Black Walnut and Other Safe Herbal Heartworm Treatments for My Dog
Among the alternatives for safe heartworm treatment, herbal therapy is available.
When the test results come out positive, and your dog does not yet have any symptoms of heartworm disease, herbal treatment is an option you might consider. It may not be as good as slow-kill treatment, but it is a lot safer and less painful than the Immiticide injections. The potential benefit of this treatment, as with the slow-kill ivermectin therapy, is that the heartworms do not die all at once. They will never create a potentially fatal blockage in your dog's vascular system.
This therapy appears to be quicker than the ivermectin method but has only anecdotal evidence to support its use. All of the comments on other websites give glowing reviews of this therapy, but when reading those sites that are selling the therapy, it is impossible to find out if negative comments have been deleted. The main component of the treatment is black walnut. Black walnut hulls have been used for many years to treat intestinal worms. Juglone, the chemical component of black walnuts that prevents other plants from invading its territory, is probably responsible for its effect against worms.
What Is Involved in Herbal Therapy?
- Black walnut
- Wormwood
- Cloves
- Mugwort (Artemesia)
- Garlic
- Coenzyme Q10
How Do I Use Alternative Herbal Therapy?
Doses vary considerably, but I will try to give the safest levels from the various sources that I have read.
- Black Walnut Hull: One drop on the food once daily, for every ten pounds of body weight. One source suggested giving only one drop the first week, another drop the next week, etc. I read of one dose considerably higher (a full dropper full for an 85-pound dog) and the owner did not report side effects.
- Wormwood: Most of the brands on sale are between 300-500mg. The number of drops or the number of capsules is imprecise; one capsule twice daily seems to be a common suggestion.
- Cloves: One capsule once daily. The strength varies considerably, depending on the brand.
- Mugwort: Two to three artemesia capsules twice daily. (Some capsules are sold with a 500mg label, some do not list the amount of herb contained within.)
- Garlic: One clove per ten pounds once daily. If the active component of garlic is to be given the herb should be fresh, not encapsulated.
- Coenzyme Q10: This enzyme is present in the body at all times and is sold so that it can improve the function of the heart. It is dosed around 100mg per day but the capsules can be opened and divided for smaller dogs. (Some holistic vets recommend this for heartworm prevention. There is no proof of its efficacy.)
Are There Side Effects?
Coughing: The coughing may be due to the fluid in the lungs, a direct result of the heartworm infestation, or it might be a side effect of one of the herbal therapies. If you want to try an herbal therapy, yucca may be helpful.
You should find a veterinarian that works with holistic medicine for consultation if you decide to try this therapy. This therapy is controversial, and I cannot guarantee you will find a veterinarian to support you.
The saddest part about reading all of these stories on the internet is knowing how easy it would have been to prevent this disease. Many of the visitors who post at the herbal sites complain about the costs, and their dogs suffer when they could have been protected for only a few dollars per year. Treatment of any sort is an expensive process, but much worse is the pain the dogs go through for an easily preventable illness.
One of the products sold over several of the sites warns that their product should be used as a preventative and ivermectin should not be given at the same time. This is an irresponsible statement. If someone wants to try the herbal therapy that is fine but to tell the client to stop using the ivermectin is wrong.
Is this effective? Many vets have tried it, and the results that have been reported are good. No scientific studies of its effectiveness are available, however.
I do not want to be too negative but can tell you for sure that some other methods, like slow kill, definitely work. I am sure that there are plenty of “steroid” vets who think alternative therapies for allergies are incorrect, so at this point I am keeping an open mind and hope that others will tell us about their successes and failures.
Using the herbal heartworm therapy instead of the slow-kill method (ivermectin) may not be wrong. If you do not have a problem with giving your dog a small amount of an anti-parasite drug each month, the ivermectin will definitely work and your dog can eventually be free of this parasite. It is definitely less painful and does not cause as much stress as the Immiticide injections.
