imported_Snickers Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 [color=blue]I have a question about this whole heartworm thing. Does you dog have to take heart-worm medicine once a month, for every month in its whole life? The vets keep telling to give my puppy heartworm medicine. My mom doesn't want to pay for it through out my dog's whole life. If Snickers does have to take it for his whole life I'm thinking that my mom can pay for two years, and by then I'll be old enough to get a part-time job, and I'll be able to pay for it. Good idea?[/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendalyn Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 Yes! Dogs need to be on heartworm prevention their entire lives. Your vet may tell you that you can skip it during the winter months (mine did), but if you want to be completely safe, give it all year round in my opinon. Heart worm is not a good thing. It isn't that expensive either. You can get a prescription and buy a 6 month supply online for between 15 and 25 dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Snickers Posted December 8, 2003 Author Share Posted December 8, 2003 Wow! That cheap? And my vet tried to sell me a six-month supple for $60.00! If it costs that much then my mom would probably buy it! Where can you get it for $15-$25? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogPaddle Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 Heartworm is spread by mosquitos - correct? I can see giving heartworm meds when there are mosquitos about and maybe a bit before and after their season but, personally, I like to limit the meds my dogs take so outside mosquito season I avoid it. Here there is pretty much zero chance of encountering a mosquito from November through Febuary and it is very unlikely to encounter a mosquito from October through April depends on the weather. Anyone have any sites that refer to studies indicating that it is beneficial to give heartworm outside of mosquito season. (Preferably not studies done by the manufacturers of heartworm meds as they certainly biased.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malamum Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 I give it all year round. Where I am it doesn't get cold enough in winter for there not to be mosquitos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendalyn Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 Here is a place that has it pretty cheap too: [url]http://www.entirelypets.com/heartgardplus.html[/url] Buck is on it all the time, mainly because I'm afraid of any that may be lurking indoors. Paranoid I guess... But it is really important during the warmer months more so than the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 it really depends where you live. personally i would not recommend giving heartworm preventives all year round, unless you (a) live in an area where heartworm is prevalent [b]and[/b] (b) mosquitos are present all year round. keep in mind that heartworm preventives are in fact pesticides, they do not "prevent" a dog from becoming infected but kill the early-stage microfilariae if they are already present. also, sometimes even dogs that are on heartworm preventives still get infected. weigh the risk of dosing your dog with a pesticide all year round for his entire life versus the chance of him actually contracting heartworms. [b]especially[/b] if you also have to deal with fleas and ticks and give preventives for these parasites as well. personally i live in a rather low-risk area and have decided against heartworm medication entirely - instead i have heartworm tests done regularly. just make sure your vet uses the correct test to detect them, not a blood smear test but the "ELISA" antibody test. this site is to date the best i have found on unbiased, non-manufacturer-influenced heartworm information: [url]http://www.bullovedbulldogs.com/heartworm.htm[/url] here's a page on a natural approach to heartworm prevention: [url]http://www.naturalrearing.com/newsandviews/articles/heartworm.htm[/url] whatever you decide to do, just don't let your vet administer the proheart 6 6-month shot. that stuff has not been tested properly and killed many dogs, some even only after they had it administered 2 or 3 times without problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zac850 Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 the price can also change by the type of medicen. There are three good types, heartguard, sentinal, and interceptor. Heartguard prevents just aginst heartworm, sentinal and interceptor prevent aginst interstional parisites and flees, respectivly. heartguard is the cheepest, so if money is an issue get this. I know the vet I work for usually tries to sell the most expensive one because it works the best, however if money is a problem, try to just buy heartguard. If they won't sell it to you, go to petmeds.com or some site like that for it... however, before that you must get a heartworm test, just to make sure that your dog dosen't have heartworms before. giving heartworm meds to a dog with heartworms is fatal, and if not, costs thousands of dolars to keep the dog alive... also, heartworm meds are very important, because hearworm is a DEADLY and very ugly disiease. Worms litterly live in the heart, so the heart eventully just fails (I think). good luck, Zac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 27, 2003 Share Posted December 27, 2003 Hi, I've read all your posts regarding heartworm preventatives and PH6 and wanted to make a few comments. First there is new website with up to date information, including the dear doctor letter as of 8/28/03, pictures and true stories. It can be viewed at: [url]www.proheartinformation.com[/url] Secondly, be careful ordering medications online or thru catalogues. Alot of it may come from overseas and NOT meet FDA standards. Could be weaker, stronger, you never know. For example Fort Dodge manufactured Proheart in tablet form, was approved in 1997 if I remember correctly, it was recalled in 1999. It is no longer available in the US but you can order it on line from overseas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zac850 Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 [quote name='Laurryn']For example Fort Dodge manufactured Proheart in tablet form, was approved in 1997 if I remember correctly, it was recalled in 1999. It is no longer available in the US but you can order it on line from overseas.[/quote] I do not trust anything that Fort Dodge makes. There vaccines are bad, and have been known to cause bad, deadly reactions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.