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Is "Greatest American Dog" good for dogs? Thursday: 9PM ET Pet Loss 10PM ET Small Dog Chat - Long Term Illness Support

Posted by PHDrTobin on March 07, 2003 at 11:07:33:

In Reply to: Re: Heartguard posted by Lynn on March 06, 2003 at 17:01:53:

:(Not a vet)

:Yes, yes and yes. HW prevention and testing is very cost effective and easy on the dog compared to the treatment. The treatment is at best painful and difficult and at worst lethal. The disease itself (heartworm infestation) leads to a slow and painful death. So, yes, you need to give preventative every month. Technically you may not "need" to during the winter months, depending on your climate, but it may be best for you to just get in the habit. Additionally, Heartguard will take care of other species of worms, so that is a benefit as well. Lastly, you don't have control over when the weather warms up (we'll blame it on El Nino, LOL), so it's quite imprecise as to when to start or stop.

:As for testing, when using Heartguard, it is important to test before giving treatment. If they have heartworm disease, the dog can (though they don't always) have a pretty nasty allergic reaction. One other caveat: if you have a dog from the herding group, pick another heartworm preventative. Collies in particular are often very sensitive to the active ingredient in Heartguard.

:In short, Heartworm is very preventable if you take a few precautions. The testing every year is a good idea because, well, nothing in life is 100%... the dog could have thrown up the dose or some other freak thing. I hope this helps a bit.

:Lynn

While I certainly agree that prevention is better than treatment, and that herding dogs are very susceptable to damage by Heartgard, giving Heartgard to a dog with heartworm disease does not cause atoxic reaction. When Heartgard first came out, one of the selling points was that a heartworm test was not necessary as it was with the once a day heartweorm preventatives. Since veterinarians didn't like the idea of not doing heartworm tests, this was a dramatic failure until the company sent a letter to vets recommending that the tests be done each year. And it certainly is a good idea, so as to be certain that the dog is free of heartworm, or if not, to begin treatment before there is irreversible damage to the heart. I personally don't think it is a good idea to give any more chemicals than are absolutely needed, so I wouldn't give the monthly preventative every month of the year. Since the heartworm microfilaria are susceptable to the ivermectin in Heartgard for two months, in the northern US you could give Heartgard 4 times, on June 1, July 15, September 1 and October 15, and still be safe.

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