If there is any research published in this area that might help your dogs, I will add it to this article.
This video discusses juglone, the chemical produced by the black walnut tree.
This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. It is not meant to substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, or formal and individualized advice from a veterinary medical professional. Animals exhibiting signs and symptoms of distress should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.
Questions & Answers
I have 3 dogs at about 100lbs each. None have heartworms but I live in the south. I would like to try an alternative but don't quite understand dosage. What do you suggest?
This alternative has never been investigated as a preventative, only as a cure. I cannot recommend it as a preventative. If you want to prevent this painful disease in your dogs, which you definitely should, look into giving oral heartworm preventative. You can purchase sheep dewormer very cheap, and a bottle will last you for years. Here are the dosages: https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Heartworm-Preventative...
Helpful 4Do you have a specific chart of proper dosage for Black Walnut hull extract for my dog?
No, the dose has not been worked out that well anyway. Sources vary but some recommend one drop per 10 pounds of body weight.
Helpful 19How long should I use black walnut to treat an 80# dog for heartworm, using the 1 drop per every 10 pounds? That would be 8 drops per day for how long?
The information available is only anecdotal. No clinical trials have proven that this works, but some veterinarians reccommend 2 to 3 weeks of treatment.
Please do not treat longer than that. There have been cases of toxicity reported. None of these cases have been proven, however.
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Comments
Dr. Mark, I ordered the sheep French. I wish I could have caught him sooner. He ran feral for 6 years. Thank you very much.
My dog was feral for 6 years and I have had him 6 months. He is a 58 pound, 6-8 year old lab mix. He has heartworms and I do not have the $2000. for the treatment. I give him the heartguard once a month. The past few days, he has started coughing pretty severely. Will black walnut help him?
Thank you for this information. I have a 14 year old girl who has just been diagnosed with heartworms. Her only symptoms so far are sleeping for much of the day (could just be age) and occasional coughing, though not daily. Due to her age and health our vet doesn’t recommend the traditional slow kill treatment as it can be very harsh. Would any of the mentioned holistic rememdies be a safer and gentler method of treatment? Her quality of life is still very good, she is playful and eating well and though we know that most likely we will have to make an end of life plan in the foreseeable future, I would spare her from any discomfort due to heartworms if they can at all be treated. Thank you.
Hello, I could pay for full heartworm treatment, so I took the Interceptor plus because I needed a specific preventative since my dog already has heartworms. I also gave her 1 pill of bravecto. In your opinion would my dog taking these medicines and trying the black walnut possibly be a bad mix. Or would it be a good idea to try a drop a day for the first week and monitor her?
do. i use all of the herbs together or just try one thanks
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Howdy
I thought garlic was bad for dogs?
I found some information about using heartworm nosodes as a preventative and/ or treatment. It seems like not a lot of information about it is out there, other than the few holistic vets that offer them and say it has worked for them for years. I would be curious on your thoughts of this verse the Black walnut with other herbs as prevention as I sure don't see a recommended Black walnut dosage/ guideline on how much and how often?
The use of Black Walnut, Clove & Wormwood appears to work on dogs as well as it does humans to me?
Personally, I would avoid ivermectin at all costs. It is harsh and doesn't have any benefits. I don't worry about feeding the herbs twice a year and we have been very happy.
We build the doses up over a week of course, 1-2-3-up to weight, but they can eat it for 6-8 weeks. We don't even use piperazine for dogs or cats these days.
Some other herbs are helpful in prevention between wormings.Our dogs use essiac and reishi/cordyceps/turkey tail mushrooms as regular diet staples. They are much gentler as a purgative, but still seem to render the body an uninhabitable place for heart worms owing to acidic components in them.
That has been our experience over 20 years with over 50 dogs at Rosewood sanctuary & special needs house. It's always good to find less harsh remedials that may even have benefits.
After three weeks od herbal thereapy does it hurt to give your ivermectrin once a month?
