Preventing Heartworms
Prevention is Better then Treatment
We currently have a simple monthly treatment for the prevention of heartworms. It is an oral treat-lick chewable pill that kills the heartworms in their microfilaria stage. Care must be taken with this treatment! It does not kill the adult heartworm and can cause a bad reaction if adults are present.
For this reason, if a dog that has not consistently been on the preventative, he should be tested for the presence of adult heartworms before restarting a preventative.
In areas with a short mosquito season, many people tend to have their dogs tested at the beginning of summer, and only administer the preventative over the summer when mosquitoes are present.
Before starting a heartworm preventative, the Doberman owner should see their veterinarian to test for heartworms and to plan the best prevention strategy. Also, many manufacturers of heartworm preventative do not guarantee their products unless they are purchased from a veterinarian. Purchasing the preventative online, for example, would not fall under this category, so may not be guaranteed.
Puppies should start on a preventative at 8 weeks of age and be tested for heartworm infection at 7 months of age. Testing should continue every year or according to the veterinarian’s recommendations. The American Heartworm Society suggests testing every 2 or 3 years if the dog has never missed a monthly preventative.
Continue to Diagnosing Heartworm....
