What heartworm med do you give?

[capt_noonie]

Thanks guys!

[Britster]

Jackson gets Interceptor - a pill. He won't chew things so I figured pill was easiest!

Oh, and we rotate between Frontline Plus and K9 Advantix for fleas/ticks. But if I didn't have to use these, I wouldn't. I went for a few months this summer with nothing because I just never saw fleas/ticks. For some reason now, I've seen more ticks than ever...

[TxVicki]

I give mine Sentinel year around.
It cost me $62.00 for a 6 month supply.
I put it in Low Fat Cream Cheese and they think they are getting a treat.

[Nancy1999]

I use heartgard plus chewables, they are so tastey the dogs take them without a problem. Also they treat other type of worms that are pretty common if your dog ever goes to dog parks. If you've ever seen a picture of a human with worms, you'll either give up kissing your dog, or give your dog worm meds.

I've never used flea meds for them, we've never had fleas on any of our dogs, except one I got from the pound and the vet treated him and we never had another problem. So knock on wood.

[Ellie May]

That is why I alternate along with just being indecisive. I never give Sentinel in the winter. It is a difference of $5 or $14, so....

Ry takes Heartgard Plus bc it was free. He'll probably go on Interceptor soon - not because I think it's necessarily better for heartworms, but because it covers one more type of worm, so why not...

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

That is why I alternate along with just being indecisive. I never give Sentinel in the winter. It is a difference of $5 or $14, so....

Ry takes Heartgard Plus bc it was free. He'll probably go on Interceptor soon - not because I think it's necessarily better for heartworms, but because it covers one more type of worm, so why not...

What does it cover that Heartgard Plus does not?

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

What does it cover that Heartgard Plus does not?

Whipworms

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Whipworms

Thank you, I was just doing a google search. From a quicky search I found this info

One of the biggest differences between heartworm meds lies in what ingredients they contain and what other parasites that ingredient targets. For instance, both sentinel and interceptor heartworm products have the ingredient Milbemycin Oxime to prevent heartworms and help control roundworm, whipworm and many hookworm infections as well. But sentinel has an additional ingredient, Lufenuron, to help control flea infestation too. Iverhart and heartgard plus also work to prevent heartworms, however, they utilize different ingredients, ivermectin to prevent heartworms and pyrantel to combat roundworms and hookworms. Interceptor and sentinel help control whipworms, heartgard products do not, but, heartgard meds control more species of hookworms than interceptor does. Hence the confusion, if your trying to decide which product would work best for your pet you'll want to determine which issue is most important to you. For instance, if your main concern is hookworms, Heartgard Plus might be the preferential choice, however, if whipworms are of concern, only interceptor claims to help control those. Here is a good example from our own experience; we've always liked the heartgard products but when we inherited a new dog with whipworms we switched our crew over to Interceptor until we were confident the whipworm problem was resolved. Choosing Heartworm Preventative Meds - Similarities, Differences and Discounts

I also read that whipworms are more common in humid environments and humans can't get them so this helps with my decision.

[Lovetodream88]

Callie is on Interceptor all year. In order to get heartworm meds you have to have a prescription and the vet wont give one with out a recent test for heartworms. Callie takes hers with no problems I just put my hand out with it in there and tell her to get it and she does and looks at me like more please. For 12 months is coast me $45.00.

[Ellie May]

Yes, rounds and hooks are much more of a human issue.

Some dogs (mine ) can't take Heartgard Plus bc they are allergic to beef... I also like to be able to flip-flop to Sentinel easily (and would prefer to give teh same heartworm drug year-round). I really like lufeneron. There are some concerns about Frontline failure here. Sentinel is a major deal now.

Also though, none of it is a totally trustworthy dewormer. If I wanted a dog to be "kid safe" (knowing they weren't going to pass worms on to kids in the house), I'd be using a different product entirely. And because Heartgard adds two drugs instead of one (ivermectin and pyrantel), I guess I figure why not just replace pyrantel with something that is more thorough. ..although Interceptor/Sentinel is a 4/5 overdose just so it controls intestinal parasites.

It's really a matter of what you prefer. All of them are very good drugs.

[southernbelle04]

We use Heartguard too for Katie Scarlett. She absolutely loves her chewable. She gets what we call the Heartguard Zoomies after eating hers. She runs around the house for about 10 minutes. It is so funny! We have been just buying them one at a time from our vet, but I need to get a 6 pack. We do one on the 23rd of each month.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

There are some concerns about Frontline failure here.

Care to elaborate?

I've been questioning Frontline these past two months.

I swear - I put one dose of K9 Advantix on him at the end of June and saw no ticks the WHOLE summer (which is VERY odd for Maryland). By October 1st, I realized he had not had flea/tick meds since June. So I bought Frontline, applied it, and suddenly we've had, like, 5 ticks since then. Two were attached (one was HUGE on his head that I picked off), the others were teeny tiny and crawling on strands of his hair that I just happened to see.

Thinking I have to go back to K9 Advantix for a bit.

I also notice that it seems like when I first put the Frontline on, don't have any problems. Then maybe two weeks in is when I see them... I'm wondering if the effectiveness wears off before the month is up.

So annoying and frustrating. Paying all this $$$ for a product that's seemingly not working.

[Ellie May]

I think it's very similar to what is being reported other places - some of the drugs seem to be losing effectiveness (failing). I'm not sure how big of an issue that is here yet. ...apparently enough of one for some vets to go a different way with things. Frontline is still used extensively here. It's a good product. But one of the go to's now is Sentinel with Capstar as needed (which wouldn't work for you because of the ticks).

If Advantix is the only thing that's working, that's what I'd use. I'd try to get away with spacing the doses out more though. I'm just happy with we don't really have ticks to worry about and Frontline seems to be working good enough because I can't stand the smell of Advantage. Couldn't imagine that stuff on my dogs.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

I think it's very similar to what is being reported other places - some of the drugs seem to be losing effectiveness (failing). I'm not sure how big of an issue that is here yet. ...apparently enough of one for some vets to go a different way with things. Frontline is still used extensively here. It's a good product. But one of the go to's now is Sentinel with Capstar as needed (which wouldn't work for you because of the ticks).

If Advantix is the only thing that's working, that's what I'd use. I'd try to get away with spacing the doses out more though. I'm just happy with we don't really have ticks to worry about and Frontline seems to be working good enough because I can't stand the smell of Advantage. Couldn't imagine that stuff on my dogs.

Thanks! I'm thinking that's what happening here. Ticks are usually just such a HUGE problem around here, especially because we live out in the "country" where deer are constantly in our "backyard". Fleas have never seemingly been an issue. I saw my first flea in the bottom of our storage box we unpacked from the attic two weeks ago lol.

I do try to space these drugs out as much as I can, and it seemed Advantix worked longer than a month, whereas Frontline is losing effectiveness after two weeks or so.

As much as I prefer Frontline (the permerthin does worry me - however Jax has never had any adverse reactions to it), I would prefer if I could get away with Advantix every 2 months or so and not dealing with ticks.

*sigh* Guess I'll buy some Advantix, as he's due in a few days for next dosage (got tick off him yesterday already though).

[Ellie May]

I don't like permethrin either. As long as he isn't reacting to it though... So many dogs get skin crawly feelings from it that my vet office doesn't stock it.

That said, your only other solid choice is a product with Amitraz and I wouldn't go there...