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MY DOG HAS AN APPOINTMENT COMING UP WITH THE VET THOUGH I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT IT SINCE I SET THE APPOINTMENT FOR HER. I CAN'T BY ANY MEANS PUT HER THROUGH SOMETHING SO HORRIBLE AS TO LET THEM INJECT HER 2 DAYS IN A ROW WITH ARSENIC TO BE IN SUCH HORRIBLE PAIN AND TO MAKE HER SO SICK. I'M NOT TAKING TO HER APPOINTMENT. I'VE READ ABOUT SOME NATURAL REMEDIES (BLACKWALNUT, HAWTHORN, WORMWOOD ARTEMESIA, COCONUT OIL, GARLIC, CARROTS, VRM2) ARE ALL SUPPOSE TO BE GOOD FOR KILLING HEARTWORM, BUT I READ SOME BLOGS AND SOME STATED THAT BLACKWALNUT DOESN'T KILL HEARTWORM IT STATED ITS MORE LIKE A PREVENTIVE. COULD YOU SUGGEST ANYTHING FOR MY DOG TO TAKE, I'M RUNNING OUT OF TIME CAUSE THE ONLY SYMPTOM SHE IS SHOWING IS THAT SHE SLEEPS ALOT AND WHEN I TAKE HER OUT FOR HER WALK SHE PANTS ALOTS BUT SHE HAS A THICK FUR AND ITS HOT OUTSIDE. SHE IS A VERY PASSIVE AND CALM AND BEAUITFUL DOG. I DON'T WANT HER TO SUFFER AND I DON'T WANT TO RISK HER LIFE WITH THE INJECTIONS THE VET HAS. SO IF BY ANY CHANCE COULD YOU GIVE ME ADVICE ON WHICH OF THESE I COULD USE TO KILL THE HEARTWORMS. I'VE BEEN GIVING HER COCONUT OIL, CARROTS, AND GARLIC EVERY DAY WITH HER MEALS.
I believe this derived from The Honorable Late Doctor Huda Clark... Amazon has her books.... Her clinic in Mexico was the Only clinic with a 100% success for healing diseases. I've done the black walnut tinc. , Wormwood, Clove and boiled a bundle of fresh parsley for 3 min. In 1 quart of water(1 teaspoon for every 10 pounds and keep it in the freezer- flushes the kidneys after parasites die).
I will have to try this. My son's dog was on Heartgaurd plus which worked good but then the vet changed him to Trifexis and this heartworm medication almost killed him. He hasn't been the same since. We are going natural from now on. Thank-You!
Mosquito season is pretty much March through the end of October lol
What's this sheep drench alternative? Hubby's on workman's comp at the moment till he heals from surgery, and it's almost time for her treatment... every little bit helps!
Lots of valuable information here! I did not know about black walnut hull as an anti-parasitic. Glad you published this article!
Fascinating read! I've actually been looking for an herbal remedy to treat intestinal worms, the treatments from the vet make my cats violently ill and I wonder if they were given an improper dose. So the black walnut may prove beneficial.
I agree with you that for heartworms the best treatment is prevention. One shot every year is a much better alternative to the suffering of a dog, or any animal. Unfortunately, Sekhmet does get sick a few days after treatment, and I've been looking for a safer preventative that actually works. I don't trust pharmaceuticals mainly because we really don't know exactly what they do in actual practice. We only know what they do in a lab. But sometimes they are unavoidable.
I suspect the best route for natural prevention would be mosquito repellant lol. But I have yet to find a decent herbal that works. At any rate, this is a step in the right direction. It does make me wonder again about vitamin C... :D
Interesting, indeed. Would the garlic in brewer's yeast and garlic tabs work against heartworm?
Thanks for the great information here. I love dogs and anything we can do for them is my mission in life. I enjoyed this very much. You have this laid out beautifully and it is easy to understand. Keep up the great HUBS. I gotta give this an Up ONE AND very INFORMATIVVE . I'm now your fan!
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