Hey Guys,

If this has already been discussed, please close this post and/ or direct me to the link. I was not able to find any related topics on this subject.

We have mosquitoes in NYC. Should I give my puppy a heartworm vaccination? Is it oral or thru a syringe? Is it monthly or yearly? He had his rabies shots two weeks back? I do remember Ed talking about it….but can’t find it now.

If given, any side effects?

Thanks,

Rashmi

Heartworm prevention medications are taken orally, there are several choices of brands to use.

I think that with the risk of severe illness or death that Heartworm can cause to a dog that it's worth the possible side-effects to keep the dog on the medication.

Here in the deep South we give our dogs a monthly dose of heartworm prevention meds year round.

You do not vaccinate against heartworms. You give a preventative, which keeps the dog from getting them. Heartworm disease is not from a bacteria or virus, so you're not vaccinating to provide antibodies against it. Heartworms are actual worms that can build up in your dog's heart and artery (or is it the vein? I can't rememeber, sorry!) and kill him if left untreated. Treatment for heartworms is very expensive and very hard on the dog, and can also result in death, so your best bet is to keep the dog on preventative during the months that mosquitoes are active.

THIS PAGE has maps that show when to start and stop heartworm preventative in each state. For New York, it says to begin heartworm preventative in July, and stop in November. Of course, ask your vet first, to make sure.

Also stated on this site (and confirmed by my own vet), oral heartworm prevention should actually be given every 45 days, rather than every 30 days. The only reason for the once-a-month reccommendation is that most people can remember that better than once-every-45-days.

In answer to your question: YES, it is necessary.

Thanks Guys.

I will make an appointment with my vet for this week. Should I ask him to first take a blood test and only if it comes +ve, give the medication or he should be medicated either way? Perhaps I should ask the vet??

Thanks,

Rashmi

I took an appointment with my vet for this Thrusday evening...

Hopefully things are okay. Because I have not given him medication yet. And as Kristen had pointed out that in NYC it starts in JULY, should I be avoiding eve. hours?

Thanks,

Rashmi

My vet gave me freebies of "Heartgard" every month till my dog reached 50lbs to save me from buying a whole box that I would only use half of.

My vet basically said "you will give your dog heartgard every month for the rest of his life" - so to me, it wasn't really a "should I", it was a "my vet said I must". Costs about $80/year for my dog. I don't know about any other brands, but HeartGard seems to be the one everyone I know uses and my dog doesn't object to eating em.

Mike,

My vet does not give me any such advices. I am going to have a good talk with me. I don't pay so much for a office visit for him just to look at my pup and tell me that everything is fine... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Rashmi

My vet doesn't charge me for visits unless the actual vet comes into the room, if its basic stuff like weight, questions, little concerns that a vet tech would be able to answer, there's no charge. The first thing he asked me when I went there was "have you ever raised a puppy" - when I told him "not since childhood, n u know how kids are... raising a puppy means playing with it" he gave me a full rundown of flea meds, heartworm meds, explained heartworms to me, gave me a eukanuba "new puppy kit" that I never opened, went over his shots, did a fecal test to check for all the things u can tell from a dogs poop, and answered any questions that I had.

So needless to say, I am very pleased with the way my vet operates, n if I ever move away from Orlando I am sure I will run into some disappointments in finding a new one.

QUOTE: My vet does not give me any such advices. END

Wow.........my vet sounds a lot more like Mike's. I'm a big believer in interviewing first.......I knew before I ever brought my dogs in (years ago) that the vet and I had the same general ideas about food, vaccinations, my presence at all medical procedures except sterile-room surgery, and so on. Whatever your own important issues are, I think you'll be happier if you address them all in the initial interview.

Your vet never mentioned heartworms??? Wow! Do you have access to different vets?

One thing that helps a lot, I think, is to keep a list on the 'fridge or someplace like that and jot down all the questions you think of, then grab it on the way to the vet's office. Without that, I always forget half the reasons I'm there.

And there is a wealth of info on the internet (I do research in connection with copyediting textbooks for a publisher) which can lead you to what you need to ask the vet and what the puppy needs at each stage. CanisMajor.com and ThePetCenter.com are good starting places. You might not agree with every piece of advice and you might do more research, but at least they will alert you to the issue so you can make decisions. Especially in this case, where it sounds like your vet might be less-then-stellar, I think it's a big help to know some facts before you go.

Should I ask him to first take a blood test and only if it comes +ve, give the medication or he should be medicated either way? Perhaps I should ask the vet??
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Yes, first get the blood test, if it comes back positive then you will need to get TREATMENT for the heartworms before you can give the preventative (VERY EXPENSIVE). If you give the preventative and the dog already has heartworms it can kill him.

Basically the Heartgard (or Iverheart) is a monthly wormer designed to kill off the heartworms while they are in the larve stage before they mature. They are only transmitted through mosquitoe bites, so time of day doesn't matter as much as when the mosquitoes are out.

It is a cheap preventative compared to treatment or painful death if they get to advanced stages of heartworm infestation.

Linda