This was originally posted on Craigslist by a vet tech, in december but I thought it would be helpful for your son's dog. I use Ivermectin sheep/cattle wormer on monthly basis. I have read about Ivermectin being used on all the dogs after the hurricane in New Orleans. That was posted on the Heartworms societys website. This maybe an option worth talking over with the vet. Could save you hundreds of dollars. Ivomec http://www.internetvets.com/Articles/ivermectin_dosing.htm http://www.heartwormsociety.org/article.asp?id=11 Ivermectin Ivermectin (Heartgard® & Heartgard® Plus by Merial, Iverhart® Plus & Iverhart MAX by Virbac and Tri-Heart® Plus by Schering-Plough) was the first in this family of drugs to be approved for preventing heartworm infection. An infection with larvae as long as two months prior to the initiation of ivermectin treatment will be blocked from development. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=610 Ivermectin Only? Melarsomine treatment is expensive and often out of reach for rescue groups, shelters, and many individuals. If the dog is stable (Class I) one option is to simply leave the dog on an ivermectin-based preventive. This option has led to a great deal of misconception about the ability of ivermectin to kill adult heartworms. Let us lay the rumors to rest now: Ivermectin does not kill adult heartworms. Ivermectin does shorten the lifespan of adult heartworms. Ivermectin does sterilize adult heartworms. Ivermectin does kill microfilaria (keeping the dog from being a source of contagion) Ivermectin does kill L3 and L4 larvae (preventing new infections). This means that if one opts to treat a heartworm positive dog with an ivermectin heartworm preventive only, one can expect the dog to remain heartworm positive for a good 2 years and the heartworm disease will be progressing during that 2 years. This is not good for the dog but certainly beats getting no treatment of any kind. This approach should only be considered for patients who are Class I and may be able to withstand 2 years of heartworm infection. Now the theory in doing ivomec treatment only is this. Instead of killing the heartworms fast kill them slower. The heartworm treatment that vets use kill the heartworms faster. The dog given the heartworm treatment must remain calm and on a baby aspirin to prevent clots. Why? Because when the heartworms are killed they don't exit the body like roundworms do. The heart worms head for the lungs and this can cause the lungs bronchi to get clogged therefore the dogs can't breath and die. With the ivomec treatment you prevent the larvae from hatching and sterilize the adult heartworms. The life span of a adult heartworm is less than two years. It is cheaper for animal rescue groups to do this instead of the other. Animal rescue groups take in so many animals that cost is always a factor for them and they have to save money if possible. Instead of posting negative posts of what the original person posted about what vets don't want you to know. Maybe you should thank that person for all the rescues they have done. You see they have rescued over 600 dogs in the last 5 years. Not one time have they lost a dog to the ivomec treatment. I know I am a vet tech that works for the groups veterinarian. I have seen the work they have done and all the lives they have saved. The veterinarian I work for is the one who approves of the ivomec treatment as an option. They have spent over $20,000 dollars a year out of their pocket. They do this because they care. Depending on the vet if he/she only cares about money then they won't tell you about this option. Did you know a heartworm positive dog can be given heartguard but not interceptor. Why? Because interceptor will cause a dog to dies if they are heartworm positive becsuse the ingredients in intercept are stronger than ivomec. You can though give a heartworm positive dog Heartguard. Now there are some vets that will dispute this but the makers of heartguard have said that yes you can give a dog heartguard that is heartworm positive. vet clinic

Traci, I think you could go ahead and sow cuke and squash seeds as long as the soil temperature is remaining consistently above 60 degrees. For okra, 70 degrees is acceptable and 75 is even better. With cukes, squash and okra that are planted in soil that is too cold, you still will eventually see plants emerge, but they'll often remain stunted, slow-growing and will produce poorly (and often much later than plants from seed sown at the proper time). If you don't know your soil temperatures in your area you can check the soil temperature using an ordinary meat thermometer with a metal probe or you can just look at your county on the temperature map at the OK Mesonet. Because soil temperatures do not fluctuate easily, the soil temp given for your county should be very close to your actual soil temperature. (Raised beds may heat up a little earlier.) I've linked the OK Mesonet below. About the shade...... Our summer sunlight and heat are intense and many plants thrive in less sunlight here than they need in some other parts of the country. I have grown tomato plants and had great yields in areas where they only get six hours of sunlight per day. Peppers, leaf crops and eggplants have produced well in even less sunlight--around 4 hours. So, as Moni said, experiment and see what works best for you. Tomato plants and pepper plants that I have in part-shade, with them getting morning sun and afternoon shade often produce more fruit per plant because they're less stressed than plants that get sun from sunrise to sunset. To see the OK Mesonet, click on the link below. Once the mesonet screen pops up, you can click on Soil Temperature on the left menu, and then you'll get a right menu that lets you see soil temperatures at various depths. I always choose the depth closest to the depth I'd use when planting the seed or plant in question and I use the 3-day average numbers to make decisions about planting. You may be surprised how warm the soil temps are. They've warmed up a lot in the last week or so. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma Mesonet

Hope you got your teeth problem solved. Best way to tell if wisdom tooth coming in sideways against tooth next to it is open your mouth & look with a flashlight, may need a friend to look if on top & see if there is a tooth part way through or top doesn't look like it should. If it is coming in sideways it can get very painfully. I had 1 like that. They can come in any age from around 17 to 40 or so. I was in late 30's when I had 3 taken out. There was no 4th 1. 2 had come in 1 looking fairly normal but hurting when I ate & other sideways. 3rd 1 was not out yet but in odd position so I was put under & had it all done same day. Then you have to have food & drink that is pretty much room temp for several days. I thought I could drink Iced Tea & I ended up looking like I had mumps, told dentist I thought ice was good for injury etc. He said, not in the mouth!!! So take a good look & see what is going on. If there is no tooth but gum is very painful something else may be going on. Good Luck!

Even though someone else might be liable, I would question whether their insurance company has the right to deny their claim. Their insurance company would pay the claim and then would then go after the company (or their insurance company) who WAS liable - which might take a court to determine. After your folks receive a written denial, I would call their state Insurance Commissioner and file a complaint. Most insurance companies do NOT want the Insurance Commissioner involved. Most every state has free legal services for people over 60, regardless of income, through contract awarded by the Area Agency on Aging and Legal Services Corporation. However, the services are very limited and might not cover this type of problem, but it is worth a call. While most Legal Aid's are prohibited from suing for damages, they might take a case where an insurance company is shirking their coverage. Click on this link and put in their zip code and select legal assistance from the list. Then put in their zip code again and you'll see what services are available. I linked to the first page because there are lots of resources available, and thought maybe some others might be interested in seeing. Here is a link that might be useful: Finding Legal Assistance