Jump to content

Heartworm Prevention For Puppies


koalathebear
 Share

Recommended Posts

Elbie is 3/4 kelpie and 1/4 border collie cross. We've read about the different types of vaccinations:

- annual injection: we've read bad things about this so will not be asking for this

- daily tablets: could be ok, but perhaps a little annoying

- monthly meds

Our preference is for heartworm medication that is given on a monthly basis. Given that Elbie's 1/4 border collie, does anyone know of any reasons why we should be staying away from monthly meds or daily meds? I've read that collies (not sure about border collies) can have allergic reactions to certain heartworm medications. Admittedly, Elbie's only 1/4 bc so maybe he would be all right anyway, but we would prefer to use the safest heartworm prevention med.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Interceptor monthly on my Border Collies. Most of my BC owning friends use Heartguard monthly but I once had a dog become ill after using it. We are not sure if that is what caused the problem but I went back to Inceptor and have stuck with it since.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

We took Elbie to the vet this morning for his final set of shots. He's on worming tablets this month and July and then we were supposed to bring him back in August for a heartworm injection. I mentioned to the vet that we didn't want him having the injection because we'd heard that some dogs can have an adverse reaction to the annual shot and that we'd prefer having him on monthly chews. Our vet's really nice but she gave me a really baleful look and she had never heard of an adverse reaction to the annual heartworm shot and that it would be more expensive if we chose to go with monthly meds.

I said we'd still prefer to go with the monthlies rather than take the risk and then she shrugged and said fine but we had to make sure we never missed a dose and we did it on time. Then she said she'd order in the yummier chews for us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm pretty sure the yearly heartworm injection is the same price as monthly heartworm prevention - they did it that way on purpose :rolleyes:

I use Heartgard with my guys - but not any ivermectin sensitives in my lot.

Edited by Kavik
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure how much the heartworm vacc costs, but I pay about $35 for 6 Interceptor Spectrum tablets online. That's $70 for a whole year of intestinal and heartworming :thumbsup:

Its around $90 for the proheart injection

There were deaths in the US from these injections. This was due to a bad batch, but still, i am surprised your vet hadn't heard?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like all the products mentioned on this thread.

Personally I use ADVOCATE on my dogs, that way everything is treated in one application. And I like the fact it does mange and ear mites as we have wombats here.

And I buy mine on line as I can get it cheaper than I can even through my vet clinic at cost price.

Personally in 7 years in the Veterinary field I have never seen a reaction to the annual injections either though, so just personal choice i think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't use the ProHeart inj regardless. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually link some autoimmune diseases to the injection.

Unfortunately just about ALL drugs carry some risk.

Most of the cases of IMHA and IMT are probably caused by our yearly vaccinations.

I'm not sure there is a solution at hand, just a matter of wheighing up the risks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sigh. The vet had already gone ahead and ordered the heartworm chews for us. Turns out she ordered Heartgard and "each chewable contains 136 ug ivermectin"

:)

She's a very experienced vet ... perhaps it's all right given that Elbie's only 1/4 border collie ... I'll speak to her next time we go ion because he doesn't have to take the latest heartworm tablets until August. Until July he's on 1 tablet of Milbemax Dog a month. I just know she'll give me a really baleful: "You are stupid and annoying" look though ... From memory, I think the incidence of reactions in border collies is less than 5% whereas collies is 70% so maybe it's not too bad :thanks:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...