Clark Howard column: we recently took our healthy, active, small dog to our vet for his annual checkup and shots. he was given a PROHEART injection for guard against heartworms. within two days he was a very sick dog. return visits to the vet were made and assessments were made. we happen to view, on TV, a notice about the FDA recalling PROHEART medication. a call to our vet was made, and according to them, no notice of this recall was sent to them. we called 5 other vets in our area and each had received a notice and had pulled the PROHEART medication. several more visits to our vet for testing, medications, xrays and an overnight stay in the emergency room for monitoring, were administered. Our little dog survived. we paid approximately $2000.00 in vet bills. the vet informs us that the makers of PROHEART refuse and "good faith" compensation to help defray the cost. is there any agency, government or otherwise, we might appeal to for retribution in this case? we feel some negligence may exist, either with the makers of PROHEART or the vet. thank you.

dogma My dog would have turned 5 this month, however he had to be put down yesterday due to cancer which had spread throughout his body. We found out a couple of weeks ago that my dog had liver cancer which had spread to the other organs in his abodomen and even metasized into his lungs. The vet was very surprised that such a young dog had this cancer; we were shocked. When something happens like this, owners usually look for an explanation. Why did my otherwise healthy, well-cared for dog suddenly become full of cancer at such a young age? My 3 young children and I are all heartbroken. Could we have prevented this? My first thought was to look on the Internet for info on liver cancer in dogs. I saw that there could be an environmental link and wondered if it could be due to the mosquito spraying done in my town. Then I saw the words "liver problems" and "ProHeart6" in the same sentences. Wouldn't you know it...that was the shot my dog received just once in February 2004. We had always used Interceptor, but at his routine check-up in FEB, the Vet encouraged us to try this new shot b/c it would last for 6 months and save us trouble and money. Sure, we said, what ever is best for our dog. Now, I put it out there to others...is ProHeart killing our dogs??

Posted by: Amy | December 11, 2004 07:15 PM

_________________

My 7 year old beautiful golden recieved the proheart6 shot on Oct. 30, 2003 and she died of lung cancer on Dec. 18, 2004. Coincidence? I dont think so. Last year I questioned my vet about this having a link to the proheart6 and he said no. I still felt there was a link. She was the best dog in the world and a very healthy dog....Dont use it. Please

Posted by: Cecilia Pikaard | September 27, 2004 05:16 AM

___________________________

Email 9/04 -- "Tonight we buried Gryffin's ashes in the back yard. My husband and I along with our two children shared happy memories of Gryf and sprinkled some of his ashes along our side fence. We live in the historic district of a resort town so we have alot of foot traffic by our yard. Gryffin loved to run along that fence barking and scaring the tourists".~~~~~~~~ "A little over a week ago, we lost our 20 month old Great Dane Gryffin. There was no warning, he'd been fine that morning, then after hearing him yowl in pain, I found him dying on my son's bed. This was extremely tramatic for my children and we are all heart broken"

________________

Email 9/04 --".To whom it may concern,
I would like to tell you that up until yesterday my pet's, Sabel,death was a mystery. She passed away in my arms howling in pain on 6/27/03. We had no clue what was wrong with her. She received Proheart 6 on 8/19/02. Apprx 1 month after receiving the injection she developed vomiting and diarrhea with blood. Our vet said he had no clue after running many tests. So he sent us to a specialty vet. He did a bone marrow biopsy to rule out luekemia. She also received 2 units of blood because her hemoglobin and platelets were so low. (5.3 and 35) We gave her epogen shots and several other medications. She seemed like she was getting better until she started bleeding through her nose. (It was everywhere including stains on my mattress where she once slept in peace) No one could tell us what was wrong. She suffered so long because we thought we could fight whatever it was. She was like our child. My fiance and I do not not have children so Sabel was given everything. My heart was broken when she died and it was especially hard because she was only 5 and there was no explanation. Until now. I am upset that something like that could be on the market for that long. We finally decided to get a new pup. My new vet just a couple months ago offered the Proheart 6 injection to me. I said no because my new pup would eat anything. We need to do something. Melissa"

Check out message at Hounds Group

From: “GG
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:43 PM
One thing to avoid is the new ProHeart 6 heartworm injection.
It has caused deaths, slow & painful ones—awful.
A group is working towards having this taken off the market
& is trying for a class action suit against Fort Dodge,
the manufacutuer. Also, collie breeds are very sensitive any
heartworm medications that contain Invermectin, so they can’t take this at all.

