When should my 10-week puppy start heartworm & Bordetella shots?

A 10 week old puppy is too young to have a heartworm infection. Your puppy could have heartworm larvae circulating in his blood but the adult heart worms take 4-6 months to develop in the heart. I usually start puppies on a monthly heartworm preventative when they are around 12 wks old. This will kill the larvae and prevent the adult heart worms from infecting the heart. If you haven’t already taken your puppy to see a veterinarian for his puppy vaccines and dewormer, you should do that as soon as you get a chance to prevent him from getting sick. Hope this has helped. Good luck with your new puppy. Thank you for using pet coach.

Hi there. Your pup is old enough to start on heartworm prevention now. I would suggest using Heartgard or Sentinel - both of these are fine for a pup who is 9 weeks old and weighs 3.5 pounds, and both are very safe in general. Puppies under six months of age do not need to be tested first.

I do recommend monthly heartworm prevention starting at 8 weeks of age. It is a prescription so a veterinarian does not have to personally give the pill but you need to either buy it from a vet or get a prescription from a vet. The only medication that needed to be at a veterinarian's office is Pro-heart. This is an injectable heartworm prevention that lasts for 6 months. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Heartgard and Sentinel are both good options for heartworm prevention - just make sure to check the minimum weight requirements, since I'm not sure how much your puppy weighs. He will also need to be vaccinated against distemper, parvo, and other serious illnesses that are common in puppies, and should also be dewormed if this hasn't been done yet. You should be able to make an appointment with your local vet to have all of these things done - the vet can also prescribe an appropriate heartworm prevention for your pup at that time :)

Deworming puppies is recommended with pyrantel at 2, 4 and 6 weeks. This can be purchased at any pet store. Vaccines are started at 6 weeks that incude distemper and parvo. Bordetella is not started to 8 weeks and is optional

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! We don’t start heartworm and flea/tick prevention until around 8 week of age. Nexgard is the only oral flea and tick preventative approved in the US for 6 months or younger. I would continue the Nemex every 2 weeks until they start heartworm prevention. I hope this helps!

Great question! Heartgard can safely be given to puppies as young as six weeks of age, so it's fine to give it to her now. You don't need to wait for two weeks after her 4th vaccine, there's no problem with them being given together. It is recommended to wait at least two weeks between vaccines for different vaccines, so yes I would wait for two weeks after her 4th vaccine to get her rabies. The kennel cough can be given safely intranasally (in the nose) at the same time as her 4th vaccine or with the rabies. You don't need to wait for that. Good luck, I hope this helps!