Is it safe to give heartworm meds after missing doses without a test?

Guayo will need a blood test taken by a vet in order to diagnose if he has heartworm or not. It is always recommended that a dog be tested for heartworm before receiving heartworm preventative medication. If he doesn't have it, giving him the heartworm preventative medication will not make him sick. It will be good for him because it will keep him from getting heartworm, which is fatal if untreated. I'd make an appointment with a vet to have him tested for heartworm. Best of luck, I hope this helps.

Most of the monthly oral preventatives have a wide safety margin. Heartgrad is very safe, so if that is the preventative you use, then a second dose will not be harmful. If you use a different medication, check with your veterinarian before giving another dose.

Hi there. What a great question! I am pretty certain Willow is going to be just fine but that being said, it is possible she wasn't fully protected. There is really no sense in testing her now. If she was infected sometime in the last couple months when she was over the weight range she wouldn't show up positive on the heartworm test. The heartworm test only tests for the presence of adult heartworms in the heart and that process takes 6 months from the time the dog is bitten by a mosquito carrying the heartworm larvae. Those larvae go through many stages in the dog's body before becoming adult heartworms where the test can detect them. If she was my dog I would just keep her on the correct dose of heartworm prevention for the next 6 months and then have her tested. I see you are in Maryland. I'm guessing you haven't had a lot of mosquitos yet these past few months and since that is how heartworms are transmitted I don't think she has really had the opportunity to be infected. I hope this helps. Best wishes to you and Willow :) Try not to worry too much, keep her on the correct dose for her current weight and get her tested in 6 months. Dr. Amber

No, there is no need to go to the vet for missing the dose. Your dog should be fine. SHould there be microfilariae present, the next dose you gave should kill them. Just keep giving the heartworm medication as prescribed. Your dog will need a heartworm test anyway every year. No worry!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is never too late! At 7 months old I recommend that your Vet test Midna for heart worm disease now. If she is negative start Heartgard then retest her again in 6 months. It takes a heart worm 6 months from the bite of an infected mosquito to mature in to adults and cause a test to be positive. So testing now only proves she wasn't bitten in the first 1 month of life. I highly recommend year round heart worm prevention for the entirety of the pets life. Getting heart worm disease can be deadly and treating heart worm disease is expensive and can also cause be deadly. I hope this helps and I wish you and Midna the best.

Rocky should be ok. Heartworm disease is in fact transmitted by mosquitos. Thankfully in your location during the time missed there are not that many mosquitos around. It can take 6 months to show up positive on the test so I would recommend testing in October of this year the latest. I wouldn't stress too much. You can look out for coughing and exercise intolerance. Just continue giving the medication monthly at this point. Here is a website for the Heartworm Association if you have questions. https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources Thank you for using PetCoach.

Heartworm disease is completely preventable dogs. There are now multiple options for heartworm preventative is available to pet owners. Most often these preventatives are given orally once a month or sometimes applied topically once a month. There are options now also for injections that last about six months. It just depends on what your veterinarian has available. It is usually recommended to give heartworm preventative year-round but this may vary depending on where in the country you live. Any dog who has not been on heartworm preventative, should be tested for heartworms prior to starting prevention. And then heartworm testing is recommended every one to two years while on heartworm preventative.