Unfortunately, it is about vets & pharmaceutical companies making lots of money. We’ve all been taught to think that constantly vaccinating our animals is something we need to do as good caregivers & vets can be very forceful & maniplulating into making us believe we need to do this

Re: Proheart 6

Tracey
Sat, 3 May 2003 08:02:21 -0700 (PDT)

Sue & Andrea, thanks for your emails on Proheart, from a vet's perspective. I tend to NOT beleive things posted on the internet, you never know their true reason for posting -- for all we know that site was posted by a Proheart competitor -- or just someone that has an agenda, as we all know, Proheart does NOT do anything for fleas, ticks, or mosquitoes. Not only that, I followed the link that claimed the USDA had a warning on Proheart, and could not find it. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, or maybe the owner of the website just hoped people would believe him/her?

As you said, anyone can have a reaction to any sort of shot. I personally use Proheart 6 -- I love it, my dogs have not had reactions. I am one that is ALWAYS forgetting to give monthly pills and as I live in the midwest I know it is very important to keep my beloved pets protected against heartworms. (Oh yeah, the heartworm poster in my vet's office, with all the counties in Illinois, and all the occurances of heartworm, has a BERNER on it!! Funny, on girl at the counter didn't know what Beau was, and the poster was right in her face!! hahaha)

People also reacted this way with human vaccinations (some get/got sick, some died) ... there's always going to be people that react -- but in the long run, what do we have?? No small pox, no rubella, no measles, no polio ... with our pets we don't have as common of occurances of parvo and distemper. What is the occurance of pets reacting to parvo shots?? The trade of is worth it, as I'm sure Sue and Andrea can attest to .. a dog afflicted with parvo is horrible, just as a dog afflicted with heartworms is horrible. Not a way to die, not a way to live, treatments are costly and very hard on the pets. (I recently saw 2 puppies with parvo at the emergency clinic when I had to take Beau with pnemonia ... it was NOT pretty). I feel better knowing my babies are protected against everything, taking as much of the human error factor out. (and boy do I have lots of the error factor!!)

I'm just glad my 2 haven't ever reacted to proheart ... I'll keep up with it, and will do what I always do after any injection, watch them closely for reactions, and be prepared if they do.

Thanks,
Tracey & Beau and Kjersti

I-Dog

Mike Sprunger LaGrange Police Dept. (Unregistered Guest)
Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 12:16 pm:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has been my dream to be a K-9 Handler for the ten years I've been in Law Enforcement. My dream finally came true this year. I got my beautiful partner in March 2004. He was full of life, a real handful, and everything that I dreamed of as a partner, at least for the first week of K-9 training. On Monday of week two, I took him to the Vet for a routine check-up, per my contract with the school. He was given a clean bill of health by the Vet. He said he was very healthy and looked like a great partner. He gave him the Proheart6 shot the same day. Two days later, my partner quit eating, lays around and just doesn't have the energy to even hold his head up, let alone going to work and protecting me. This has gone on for two weeks now, and about 10 trips to the Vet. Two different Vets deny that the shot has anything to do with how my partner is now acting. They said that it is "just a coincidence" that he got sick after getting the shot! He gets slower and slower each day. Maci is my partner and it is absolutely killing me to see MY PARTNER run down and sick the way he is after seeing how excited he was to go to work prior to the shot!! He was absolutely, 100% healthy and energetic before he got the Proheart6 shot and now he can barely hold his head up.

Sorry my friend, I took over your email. But, I still get the shakes when I think of how close we came to losing our little girl.

Linda

I just lost my oldest baby Cutter. Her systems are exactly as described from Proheart. There is quite a bit of info out there. Another site is http://concernedvet.netfirms.com

Cutter's reaction was about 3 months after her shot. She began acting like she had a cold and went completely down in about 3 week and we had to put her down after the autoimmune amenia began and she had complete kidney failure.

I'm telling everyone I know with any dog not to get the proheart.

