We received Maggie when she was about 5 months old. She had been abandoned, hungry, and showed signs of abuse. However, she was not broken, as she has since lived her life dominating any dog she meets, and owning every food dish she sees. No other animal is allowed to eat peacefully in her presense. She refused to be house trained, thus became an outside dog, except in bad weather, when she would sleep in her crate in the house.

Maggie received the Proheart 6 injection April 2003, and again in July 2004, at age 12 years. She weighed 51 pounds and was in remarkable condition for a dog of her age. Her health began declining after the injection, which I at first believed to be just old age and hot weather, as outdoor dogs lie around a lot in the summer.

By the beginning of October, she was near death, with liver complications, and down to 42 pounds. Examinations have shown her to be a very healthy dog, and the vets were perplexed about what could be causing this. Thanks to what I learned from this website, I did not have her put down when others said we should, and she pulled through!

One of our vets had told me that he did not believe that she was in a lot of pain - she was just extremely exhausted and all muscles were atrophying, including breathing muscles. She was on anti-biotics during the beginning of her treatment, and took Denosyl and Prednisone for the remainder of the six month Proheart 6 period.

We will continue to give her Milk Thistle, White Ginseng, Vitamin E and a multi-vitamin for the rest of her life. A blood test taken in January 2005, after most of the Proheart 6 is out of her body, shows normal liver function. Her health now mandates that she be a house dog for the rest of her days, so we finally house trained an old stubborn dog.

During her recovery, she had her 13th birthday. Today she is seems happy, with lots of pampering in the house, but her tail rarely wags, due to nerve damage and muscle atrophy. Her gait is slightly affected, but she has regained some of her strength.

Maggie has proven that this did not happen because she is old. She was a strong and healthy dog before Proheart 6. The ultrasound of her liver showed scarring from previous liver damage, which may have occured when she had the shot in April 2003, although we had no indication in 2003 that she was sickened.

The lesson learned is that even if you think your dog was not affected, it could be that it just was not apparent. I will never use Proheart 6 on any of my dogs. I have two other dogs that received the injections at the same time as Maggie. They do not appear to be affected, but maybe there is something I don't know about yet.

Maggie's case shows that there are many levels of effect, and there is also hope.

Amy

Comment and Position

Fort Dodge Animal Health and Wyeth are aware that Pro Heart 6 has killed and maimed thousands and thousands of dogs and yet they want to continue marketing the product. This is a callous disregard for the pain and suffering caused not only to the many, many animals who have suffered unbelievable horrors as a result of the product but also to the people who love these dogs as their children. It is incomprehensible to me and to the many people who have seen the effects that this drug has caused that any reputable company would want to continue to market this poison.

History of Pickles’ ordeal from use of Pro Heart 6

Pickles had a ProHeart 6 injection on August 6, 2004 while we were visiting No. California (We live in Los Angeles), we had gone to local veterinary clinic, Mono Way Veterinary Hospital, (see invoice attached) merely to have the pine pitch cleaned from her paws. During the visit, I was asked by Wes Whitman, DVM, whether she had been taking any heartworm medication, stating that it was a big problem in the area. Since we have a low incidence of heartworm in Los Angeles I had not been vigilant about giving Pickles’ her heartworm medication and told the doctor this. He suggested that she should have Pro Heart 6 explaining that it was a 6-month vaccine and that I wouldn’t have to worry about those monthly tablets.

I specifically asked Dr. Wittman about the safety of the vaccine and was assured by him that thousands of dogs had had the vaccine with no side effects and that he personally had given hundreds of the injections with absolutely no problem. He seemed ready to give the vaccine immediately and I asked him wasn’t it necessary to have a heartworm test first. He agreed and the test was done with negative results. Dr. Wittman did not give me any information about any potential dangers or side effects from the vaccine and it was only after the start of the nightmare that became our lives that I learned hat at least two or more “Dear Doctor” letters had been issued by the FDA. If I had been made aware of these side effects and dangers there is no way that I would have given my baby the vaccine. So much for your “Dear Doctor” letters. Of course, it was only a matter of a few weeks later that the FDA had the drug recalled, but a few weeks too late for Pickles.

