# Heartworm Meds?



## Peacock (Apr 12, 2006)

How important are heartworm meds? Is it a serious possibility for the dog, or more of a marketing thing for the drug company? And is there a cheaper way to get these meds than the vet's office? 

I'm not a careless pet owner -- just really having trouble stretching our money lately. Our Lab has always had all his meds including squeeze-on flea stuff, but the new GSD as far as I know has had nothing - rabies shot, heartworm meds, even license - so we have to take care of it all. And it kind of ticks me off that we have to take him to the vet, pay for a heartworm test, buy the heartworm meds *through* the vet. With our Lab I tried the Petmeds online shop, but they won't sell without a vet's okay, and I can't find a vet that will approve the order. 

Thanks for the info. I want to do the right thing, of course, but money's tight. I've never had a dog before, always been a cat lady!  And our cats stay inside so they don't need much.


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## Peacock (Apr 12, 2006)

Oops, I didn't read the "deworming" thread...duh. I see it's already been covered. Sorry! But where do you get the Ivermectin for other animals? Do they sell it at Tractor Supply?


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

Yes, you can get it at Tractor Supply but it is very expensive there too. Try www.Jefferspet.com and get the generic.


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## marvella (Oct 12, 2003)

you need to have a negative heartworm test first, before giving him ivermectin. if your dog has a hidden case of it, you could kill your dog.

i have never had a vet be unhappy about my giving ivermectin. just get the test first. and at the bare minimum your dog needs a rabies shot.


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

LSF answered your second question, I'll answer the first: YES HEARTWORM MEDS ARE *VERY* IMPORTANT IN MOST OF THE UNITED STATES, they are NOT some marketing ploy. And Marvella is right, make sure to get the test first especially since the amount of ivermectin you will give as the liquid medicine is several times the amount needed to give to prevent heartworm (the commonly given dose of liquid ivermectin is the amount for intestinal parasites, which is perfectly safe to give to a heartworm negative dog). Just because that is the amount typically used for intestinal worms it actually is the recommended amount to give if using liquid ivermectin to prevent heartworm also, so while technically you don't need that much to prevent heartworm, please don't try to lower your dosage to the "heartworm level"-this amount of ivermecin is typically safe in non-collie dogs and you know it will prevent heartworm.


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## designer (Aug 19, 2004)

I use a generic version of Heartguard called Valueheart. I order it from Australia and including the shipping I pay less then from out vet. It is Vet products direct. I have been pleased with the service and price.


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## trappmountain (Jun 22, 2005)

I also will agree. Heartworm preventative is VERY IMPORTANT! It is also much cheaper and easier on your pet to get them tested and keep them on preventative than to have to get treatment for the heartworms.

Here they only need to be tested every other year and take the preventative through Nov. or Dec. depending on the weather. I have three dogs that take three different sizes and it is costly but worth it!

If money is tight you can buy a 1-2 month dose at a time. Most vets will do that for you. You won't need to bring in the dogs every month with you, just stop and pick up another month or 2's worth. My vet will do that with the flea drops also.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

There's always filariabits....think that's the spelling.....can't miss a SINGLE day though...

Mon


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Actually, I do not think they make filarbits anymore. It is even hard to find the daily tablets (carbam). I have a stock of Diethylcarbamazine I use on pups I kept or that have not gone to new homes yet until they get to the proper weight for the Brown Iverhart Plus or TriHeart Plus (as I buy large only). If you have a lot of dogs to pill, it is a pain, but with just 1 or 2, easy to just pill them at breakfast or dinner time. Diethylcarbamazine is cheap- under $10 for 100 tablets- BUT you must make sure they get it every day.


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## doozie (May 21, 2005)

I get Heartgard for my dogs, about 42.00 for a years worth per dog, about $4.00 per dog per month. Small price to pay...if you break it down. Years (and years) ago it wasnt much of a problem in my area,so I didnt use it. Now my vet says he sees about 5-10 cases a year.
The shelter I got my dog from was local, and I know one of the dogs there was not up for adoption because they were hoping treatment would work for heartworms on him. I never saw him put up for adoption again. That made my mind up to provide a preventative for mine....
I dont bother with the flea treatment until I see a flea. Some summers we do, some summers we dont.


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## NCGirl (Jan 5, 2006)

It is* VERY * important.

I order from here:

http://www.canadavet.com/Valueheart.html

this is the same company that someone above mentioned, the company in Australia.

This way you get the exact dose needed rather than overdosing on a monthly basis. I believe ivermectin to be very safe but overdosing regularly can cause fertility problems. 

But it is much cheaper to do the liquid.


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## Susan n' Emily in TN (May 10, 2002)

so far this year we have had 6 heartworm positive dogs, the treatment is very dangerous, and must be done at the vet in case there is a reaction to it. The dogs also require 6 weeks of basic cage rest after treatment in order to not dislodge a large group of worms and pass that clot through the dogs system, terrible results. Heartworm preventive is very important. Susan


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## Dee (May 12, 2002)

I have my dog on a natural flea, tick and mosquito spot made for my dog.([email protected]). There is also some chemical spots that keep away mosquitos. BioSpot being one of them. If the mosquitos are kept away, no problem with heartworm.