I was both distraught and relieved to see a news item last night about the heartworm prevention shot being responsible for dog deaths. We had a rescued coonhound mix named Hoover for about 4 years, and he was a pretty healthy dog, although he took phenobarbitol daily for seizures ever since we got him. Our vet would monitor his kidney function and whatever else they check when a dog is on drugs We always feed super premium dog food, spare no expense when it comes to our dogs' care. We moved to a rural area and switched to a closer vet. On our first visit, he suggested the 6 month shot instead of monthly tablets. Said it was just as safe, less hassle. We agreed to it, and Hoover died exactly two weeks later, of supposed liver failure. He was a little lethargic after the shot, but after about 10 days, it was clear that something was wrong. He was just lying around and I observed him vomiting. We made an appointment immediately with our "new" vet, loaded him up, and by the time we got to the vet, he had to be lifted from the vehicle, and refused to stand. X-rays showed an enormous mass that appeared to be attached to his liver, and he was bleeding internally. They referred us to a hospital about 20 miles away for an ultrasound, and by the time we got there, he had to be carried in. While they were prepping him, he arrested. That was over a year ago, and I'm crying as I type this. At the time, we quizzed our vet about the connection between the shot and his death, and they said they had never heard of any problem or deaths due to the shot. We never had a good feeling about that vet after that, and switched back to our old vet despite the drive. After seeing the news story, I am convinced that the shot was responsible for Hoover's demise. Fortunately, our other two dogs seemed to have no reaction, and one of them had been heartworm positive when we rescued him, so I would have expected that he might be the more fragile one. I went to the manufacturers site for Proheart6 and will be filing a complaint with them. I doubt it will do much of anything, probably not even make me feel better. Makes you feel guilty when your actions are responsible for your sweet and trusting pet's death, regardless of your intentions.

dogmania Proheart 6 Reaction Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2003

I took my Great Dane to the vet last weekend for a checkup and to get vaccinations. The dog was 7 years old and in EXCELLENT health. The vet even commented that he was in better shape than dogs half his age.
He received a CV Booster, a Bordetella booster and a ProHeart injection. That was on Saturday.He was taken to be boarded on Sunday as we were going out of town. The kennel has been keeping him since he was a pup. He was fine on Sunday, but on Monday he was lethargic and had diarea and vomitting. He was given diarea medicine from the kennel.
He was worse on Tuesday morning and they took the dog to the vet that did the vaccinations. They put him on IV for fluids and by the end of Tuesday they said that he was doing better and called the kennel to come too get the dog. The kennel was not comfortable picking up the dog that soon as he still had a line in for fluids. He was kept overnight at the vet.
When the vet arrived the next morning, he was DEAD! Looking at the threads in this forum, it appears to be a symptom of the heartworm shots.
When the vet did a necropsy, they said he had massive infection and some blood in the abdomin. This is stange since the temp was taken at the vet on Sat, at the kennel on Monday and several times at the vet on Tuesday and he was never running a temp.
I don't know how a perfectly healthy dog that has never missed a heartwork treatment and never had any medical problems could die within 3 days of a full examination.
Anyone with information on what we can do to keep this from happening to any other beloved pets, please comment.
It is obvious the vets are not going to tell us anything that would interupt their revenue stream.
A comment about the kennel. It is extreamly clean and love their guests as much as the owners. They were devistated and as far as I am concerned did the right thing for our dog when he needed it.
Regards,
JT

dogmania

Hi,

This story is about River. His nightmare begins in july of 2002. when he recieved the proheart 6 shot. Within a few days we noticed sores appearing in his mouth & on his tongue. some the size of a quarter. We took him to the vet where he did some blood test. liver enzymes were elevated and blood counts weren't quite right. so he referred us to the university of madison wisconsin teaching hospital. they did more test and decided he was having an allergice reaction to something but would not commit to it being the proheart shot. This is the only shot River had in over a year.. He was very healthy.
They started him on an antibiotic and prednizone. over the next several months. his neck started to swell, they had to do surgery to remove a saliva gland, after he was starting to improve, he had to have some teeth remove and his fang in front broke in half. at times he seemed to stare into space and we could not get his attention until he just came out of it himself. he just wasnt him self. his immune system was getting weaker and weaker the prednizone made him gain so much weight he was now 160 lbs.

it is about six or seven months later, they are taking him off prednizone, he now has sores on both back legs that have eaten a hole to the bone and are oozing, we put hot towels soaked in epson salts to give him some relief, nothing seems to be working they thought the surgery would clear up the sores in his mouth, but they all came back, we were seeing him die right before our eyes and we couldn't stop it.
one night i was massaging his legs and notice three lumps on the size of a golf ball, it seems they just appeared over nite. he also started drooling blood, we knew we had to let him go so on April 24th 2003 we made the decision to send River to his final home where there would be no more pain. When i think back it makes me ill to think we may have caused him to suffer longer than we should because we didn't want to lose him.

