ravenau1 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Hi all I was told today that even though we don't have fleas, I should start my 12 week old Dobe puppy on a flea treatment like Frontline etc (the type that you put on the back of the neck) because it will stop her getting heartworm because it also stops mozzies biting. It didn't sound right to me so I thought I'd check with the DOL Brainstrust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Advantix repels biting insects, I however would not rely upon it if you are in a heartworm area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I do not recommend daily, monthly or yearly treatment for heartworm when climatic conditions are not appropriate for heartworm development. Heartworm needs temperatures above 18C (day and night) for one month to develop. If the temperature is higher, 27C (day and night), then it only takes 10 days for heartworm to develop. If either of these situations occurs, you should treat for heartworm. If the temperature has been under 14C at any point for longer than a few hours, then there is no need to treat for heartworm, as this drop in temperature prevents heartworm development. I do not live in a tick-prone area so do not routinely treat for ticks. If you do, and frequently take your dog to ‘bush’ like areas, it might be advisable to consider a spot on treatment. I also do not routinely treat for fleas. If you believe your dog has fleas, then you may like to use a spot on treatment (I recommend the more expensive brands such as Frontline over the supermarket-branded products). Small amounts of garlic in dogs’ food may help to reduce flea infection, but garlic and onion is slightly toxic to dogs and has an accumulative affect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaJ Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Unfortunately - NOTHING actually "repels" biting insects - what they actually do is deter them from biting again or remaining on the host. Some types of mozzie have been scientifically proven to "smell out" specific blood types to feed on but other than that if they like the first bite they stay around for the subsequent bites. Yes heartworm is transmitted by mozzies - but for the dog to become effected by the heartworm a few things need to happen... - the dog needs to be in a parasite area - hot dry locations are not mozzie country - check if you are in a mozzie friendly area - if you are and you have still bodies of water around you check with the council about the mozzie spraying in your area - the parasite needs to imbed its'self in the heart wall - first it needs to get there - if the dog is healthy, regularly exercised etc and has a good strong blood flow - all this reduces the parasites ability to actually get where it needs to go Did you know - - only about 60% - 70% of effected dogs are picked up by blood tests? - That is because - the population may not be migratory throught the circulatory system at that time - or - single sex communities do exist - therfore limiting the volume of the parasite in the host and reducing the parasites need to migrate. My dogs are not given any anthalmic medications for parasites (I prefer the time tested method from nature - sometimes it takes a bit more effort but my dogs are worth it) and I only treat for fleas if they get them - but again our environment is the first thing treated here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 (edited) As far as my knowledge extends (and I asked about this more than once or twice, when my boy was a pup) you don't need to commence heart worm medication until your pup is 6 months old (the time period relates to the time it takes for the heart worm lava to develop). My Vets confirmed this ...... but only after they'd given me the puppy pack and mentioned about giving heart worm when my boy was only 8 weeks of age and then me going back to ask if it was necessary to do so. I don't treat for heart worm due to our climatic conditions. The heart worm lava that starts its development in the mozzie (ie so a mozzie first needs to be infected by the heart worm) needs temperatures constantly 14 degrees celcius and above for the development to continue to the stage where it can be transmitted from mozzie to dog. If the temperature (even night time temperature) drops below the 14C then development is halted and the process needs to start again. You may be in a heart worm mozzie area in which case heartworm medication is warranted (perhaps night right now with your pup being so young). I tend to keep an eye on the constant temperatures around here and also keep an ear to the wall by periodically asking the Vets in my area whether they've had any cases of heart worm come in. To date the answer has been "no". And you don't need to administer drugs to kill fleas unless you have a flea problem. Edited January 7, 2011 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenau1 Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Thanks so much, everyone! You all know so much It's pretty warm here in Perth, the forecast for this coming week is Sunday Sunny. Min 18 Max 35 Monday Sunny. Min 21 Max 34 Tuesday Sunny. Min 20 Max 34 Wednesday Sunny. Min 19 Max 34 Thursday Sunny, humid change. Min 21 Max 35 Friday Mostly sunny. Min 18 Max 28 And we have heaps of mozzies around here, though I was told at the vet yesterday that they don't see much heartworm. It's hard to know what the best thing to do is. I'm not really comfortable treating for fleas if we don't have them. My cats stay in a cattery once a year and they are flea treated (Frontline) when they come home as a 'just in case' but that's the only time they are and I would prefer to just treat the dog if we develop a problem. And we don't get the same sort of dangerous ticks here in WA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 In heartworm areas puppies should be started on daily or monthly medication between 8-12 weeks. My vet does not recommend all in one treatments unless you need to treat for all those things. We do monthly heartworm all year round and use Frontline for fleas/ticks only if and when required in summer. Treatments like Advocate that treat every possible parasite are great if you have a specific need to treat something like sarcoptic mange as well, but most dogs do not need that level of chemical on a regular basis. My vet never recommends this for routine preventative treatment of any dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) In heartworm areas puppies should be started on daily or monthly medication between 8-12 weeks. Why, when we know the heartworm cycle is something like 6 months? (I need to go find the info I printed out on this.)? Edited January 8, 2011 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 In heartworm areas puppies should be started on daily or monthly medication between 8-12 weeks. Why, when we know the heartworm cycle is something like 6 months? (I need to go find the info I printed out on this.)? The heartworm take 6 months to show up on a heartworm test. Many preventatives we use only kill one part of the life cycle. If you don't kill them, they'll continue to grow, however won't show up as a positive until 6 months after infection. I'm not sure there are any preventatives that actually kill the adults, though the daily tabs can have a reaction with them which can be fatal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I use Interceptor Spectrum (which covers heartworm) as I don't need to treat for fleas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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