The Best Time to Give Your Dog Heartworm Pills

Let us assume you are a dog owner with no background in veterinary medicine whatsoever. You may know some things about heartworms-those parasitic worms that can threaten the life of your pet-but do you think a little knowledge is enough? Perhaps not. Heartworm disease is a formidable threat and it is important that you know how to prevent it from infecting your dog. One way to do this is to give your dog heartworm preventive pills. To help you gain some insight, I took some time to research on heartworms and the appropriate time on when to give preventive medicines. Let me share with you what I have gathered. The Best Time Doesn't Depend Only on Geography In the past, heartworms had been found to be prevalent only in certain parts of the US. However, recent studies suggest that heartworms are now a potential threat in every part of the country. An article published in a book called the US Companion Animal Health confirms this, saying that it is necessary to give dogs preventive heartworm pills or medication wherever they are located because mosquitoes spread quickly and people and their pets have become very mobile. The Best Time Is During Any Temperature According to Dogaware.com, heartworm larvae develop faster during warmer temperatures. Specifically, they infect dogs when temperatures are constantly above 14°C (57 °F) for at least two weeks. This means that heartworm infection can be controlled if temperatures drop any time during that period. Given the unpredictability of the weather, simply relying on temperature ranges is not very practical. This means that if you want to protect your pet, you need to give them heartworm pills on a regular basis especially during summer and spring. The Best Time Is Now Nothing beats early prevention. The sooner you start your dog on heartworm pills/medication, the sooner you will be able to prevent infection. The good news is that help is readily available. You can consult your veterinarian, so he or she can perform a diagnostic blood test and recommend the right heartworm pill based on the age, breed, and lifestyle of your dog. Some heartworm pills available are Interceptor, Sentinel, and Heartgard. Generic heartworm preventives such as NuHeart are also for sale at very affordable prices. When giving these medications, it is important to consider if the dog is old enough to start taking them. Doing so is very important in ensuring your pet's safety. The manufacturers recommend that medicines like Heartgard, Heartgard Plus and NuHeart be given to dogs that are at least 6 weeks old and that Sentinel and Interceptor be given to dogs that are at least 4 weeks old and weigh at least 2 pounds. Depending on the heartworm pill prescribed, you may need to give it on a monthly or daily basis. Remember that there is no need to give further medication than what is prescribed. Thus, the Best Time Is Year-Round It seems that the only way to prevent heartworm infection is to give heartworm preventives to dogs the entire year. As long as you are aware of the best time to give them and you have the appropriate heartworm pill, you can help protect your pet from heartworm disease. Now, there is no time to waste. Why don't you check with your vet and have your dog start on a preventive heartworm pill today?