[nationalguard88]

Wondering how people feel about giving these prescription drugs to their dogs? Any alternatives that are safer? Thanks.

[theBCnut]

There are natural alternatives, but they require giving them 3 times a day. I give the monthly every 45 days and if you live where it actually freezes, you can stop giving it over the winter. I try to give Ivermectin and not give the ones with extra wormers, flea treatments, etc. I save those for when the big guns are really needed. For a week after you give heartworm prevention, you can give milk thistle to help the liver detox.

[Susan]

Pattyvaughn-
I have always thought heartworm prevention needed to be a 30 day regimen. I give mine Heartguard and very seldom miss a dose. Please enlighten me so I can back off on the dosage. Here in south central Texas fleas and ticks can be a real problem, also. We have few freezes and sandy soil can add to the problem. My vet is very pro heartworm prevention and has always insisted once a month is necessary.
Thanks!

[theBCnut]

All monthly heartworm preventions kill the larva in the first 3 stages of their life. All of these stages take a little more than 45 days for the larva to pass through them. The makers of heartworm prevention originally chose to promote them as “monthly” because they felt that it would be easier for people to remember. And before cellphones that was probably true. We got calls all the time from people who had forgotten to give their HW prevention and were in a panic. Now, I just plug into my cellphone a reminder for HW P. HW comes from mosquitos. I live in FL and we have mosquito season all year long, so HW are prevalent and I would never do without, but I have been using it every 45 days since it first came out. I’ve read one person who only uses it every 90 days, but that amounts to being the slowest that the larve can move through the stages and is far too risky for me.

[Susan]

Yes-I won’t stop giving mine HW medicine either, but good to know can at least back off the 30 day routine. My mother has rescued a few dogs that were heartworm positive and it was sad.
Thanks for the info!

[pugmomsandy]

My dogs and house smell like essential oils most of the year – Halo Herbal Dip or plain eucalyptus for the mosquitoes.

[nationalguard88]

Thanks Patty. I’ve used Heartguard plus in the past. My vet recommends trifexis, but I’ve read horrible things about it, and I don’t need the flea protection. I use other things for that.

[theBCnut]

Trifexis is really hard on some dogs.

[Rambunctious]

I heard rumors that if you purchase heartguard anywhere other than your vet- it’s not the real deal. Diluted of sorts. Is that true?

• This reply was modified 12 years ago by Rambunctious.

[InkedMarie]

Rambunctious: I have heard the same thing. I’ve also heard that places repackage the meds & use expired ones. For this reason, I buy only from my vet. Heartworm isn’t something I am willing to chance. A former vet price matched for me, when I asked.

[k9education]

@Rambunctious:

False, but I would be weary of purchasing it off eBay, Amazon, etc. since an Rx is required. However, you can be confident that you’re getting the real deal from reputable online pharmacies, such as Drs. Fosters & Smith. That said, we have actually found that the cheapest place to get HW meds is from a local vaccination clinic. We pay $35 for the SNAP test and then $50 for 1 year of Triheart. Our regular vet charges ~$75 for Triheart.

[Author]

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