Pickles had her first seizure Sunday morning, August 8, at 8:00 a.m., just 39 hrs. after the injection. Her second seizure was Monday, August 9, at 4:30, just 32 hrs. after the first seizure. I made arrangements with my LA doctor, Dr. Richard Carlson, to bring her to LA immediately, and we left Tuesday August 10 to drive the 350 miles. She had her third seizure at 10:00 a.m. while on the freeway at 80 mph in the back seat of my car, just 17 hrs after the 2nd seizure. Her next seizure was at 3:00 p.m., again in the back seat of my car. Naturally I was terrified trying to drive and trying to hold her down to get off the freeway. We reached her doctor's office at 4:00 pm. and thank God they were ready and waiting for her and started immediate treatment. She was hospitalized until Thursday. She was placed on Phenobarbital and didn't have another seizure until September 8 when we were trying to reduce the level of Phenobarbital. She immediately went back on the full dosage.

(The medical records from Dr. Carlson’s office showing his and Dr. Flores heroic efforts to save Pickles were attached)

Both I and Dr Carlson talked to Dr. Swann at Fort Dodge and she was very unhelpful to say the least. She did ask Dr. Carlson to perform two additional blood tests which were performed and were both negative and also requested that Pickles have a neurological exam, which we had planned to do anyway. During this time, Pickles became weaker and weaker and could hardly walk. We were resorting to using a sling to assist her walking and especially when she went potty because she couldn't support herself to get back up.

Pickles then had a complete neurological exam by Dr. Stephen Hanson and was tested for myasthenia gravis but this test was also negative. She then had an EMG, and MRI and a biopsy of the nerves and muscles in her left rear hip. The MRI was normal but the EMG showed abnormal results. The biopsy revealed that she has denervation of the muscles and exonal degeneration of her nerves with no sign of any regeneration. In other words, Pickles is almost paralyzed because the Pro Heart 6 killed the muscles and nerves in not only her back legs and hips but she also shows signs of abnormalities in her front legs as well. (Records from Dr. Stephen Hanson, G. Diane Shelton, DVM, PhD, and Michael R. Broome, DVM, MS, Dipl. ABVP were attached hereto.)

Pickles has had every test devised and they have ruled out any cause for the seizures, muscle and nerve damage other than the Pro Heart 6. Both Dr. Carlson and Dr. Hanson believe that it was the ProHeart 6 injection that caused the problems. Dr. Carlson would have been present at the meeting on January 31, 2005 if he was able to leave his very busy practice to fly to Maryland. He is also outraged that any drug company could act in such an outrageous and uncaring manner about the animals they are supposed to protect.

PRESENT CONDITION OF PICKLES (January 20, 2005)

While she is surviving at this point, she has to stay on the Phenobarbital, she can hardly walk at all, gets supported in a sling 98% of the time and can't even get into a car without physically lifting her in. She used to run, jump and play with all of her doggie friends, chase cats and squirrels and plays games with me. Now she is so crippled that it makes everyone cry to watch her.

She just had her 6th birthday on January 8, 2005 so she is a young dog. We don’t know what to expect in the future and Fort Dodge won’t tell us anything that can be done to help except that there is no antidote. Pickles cannot be left alone and I am with her constantly. During the few hours that I go out each week, she is babysat by my best friend whom I trust to watch over her. Pickles has always been the sweetest, most even tempered and loving of dogs. Everyone who knows her (and believe me it is the entire neighborhood and beyond) has always loved her and stopped to pet her. She loves people more than dogs. Now these same people cry when they see her unable to even step upon to a curb or walk more than a few feet without having to stop and rest.
From Pickles’ perspective I am very sure that she is very frightened of everything that is happening to her without understanding the reason. Every time I have to pop pills down her throat, or take her into the doctor’s office for her monthly blood tests, or those even more scary visits when she is sedated for painful biopsies, she looks into my eyes as though to say why is this happening to me? Why can’t I run and play anymore? In her words, I’m sure she’s thinking “This shouldn’t happen to a dog!”

CONCLUSION

We have spent thousands of dollars for Pickles’ care, medical treatment and testing, as well as the medications she has to take. But we have spent even more in sleepless nights and worried days thinking about what may happen to her. Other dogs have survived through the 6-month period after receiving the Pro Heart 6, only to struggle with medical problems and disabilities and then die after going through all of that.

I beg of the FDA to do what is right and take Pro Heart 6 off the market permanently. It is clear that your Dear Doctor letters don’t accomplish anything. I would also request that Fort Dodge and Wyeth make the only reasonable, just and compassionate decision that they can make and voluntarily remove Pro Heart 6 from the marketplace before more thousands of helpless animals suffer the same fate as my dog and those many, many others have done.
Respectfully submitted,

MARTHA A. MANSELL