Heartworm?

[PossumGirl]

Anyone know if we have heartworm here in France?  I tend to get blank looks when I mention it to people, but that may just be because I'm not using the exact term.  I've been treating with Heartgard just to be sure, as Maggie has been on it since she first came to live with us.  I hate to take the chance of stopping it if it is, indeed, a risk.

What do any of you do?

PG

[bakerino]

I asked my vet in 24 only last week about prescribing for heartworm.His reply was "Its not reqd as we don't have a problem with iot in France.

[Opalienne]

I did a bit of websearching on veterinary sites and it appears that it is endemic in Italy, particulary in the South and in the Po Valley, but not in France.

[Deimos]

A few "excerpts" from various sources on the web:

As the name suggests, this worm lives in the chambers of the heart and the great vessels. This is transmitted by mosquitoes and is common in southern Europe especially southern France, Spain, Italy and around the Mediterranean.

During the last 20 years the infestation has spread to colder areas where suitable vectors exist, such as Bretagne in France (Doby et al., 1986), Switzerland (Bucklar et al., 1998) and northern provinces in Italy (Genchi et al. 1995; Rossi et al., 1996)

Angiostrongylus vasorum occurs in discrete endemic pockets in

various parts of Europe (France, Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland), ...

Heartworm is a very serious disease which is almost unknown in the UK but is present in parts of France (the south of France in particular).

Etc.

Sounds to me like its worth keeping the preventative treatments going.

Ian

[Lori]

I ask my Vet every year when our dog goes in for his vacines.  He

told me that there are very rare cases seen here.  We live in the

Southeast of France in the department of the Vaucluse.  He did not

feel it was necessary to put our dog on heartworm prevention - which

can have side effects.  I will ask him again this June when annual

vacines are due again.  We'll see if things have changed.

[PossumGirl]

Clearly, this is one of those things that seems to depend on the practitioner, here. I'm with Ian, I think.  Better to keep it up.  She's been on it with no side-effects, so why mess around with success.

Of course, I think this will mean buying Heartgard in the U.S., as it's not available here.  There is another drug that some people use called Milbemax, but I always worry about switching in case THAT one does cause side effects...

Thanks all.

PG

[Robbie34]

Milbemax appears to be the drug of choice these days.  My vet in the UK now prescribes that in place of Drontal, and when returning to the UK my French vet uses this in place of an injection for the Pet's Passport requirements.

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="Robbie34"]Milbemax appears to be the drug of choice these days.  My vet in the UK now prescribes that in place of Drontal, and when returning to the UK my French vet uses this in place of an injection for the Pet's Passport requirements.[/quote]

We're due for her annual check-up, so I'll ask about it.

BTW, does anyone here do titers instead of annual vaccinations (except for rabies, I know)?  I've been thinking of asking my vet about doing that.

PG