My dog won't take heartworm meds. Are there non-chewable alternatives?

If Vinny can not tolerate the oral heartworm prevention there are a few non-oral medications you could try. Proheart 6 which is an injectable medication that prevents heart worms for 6 months. You could also try a topical heartworm prevention like Advantage Multi or Revolution. I'm sure one of these will work well for Vinny.

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.

The dog should be heartworm tested and then started on a prevention, if negative. Heartgard, Interceptor, and Sentinel are all oral medications that work well with preventing heartworms. You should also treat him with a flea/tick prevention. I like oral NexGard, Bravecto, or Credellio instead of the topical spot on solutions.

Fortunately, there are a number of heartworm preventatives similar to Heartgard, including TriHeart Plus and Iverhart. Other options for heartworm prevention have different active ingredients and include Trifexis, Interceptor, Sentinel, Revolution, and Advantage Multi. Simba's vet will be able to prescribe another option and make sure that Simba has had a recent heartworm test.

Unfortunately, if you cannot get medications in to her then you need to ask your vet if there is an injectable, transdermal or melt-away equivalent. Many drugs these days can be compounded into these formulations. Talk to your vet about this- RoadRunner and Wedgewood Pharmacies are the best at making alternative medication dosing systems.

Tri-Heart is generic Heartgard and is just as effective. I am not sure why your vet won't prescribe it for you. You cannot buy any heartworm prevention over the counter so you will need a prescription. I suggest you bring your dog to one of the VETCO vaccine clinics at your local Petco stores (see schedule below). Bring proof of his last negative heartworm test and they can give you a prescription for the Tri-Heart. There is no charge for the exam. Just the cost of the medication. Hope this helps! ( https://www.vetcoclinics.com/services-and-clinics/clinic-locations-and-schedules/?zip=77469 ) ( https://www.petco.com/shop/SearchDisplay?categoryId=&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&searchSource=Q&pageView=&beginIndex=0&pageSize=48&fromPageValue=search&searchTerm=triheart )

I do not recommend splitting heartworm prevention into multiple doses. The product is design to work with the full dose in one sitting. If the patient has had GI upset before I recommend switching products. There are many products available on the market including topical. I think a topical product might be best if you are concerned with GI upset