Monthly Heartworm Preventative For Small Dog

[koalablue]

I have a very small Pomeranian 12 week old puppy and would like other members' opinions on the best monthly heartworm preventative and whether chews or tablets. I'm not interested in medications that do multiple things. I've had Poms for many, many years and always found getting them to take the tablets very difficult. I used to break them up and hide them in food. They're good at hiding at it in the mouth and spitting it out as soon as possible. Any other suggestions?

[FranVT]

As long as I and my family have had dogs we've always used Heartguard monthly chewable tablets and neither I nor my family's dogs have ever ever contracted heartworm.

That's my input

[Staff'n'Toller]

It's hard to get a singular treatment these days.

If you find Heartgard chews too big, Interceptor might be a better option and yes it does do intestinal worms monthly but you are going to have to do that anyway...

Probably the one that suits you most is Milbemax because you could dose with 1-2 small dog tabs depending on weight and they are teeny-tiny so easy to hide.

Or Proheart tablets- they do heartworm only.

Edited January 18, 2010 by Staff'n'Toller

[poodlefan]

I use Pro Heart. Half a tablet from the blue packet (dogs up to 10kg) would do the trick.

[Rebanne]

Valuheart does heartworm only.

[koalablue]

Thanks for your replies. A friend said that even though I was looking for a heartworm only tablet/chew, maybe I should consider Sentinel which also does intestinel worms and sterilizes fleas. Do you consider this a good idea or should I only consider heartworm a preventative?

[Stitch]

I have started to use Interceptor on my small babies.

I used Heartguard plus for years but recently found it was not as good as Interceptor for roundworm.

I also err on the side of caution and use separate treatments for heartworm and tapeworm.

Call me old fashioned but they are all low grade poisons and I have not had any trouble using them separately.

[Erny]

Do you need to begin heartworm preventative on a puppy so young?

I talk my dog to take a tablet by treating it as though it was a trick. Always followed up (as tricks are) with a tasty treat. Would be difficult and lengthy for me to describe and the steps I took changed a bit over time, but basically he will sit, take the tablet, I have my flat of hand under his chin and (embarressingly) the cue for him to swallow is me poking my tongue out as dogs often do after eating a nice morsel. I've noticed that with the tablets that he doesn't like the taste of, he'll almost voluntarily open his mouth for me to drop it to the back of his tongue. But otherwise I just hold the tablet, ask him to "take a tablet" and he will take it of his own accord.

I treat the whole thing as fun (just as you would training at trick) and even if he does spit a tablet, I use a NRM and once he's swallowed the tablet, a reward marker, followed by something nice to eat.

[Chiwogabull*]

I use Sentinal Chew for my Chi... a notorious fussy eater, He chews them no problems.

He is 2kgs and I find sentinal chews small and no fuss.

[FranVT]

I wanted to start Luuka on Interceptor but was told she is too young, or too small, needs to be 11kg I think the vet said? Or a certain age?

[Erny]

I wanted to start Luuka on Interceptor but was told she is too young, or too small, needs to be 11kg I think the vet said? Or a certain age?

My understanding is that you don't need to commence heartworm preventative until pup is 6mo.

I live in Victoria. With our irratic and cooler climate, I err on the side of the prevention treatment being worse than the risk of contracting heartworm. My boy doesn't receive heartworm preventative nor do I vaccinate (beyond the puppy vaccination regime). And because we don't have flea or tick issues, I don't use spot-ons of any description. I avoid over-bathing my dog with shampoos (in fact, his last bath was almost one year ago) and I don't routinely worm him (if I'm concerned, I get a worm burden count done at the Vets - it is simply a matter of providing a stool sample and the Vet will usually examine it for the presence of worms, on the spot).