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## Beltane (Nov 27, 2005)

I purchase most of our 'pup necessities' online - usually at PetShed.com  or at AbsolutelyPets.com . I can certainly vouch for excellent customer service...and the shipping is very fast. I would highly recommend them both. Earilier this year I ordered ordered a generic version of Heartgard from PetShed and I didn't need a prescription since the company is in Australia. You DO however need to have a heartworm test by a vet prior to give the wormer or the medication could be leathal. (I had the heartworm test for our 9 pups, but I didn't want to purchase Heartgard through him since it was about DOUBLE the price!)


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

Dee said:


> I have my dog on a natural flea, tick and mosquito spot made for my dog.([email protected]). There is also some chemical spots that keep away mosquitos. BioSpot being one of them. If the mosquitos are kept away, no problem with heartworm.


Dee I sure hope you regularly test your dogs for heartworm. I sure wouldn't rely on a spot-on to keep all mosquitos away. I know when I use bug spray it keeps most but not ALL mosquitos off me. All it takes is one.


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## Dee (May 12, 2002)

humm....didn't think about that.


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## Susan n' Emily in TN (May 10, 2002)

Where I work, we regularly order the catal. from the online people. Then we price our heartworm meds lower by 1.00 or so, just because they say they are cheaper doesn.t make it so. be sure to get some prices from all the vets in your vicinity. You would have to show proof of heart worm test, or proof of constant medication. The reason most Vets won't work with the online people is because there have been problems with how the medications are handled. We get them directly from the distrubutor. The companies are now reccomending yearly Heart worm tests. The one we generally use also test for lymes disease and E. Canis, 2 tick borne diseases. There is the Heartworm test only and it is a little cheaper. Susan


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Maybe Goldenmom can shed some light on this. I have always kept my dogs on HW preventative, but before I went to the monthly (was using daily seasonally) 3 of my dogs came up positive. When that happened my vet prescribed heartguard once a month in the normal dose year round for 2-3 yrs. as he feared the normal treatments would be too much for collies who tend to be sensitive to drugs. Within 3 months, one of the dogs was sold and she retested negative at thier vet- the new vet didn't beleive it and ran different tests twice to retest. All negative. 6 months later the other 2 dogs were downgraded from moderate to mild and from mild to very mild. The moderate was sypmtomatic a month after testing. Here it is 3 yrs later and all are negative. If heartguard is used as a treatment, then how come we need to test if they are kept on it year round? Why do we even need to test asypomatic dogs at all if we just start keep them on it year round?


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## NCGirl (Jan 5, 2006)

I am not Goldenmom but I will have a go at it  

If you miss even ONE dose of the daily you can get heartworms. One of the reasons I have never liked the daily.

Low doses of ivermectin like found in Heartguard are usually safe for dogs that are heartworm positive. Most vets still require testing. I think it is the drug in Interceptor that can cause serious problems if given to a HW + dog ??

You can treat with Heartguard for heartworms, it kills the babies and the adults will eventually die of old age. This is different from a regular HW treatment which kills the adults. 

There are 2 different test for HW, a filtration test looks for microfilariae, (the babies) the occult test looks for adults worms in the heart. If treating a dog with Heartguard the filtration test should come back negative even if there are still adult heartworms.

Does this make sense? I am not very good at explaining things, sorry!


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

Heartgard does kill the microfilaria, but it also has the added benefit of sterilizing adults and will eventually kill them (over a few years-or they die of old age like NCGirl said). The reason to treat non-symtomatic infections is that the adult worms are causing damage to the heart and lungs even if the dog shows no symptoms. That your one dog tested negative after 3 months is pretty amazing, the other 2 would be more typical.

Interceptor is pretty safe to give a positive dog, although it doesn't have the anti-adult properties of heartgard. It's the daily med that will kill an infected dog.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Yes, I know now that the daily can be ineffective, even if given daily- all it takes is a dog throwing up a pill or spitting it out unknown. That is why I do not rely on it for long- only in pups as a temporary measure until large enough for the heartguard that I purchase in bulk. I know that even if asymptomatic, the worms are doing damage, not arguing that treatment is needed. Yes, I agree that the one that tested negative 3 mo later was amazing. I never expected it to happen that soon and had in the sales contract for her to be kept on year round heartworm meds for 3 years because I fully expected her to still test positive.

My question was :

If heartguard is used as a treatment, then how come we need to test if they are kept on heartguard year round? Why do we even need to test asypomatic dogs at all if we just start them on heartguard year round?


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

Sorry I misunderstood your question. The Heartworm Society recommends yearly testing. There is no such thing as a drug that is 100% effective (just like a vaccine). Also MOST people miss a month here and there (I'm sure you don't but most regular pet owners DO). Talk to your vet, since you've got so many dogs and I'm sure are very good at giving the pills every month on time he might make an exception for you.


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## NCGirl (Jan 5, 2006)

I, personally, don't test every year. Only every few years, and have not ever had one come up positive (fingers crossed) I have a calender marked and a pop-up on my outlook & yahoo mail every 40 days and I give it THAT day. I *never * miss by even 1 day. I also buy from outside the US so don't go thru a vet.


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## bordenjennifer504 (Dec 31, 2021)

longshadowfarms said:


> Yes, you can get it at Tractor Supply but it is very expensive there too. Try www.Jefferspet.com and get the generic.


Hi, 
How often do you give this to a dog with heart worms? Did you use anything besides ivermectin?


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

bordenjennifer504 said:


> Hi,
> How often do you give this to a dog with heart worms? Did you use anything besides ivermectin?


once a month, year around. Sorry, but the kooks have snatched up much of the supply, out of the mistaken belief it cures Covid. Expect price jumps.


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