufactured with the intention of recouping the vet industry for its losses due to ever decreasing vaccination compliance. 

A lack of critical thinking

It’s very difficult to find anyone thinking about the heartworm recommendations objectively. This makes it necessary for us to do our own thinking. Could it REALLY be that that drug-based preventatives are the only thing keeping domestic dogs from dying en mass of heartworm?  Obviously not. Otherwise, nothing would prevent dogs that are NOT in our care from completely dying off.  There would be no packs of feral dogs in rural areas. No coyotes overpopulating and necessitating government “predation control” programs. And, in fact, no wild dogs at all. 

Further, wild dogs are often collared, tracked, and tested for various diseases, including heartworm. A significant percentage of them test positive for HW while showing no symptoms at all. In fact, disease in general is not a common cause of mortality among wild dogs. For coyotes, foxes, wolves and dingoes, various types of encounters with humans is their most deadly threat. Here’s a chart that shows the most common causes of mortality among wild animals in general. They don’t die of disease, including heartworm!

The usual suspect

The truth is, the dogs that are in our care are the ones that are most at risk. That is because of what we FEED them.

Cause, or effect?

That being the case, even when heartworm is a problem, it is not a cause. It’s just an effect of a larger cause.  To properly address symptoms, causes cannot be ignored! We cannot concern ourselves solely with stopping effects, no matter how much money this makes for industry.  In living organisms, effects will take care of themselves when causes are removed.

Parasite or symbiont?

It has been said there are no parasites in nature.  When so-called parasites are blamed for symptoms, they aren’t the CAUSE. They are just part of the symptomology arising from the underlying internally polluted condition of the animal. Further, they are there performing a valuable function. They’re helping clean up the mess!

Symptoms have functions

The proper way to look at symptoms is that they are always either the body’s attempt to 1) eliminate wastes, OR 2) function as best it can in spite of these wastes.  Parasites, like all living creatures, go where their food supply is.  Creatures that are labeled “parasites” eat waste.  Where there is waste, there is disease, sometimes including “parasites.” But it is this accumulation of waste, not the parasites, that causes ALL symptoms of sickness and disease. 

Scapegoats

If a parasite is present and a dog has other symptoms or dies, the parasite did not cause the sickness or death. The waste that was feeding the parasite and concurrently causing all the other symptoms caused it.  We don’t have to poison parasites when we can simply prevent them coming around in the first place. Feeding properly ensures that waste will not accumulate in their bodies.  Once again, the solution lies in proper feeding.

I encourage pet owners to feed their animals appropriately. THAT’S what protects wild dogs from heartworm, and it can protect our dogs too.