What is a good Heartworm medication?
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| May I ask why you've decided to medicate year round?
Heartworm can only be passed on when the weather is warm enough for enough consecutive days for the mosquitos to breed, develop, pass it on and the larvae to develop etc... it's quite an interesting life cycle and it's actually a lot more complicated for a dog to get heartworm than most think. OES are sensitive to the drugs used to treat heartworm (preventative is not the right word since it doesn't really prevent it, it just treats it early on). Ivermectin is one commonly used and can be very dangerous for some oes. Some can carry a gene called mdr1 which has to do with the blood-brain barrier and how medications are metabolised. It's a good idea to test for that before choosing a med. |
| I use Interceptor which we use year round as it
deworms also for hookworms, whipworms and roundworms. Of course in the south the mosquitos never totally die  |
| i use sential all year but i live in fla it is a must |
| My vet recommends Interceptor whether MDR1 status is known or not since it doesn't contain Ivermectin.
Depending on where you live you may not need to use it year round. Instead you just test once a year (I think you're supposed to test at given intervals even if they're on something year round, but perhaps protocols vary from vet to vet.) FWIW. Kristine |
| I use Interceptor May thru Dec. Test every year in April. For fleas & ticks I have had great success with regular Frontline applied every other month (May, July, Sept. & Nov.) I live in northeast Ohio & sometimes we have warm spells into Dec. Not this year but other years I have seen mosquitos as late as into November. |
| Use Interceptor too due to no adverse reactions as most other heart worm treatments containing invermectin.
Have not had mine tested but not taking any risks by dosing them with other brands. Since a lot of collie breeds have an adverse reaction to Invermectin and the Collie is thought to be part of the background of OES then worth looking at Interceptor as a treatment. I use it all year round, even in winter if it is mild the mozzies are out. The other good thing with Interceptor is it covers the other worms as well as a monthly treatment. So no need to buy one for heart worm then another for all worming.  |
| Vet protocol in NJ is to use heartworm preventative all year long. Just like Donner's mom said, they are preventative for other kinds of worms besides heartworm.
Since Williamstown is a fairly rural area, I would suggest using it year round. We stretch the doses out a bit and give it to them like every 45-60 days instead of 30. Except in the prime mosquito months, then they are on it every 30. We've used Heartguard and Revolution on our dogs without any side effects. Good thing about Revolution is that it is also a flea preventative. Bad thing about Revolution is that it protects from fleas, and not from ticks, so you may be better off with something like frontline for protection. |
Donner's Mom wrote: I use Interceptor which we use year round as it
deworms also for hookworms, whipworms and roundworms. Of course in the south the mosquitos never totally die Us too. For some reason, if worms are anywhere in the tri-state area, Bear will get them if he isn't on som ething. None of our dogs are sensitive so they get Heartgard. |
I've always used heartguard - the dosage is low enough that even if you miss a couple of months it is considered safe to give. My understanding is also that the Ivermectine is at a low enough dose not to effect MDR dogs - but I may have dreamed that up 
Its what I have always used and none of my dogs have had a reaction - perhaps I've been lucky. |
| You must test to ensure that Bailee is heartworm negative before starting the preventative. |
| Following our Vet visit in March we started Bailee on Interceptor. I have dosed him twice and have noticed Bailee had diarrhea about 2 days following the dosing. We just gave him his second dose and about 2 days later the same thing. The first time it lasted about 2 or 3 days. Has anyone else had this problem? |
suzptcruise wrote: i use sential all year but i live in fla it is a must
We medicate year round because we live in San Antonio (on the same latitude as Orlando). It's an absolute must. |
kerry wrote: I've always used heartguard - the dosage is low enough that even if you miss a couple of months it is considered safe to give. My understanding is also that the Ivermectine is at a low enough dose not to effect MDR dogs - but I may have dreamed that up
No, you haven't dreamed It's true that ivermectine dosage in heartworm preventatives is low, and even sensible dogs can take them. |
| I tested Cooper recently and he comes up Normal. I have used Heartgard in the past and plan on using again. We treat for 6 mths.
Here is a link to where you can get testing and more information. http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/VCPL |
| Interceptor is what our vet recommended due to the gene. I test Obe once a year for heart worms (vet recommended) but have never tested for the MDR1.
Really the only time the vet suggested I use Interceptor was when we visited my family (southeast) 2 years ago. As I mentioned, vet does recommend a once a year test but, due to where we live not a big risk. Nor do I have to use flea/tick medicine, not a problem here either. Tried it and it worked (used on same trip), killed the couple of fleas that I saw and have never seen another one. I have talked with other dog owners that live in the area about this and they say their vets tell them the same. Down the mountain (Denver) may be a different story???? |
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