Should Dog Owners Continue to Use Medicines for Heartworm Prevention?
You should definitely continue administering heartworm prevention medicine to your dog. In fact, administering these medications as specified on the label directions is extremely important. In most cases, that means administering the medication once monthly. Sources that report that heartworm preventive medicines can be effective when administered every six weeks do not take into account that this risks breaks in protection for your dog. They also do not consider that using these medications off-label (i.e. not following the directions on the label) means that the drug manufacturer will not honor any guarantees should the product fail to protect your dog. Another question that is sometimes asked is whether increasing the dosage of commonly used heartworm preventive medications might afford more complete protection or lower the risk of resistance. Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that increasing the dosage will make the medication more effective and this is not generally recom
Related Questions
- If Heartworm prevention medications are combined with medicines that kill intestinal worms, could the combination be so strong that it harms my pet?
- Do hunting dogs on a monthly heartworm prevention program still need a regular dog worm treatment?
- Why does my dog need an annual heartworm test if they are on heartworm prevention year round?
