Is heartworm prevention essential for my dog, or can I skip it?

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.

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.

Yes, if you live in an area with mosquitos. Heartworms are spread by mosquitoes, not by dog to dog contact. The mosquito injects larva into the blood when they bite the dog and over six months they grow into adult heartworms that live in the heart and surrounding blood vessels. Infected dogs have many worms in their heart and they eventually die of heart failure if not treated. The treatment is expensive and can be hard on the dog. Heartworm prevention is given monthly for life and protects your dog from heartworms and intestinal parasites. There are many different safe products some that include flea prevention also. Please talk with your veterinarian about getting prevention for Sophie soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Sophie.

Yes. Heartworm preventive medications work by intermittently killing the heartworm larvae that may have been transmitted to your dog by infected mosquitoes. As a result, [heartworm preventives](https://www.petcoach.co/article/3-common-types-of-heartworm-prevention) are killing larvae that may have infected a dog in the previous two months. Without the consistent administration of heartworm preventive medications, heartworm larvae can mature and cause serious signs of disease. In order to avoid this serious and life-threatening infection, it is crucial to give your dog [heartworm preventive medication](https://www.petcoach.co/article/should-i-stop-giving-my-pet-preventative-medication-in-the-winter) consistently year-round. ### Interceptor Plus is a trademark of Elanco or its affiliates.

Some veterinarians treat heart worms with a slow kill method by giving heartworm prevention monthly which will kill the adult worms over time and prevent new ones. The more common treatment is with injections to kill the worms quickly. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Doing it with a slow kill method is much less expensive. The shots are expensive, can be painful and you would need to keep your dog very quiet for six weeks. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Duke.

You can submit a stool sample and deworm Miso every 3 months, or you can simply deworm him on the same schedule without submitting a stool sample. Discuss OTC and prescription dewormers with your veterinarian. Miso should still be on a flea and tick preventive as well.

Heart worms are transmitted by mosquitoes. Since it is impossible to keep mosquitoes out of the house, your dogs can be infected even if they never go outside. So this is why it is important to do heart worm prevention. Your dogs will need to have heart worm tests done before they can get prescription heart worm medication.