Pet Pharmaceutical Industry

I read a statistic that 39% of American households own at least one dog. That means pet biz is big biz. I am not even going to get into the subject of dog food and the corn based cereal that passes for dog food available at many grocery stores.

I live in the South, where heart worm infection is a real problem. Heartworm medication is big, big business (although one can, and many do, use other sources of let's say ivermectin, at a fraction of the cost).

There is a growing problem that many dog owners are beginning to be aware of, and that is the problem of prevention failure. More and more, it seems, owners who say they have been giving preventive medication as prescribed are coming up with heart worm positive dogs.

The only approved medication for treatment after that happens, Immiticide, is very expensive, $500-$2000 for the medication and treatment. Many people are opting for the much less expensive 'soft' treatment instead where heart worm medication and doxycycline are given and apparently the adult heart worms weaken and die in a year and a half or sometimes less. There are plusses and minuses for each kind of treatment, do your research, but even $500 is a big piece of change for many households today where there may be poverty and unemployment.

There does not seem to be much of a dialogue going on as to why there is this medication failure rate and newly infected dogs. Resistance? Maybe. More mosquitoes?

A number of articles blithely pass off the problem, telling owners that they must not have given the medication correctly. Many owners counter that assumption, saying that they gave the medication expressly as prescribed, and now they have heart worm positive dogs.

A warning, btw. Investigate the medication you are using for your pet. Just as in human medication, there have been recalls and medication associated deaths for various kinds of medication. Do a thorough internet search.

Gone are the days where blissful ignorance was safer and one could leave everything in the hands of one's vet (or doctor). Be an informed consumer, for yourself, and for those who depend on you, your children and pets, for any choices involving them. Don't let shiny ads and smiling tv actors make your choices for you.

Given the number of dog owning households in the US, one would think that there would be more honest communication with dog owners instead of the amount of denial I see in some of these articles.
The pharmaceutical industry for people is rife with politics and big money. I guess it is unrealistic to expect anything different for our pets.

Given the number of dog owning households in the US, one would think that there would be more honest communication with dog owners instead of the amount of denial I see in some of these articles.
The pharmaceutical industry for people is rife with politics and big money. I guess it is unrealistic to expect anything different for our pets.

This has been a battle for the last 20+ yrs,the public is just now getting the food ration truth,the rest is still a decade out or better.

Pathetically its "the people" that are slow to "ACT"