River was 4 weeks old when we adopted him he was a malmute/wolf mix.
he was loving loyal, loved to go camping, swimming, ride on the golf cart, ride with the neighbor on his 4 wheeler. he was a very active dog until that july in 2002. He is very much missed by us his family and everyone who knew him.
It is in Rivers memory that i feel this story had to be told and our hearts go out to all you who lost or have an ill pet because of this shot.
I wish we would have done our homework on this before we gave it to River. he was 5 years old when he finally went home.

Please do not use this shot....

Berner Digests

RE: Proheart 6 -- assessing risk generally and specifically

proHeart 6 - injection

"Mark Mohapp"
Sat, 3 May 2003 09:49:25 -0500

I was very sorry to here the posting about the dog having a reaction to this. My brother is a veterinarian who refuses to use the injection on his own dogs! His philosophy is - if their is a bad reaction - how do you get the stuff out of the dog since it is made to lodge in fat cells for slow release.

My own thoughts include it is too new of a product, why put poison in a dog that takes months to evacuate, and how hard is it to give dogs a pill once a month. There are some people who recommend having a blood test done every 6 months for heart worm as opposed to dosing a dog at all. The theory being if you test twice a year IF something shows up it is still treatable. (I personally don't know enough to decide if this is safe but it is a thought)

Mark Mohapp
mmohapp@wi.rr.com

Old English Sheepdog board

My 18 month old OES went into shock about 10 minutes after receiving her DHLPP, Corona, Rabies and ProHeart on June 22, 2004. They took blood for a heartworm test prior to the inoculations which came back negative. I chose to have them done at a weekly shot clinic held at a nationwide chain because the cost was about half of what my regular vet charges for the same shots. I had recently had a full check-up with my regular vet during a visit for an ear infection and she had checked out fine. I felt it was safe to go to the clinic and at the same time prudent to pay half the price. Luckily, the receptionist was slow at check out as I was still in the building when she went down. Otherwise, she could have died in my car on the ride home.

The first indication that something was terribly wrong was when I heard someone snicker in the waiting room. I looked down at my feet and discovered I was standing in a huge puddle of urine and my pup was sitting in it. Convincing her to move seemed difficult. I thought I was imagining this. Embarrassed, I quickly began cleaning up the puddle with the roll of paper towels the receptionist provided. As I finished up I noticed a single fresh poop on the floor next to my pup who was then laid out cold. No one in the packed waiting room said anything to me. My pup lay on her side, tongue hanging out, next to her feces while I cleaned up the urine puddle. My only hope is that she went down moments before I noticed and those watching were too engrossed with my inept cleaning abilities. I stand by my belief in the supremacy of dog over human and I will never understand human beings. As soon as I noticed the poop I knew their was a serious problem and I began screaming "My dog is in shock. My dog is in shock. Get someone out here now!!!" Finally, in what seemed like an eternity, three vet techs ran out, scooped her up, and ran back to their surgery. There, they shaved nearly half of her front leg for the saline I.V., gave her steroids and a Benydryl type product and then installed a catheter. I intensely watched the faces of the techs and vet through the window in the surgery door as I could not see my pup. Thank God they knew what to do and when to do it. I am grateful for their skills in this area. She slowly came out of the shock. I was numb at this point. Once my baby was safe at home, in my bed, I cried over the near loss of my sweet, innocent Sheepie. She received the shots at 2:30 p.m. and we walked out of the clinic at 7 p.m.

I cannot begin to express how guilty I have felt for not first investigating results other dogs had to ProHeart. The vet and her intern both professed it's safety as I questioned them before the injections were given. They began the inoculations by giving her an oral wormer, part of the ProHeart package. I had not been told about that part. As they poured it down her throat, I argued that there was no diagnostic reason for it. They said it could not hurt her. She immediately threw it up. My pup had had a fecal exam a short time ago and it was negative. I felt stupid for going along with it. I have subsequently learned that my usual vet does not believe in the safety of ProHeart or use it. The FDA's ruling appears to validate my vet's understanding of the situation. The day cost me nearly four times what it would have cost at my vet's office. The future cost to my babies health and psyche are still unknown. The following day I took her to my usual vet for a full exam to determine any damage not visually detectable. None was found at that time. My vet told me problems, though rare can show up a long time after the fact. I force myself to be optimistic about the future.

