What heartworm prevention is safe for breeding or pregnant dogs?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! According to Plumb's Veterinary Drug book Fendendazole is considered safe in pregnant dogs. There have been no studies on it's safety in dogs and cats but there were no adverse reactions in women or lab animals. Have a good day!

June bug will most likely pass heartworm disease to her puppies. Unfortunately there are no studies that show these supplements are harmful or safe for fetus. I would not recommend giving them since we are unsure about the safety. As soon as the puppies are 8 weeks they need to be started on heartworm prevention to prevent adult heartworm from forming. Thanks for using pet coach.

Frontline and Revolution are safe for use in pregnant dogs. If you're already using a heartworm preventative with ivermectin, please continue to do so as it is safe for both the mom and pups and will help prevent her from passing parasites to the pups. And if they is due for vaccinations, getting them while she is pregnant will boost her and the pups immunity to disease. For tapeworms, Drontal is safe to use during all life stages, including pregnancy.

There are several medications used in the treatment of heartworms. The "slow kill" method (which is not recommended) involves monthly heartworm preventative. This will be safe for pregnant dogs. The recommended "fast kill" method usually involves the use of heartworm preventative, doxycycline, prednisone, and injections of melarsomine. Other than the preventative, all 3 medications can cause abortion or congenital defects in pregnant dogs. If you have not had her examined by a vet, I would recommend doing so as soon as possible. Depending on how far along she could be, ultrasound or x-rays may be used to diagnose pregnancy. If she is pregnant, then heartworm treatment should be placed on hold until the puppies are weaned. You can't judge pregnancy based on how a dog's belly looks. An enlarged belly could be fluid building up from heart or liver failure caused by damage from the heartworms.

Yes, Safeguard is a safe wormer for pregnant dogs. Since your dog is 9 years old, she is likely not to have a heavy worm burden. An ideal worming regime is: Bitches should be wormed before mating, after the first 45 days of pregnancy and after giving birth. They should then be wormed with their pups at 2, 5 and 8 weeks and after weaning.

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.

Praziquantel ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=35693 ) is the best medication available to treat tapeworms, which resemble grains of rice. It is considered safe for pregnant and nursing dogs, and is a category B drug during pregnancy according to the FDA (basically that animal studies have not demonstrated a risk to the fetus). It should be perfectly fine to give Lilu this medication. Since tapeworms are transmitted by eating either tapeworm infected fleas or rodents, be sure that Lilu is receiving a high quality flea preventative regularly. Frontline (while not always my favorite flea preventative) is safe for use in pregnant dogs. I hope that all goes well!