[nagdu] More about tick, heartworm, and flea prevention

[Raven Tolliver]

Daryl, heart worm comes from certain species of mosquitoes. A mosquito
has to bite a dog already infected with L1 heartworms. 10-14 days
later, the L1's mature to to L3's and migrate to the mosquitoes mouth.
Then the mosquito bites your dog and transfers the bugs. The L3's
develop in the skin for 3-4 months into L5's before moving to the
dog's blood. If the dog's immune system doesn't destroy the
heartworms, they mature to adulthood, which takes about 6 months.
After maturity, the adults may reproduce if there are both male and
female heart worms. But the babies will die, unless a mosquito
carrying L3's bites your dog. If no bite occurs, the adults die off.
If the temperature drops below 14 degrees C or 57 degrees F at anytime
during the process, the heartworms cease developing and die off.
As you can see, the perfect storm has to occur for a dog to get
heartworm. Unless your dog is imprisoned in the same place day after
day like boarded, chained, or kenneled dogs, she will not likely get
heartworms.
My personal approach to pests is to repel them. All these poisonous
pills and topical pesticides all work retroactively, it seems. They
only kill the pests after your dog has them. Why not take an active
approach and repel the pests altogether?  I would not use any of these
poisons, no matter where I lived.
Also, if these poisons are killing bugs and parasites, what are they
doing to the dogs who are slathered in or who ingest them? Overtime,
it will surely take a toll on the dog's organs. You cannot put poisons
into the body for long periods of time and expect nothing to go wrong.
That's not how poisons work. They build up over time and eventually
accumulate into a gross amount that the kidneys and liver cannot
handle. That's whether you give them orally or topically. The topical
stuff is just as strong. Think about it: Your skin is the largest
organ you have. Just as it secretes oils and sweat, it also absorbs
many of the things you apply to it. That is how skin works. How is
vitamin D taken. naturally? It's absorbed through the skin from the
sun. How do birth control patches, nicotine patches, progesterone
creams, and such hormonal controls work? Most substances that come
into contact with your skin will have an effect. If it didn't, the
skin wouldn't be doing its job properly.
I have said this before, and I will say it until the cows come home.
The best way to repel pests is through a species appropriate diet. A
healthy body is able to repel and fend off pests independently. But
people refuse to give the immune system the credit it's due. Maybe
they don't put enough stock in the diets they are feeding their pets.
Because I feed my dog a varied biologically appropriate diet, and thus
support his immune system, I am confident in his body's natural
ability to defend itself against pests and intruders. If my dog ends
up getting an infestation of any kind, it will be because of a flaw in
his diet. All summer, I have not even applied any essential oils or
natural, nontoxic pest repellents to my dog, and he is free of all
pests and intruders. This is a dog who not only does guide work, but
does a fair bit of nighttime traveling outdoors, plays in the woods
and swims in creeks. There are an abundance of opportunities for
exposure to pests, and yet, he is pest and parasite free.
If people cared for their animals properly, there would not be a need
for any of these toxic soups and substances. No one goes around
slathering wild animals in pesticides, and somehow, they manage not to
be constantly infested with pests. I wonder how that is!
If anyone is interested, my next post is an article on heartworm preventatives.

On 8/20/14, Carmella Broome via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Thanks to those of you who  provided information about pills that help with
> flea and tick control. I ran across this  helpful  blog entry earlier, as
> well.
> http://www.pbvetclinic.com/hooliblog.html
>
> Carmella and yellow lab Brooklyn in SC
>
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-- 
Raven
"if God didn't make it, don't eat it." - John B. Symes, D.V.M.
http://dogtorj.com