I am happy to hear of the FDA's action against ProHeart. This product was obviously not tested thoroughly enough since so many problems have been reported. The clinic vet concluded my pup probably had an allergic reaction to the Lepto. My regular vet and I thought otherwise but did not report the incident. I did not even think of it. I am angry at Fort Dodge for covertly taking advantage of my pup. I am angry at the clinic vet for not explaining all the risks associated with ProHeart. I am angry at myself for simple stupidity. I have learned to: no longer take the word of any vet as gospel, not cut corners where the health of my baby is concerned and to investigate everything that goes into, on, or around my puppy.

Dogmania Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2004 7:44 pm

I'm new to this site, please be gentle, I'm on the edge.

I have found some good information thru links, and several letters from people who have lost their precious dogs shortly after receiving a ProHeart 6 injection at this site: www.Proheartinformation.com

On May 23, 2003 one of our honeys, Newport, had to be put to sleep. Newp was only 8 yrs old, a playful English Springer Spaniel, who became sick one month after his 2nd ProHeart 6 injection, diagnosed with cancer. 2 days ago was the first time I'd heard anything about the problems with ProHeart 6, needless to say we're still in shock.

We have two other ESS who have had the ProHeart 6 injections, and we are in a panic. We understand that there is no way to flush this junk from their systems, all that we can do is learn as much as possible.
If anyone finds any information, please pass it on to us.

ProHeart6 and ProHeart12, in theory, are fabulous products. If the results were as clearcut as the products' manunfacturer intended (Fort Dodge), then I would be the first one taking my canine to work to be injected. However, this voluntary recall taken by Fort Dodge has led me to believe that, once again, that big business rules over the health of animals. I had a debate with someone who was in undergraduate program studying biology proceeding to veterinary medicine about ProHeart, this was before the recall. She seemed to have kept with reports of ProHeart. As I debated, her biggest selling point was that a Fort Dodge associate had come to Rutgers University (here in New Jersey) and proceeded to tell the students it was safe. If you are making a huge salary from pharmaceuticals..of course you will say the product is safe.

Now proceeding on to the negative aspects of ProHeart6:

For one thing, if your dog does an allergic reaction to the medication- think about it: you have just provided your dog with six months worth of heartworm prevention.

It is time released over a period of six months. I know with heartworm prevention you could give your animals in excess of over 90 times its weight in pills and it is fine, so I am not sure exactly what to do if your dog is allergic and has an anaphalatic reaction. Consult your veterinarian immediately.

Secondly, it is called practicing medicine for a reason. Longitudial studies are valuable - too bad the length of such studies do not go on for decades. In the meanwhile, I do understand it is important to release medication asap to help animals, in fact, I agree. However, when many cases are beginning to be reported and it turns from tens to hundreds, would it not be beneficial to address the newest statistics? Of course not - Ft. Dodge is a business. A voluntary recall means "1000 users of this medication have now been seriously affected" (aka fatal). Why so high?

CONSIDER THE IDEA YOU CAN GET HEARTWORM FROM PROHEART:

Example: "Max", your newly adopted dog has never been tested or put on prevention. The odds of hw being positive are higher in moist climates, hot weather, and polluted parts of the country.
Max (without your conscience knowledge) was bitten July 14, 2005 by an infected mosquito. It takes 6 months for a positive heartworm to show on a test, but may catch "baby" heartworms. You test Max on November 14, 2005 (4 months later). You get the results - lets say same day - as most veterinarians follow this procedure. You inject ProHeart into Max the same day (November 14th). Now, ProHeart6 is PREVENTION. In other words, anything that bites Max after November 14th will surely be covered, but not prior to. So, mid-January Max has heartworm. You don't know about it until (if your lucky) you get concerned about a 'cough' or he dies.

Oops, I guess Fort Dodge did not mention that. I understand there are ups and downs to everything. Especially for Shelties and Collies who have liver problems, because of an ingredient in heartworm pills- I believe it to be Ivermectin.

So to that extent, yes it does have its benefits.

My dog is on Interceptor : Prevention of Heartworm ALSO roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm.

These once-a-month doses will benefit in that they will kill off any growing heartworms. Poor Max, poor owner -neither knew. Who would have thought?

The pills cost about the same at my place of employment
Actually, I've heard vets say, even some that perform ProHeart6, that they would not give PH6 to any animal unless they are perfectly healthy, have been tested, not elder, have no past history of seizures.

So until your dog dies of ProHeart, will you recommend ProHeart? The choice is yours - but explain the truth of its working process. Then let the owner decide.