Do some pets pass chewable Heartworm disease prevention medications right through the digestive tract and out the other end without digesting it?
Yes. Some dogs pass entire Heartworm tablets. This is more likely to happen if a pet is “pilled” rather than encouraged to chew the medication. “Pilling” is opening the pet’s mouth and placing the medication into the back of the throat where it is swallowed. Pilling is useful if the medication tastes bad and we want the pet to accept it; but even then, the medication should be wrapped in something delicious—cream cheese, hotdog, honey… If giving a chewable medication, don’t encourage the pet to swallow it. Encourage the pet to chew it. If your pet isn’t chewing the medication, there are 3 options: • switch to a non-chewable form; • have the pharmacy compound a chewable medication for you that the pet will chew; or • switch to a topical Heartworm disease prevention product, such as Revolution.
