when to give heart worm pill to a dog in chicago?
Friday, March 19th, 2010 at
2:38 am
I need to give my dog heart worm pills. I live in the chicago area and was wondering when to give the pills. I was thinking may 15 to oct 1st or is that to long? I want to only give the dog what is nessesary.
Tagged with: chicago • Give • Heart • pill • Worm
Filed under: Dog Worms Symptoms
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……its ALWAYS necessary to give heartworm pills.
Winter weather doesn’t protect from the possibility of heartworm infections, and the pills should be given the same time every month, not sporadically.
Give your dog heartworm pills ONCE A MONTH, EVERY MONTH.
Your vet should have given you a specific number of tablets; give them until gone. If you are concerned, call your vet.
Patient Paws is not accurate for everyone in all areas of the world; where I live the vet recommends certain months and I follow his advice. You should follow the advice of your vet.
Its best do use the pill year round to protect them.
If you still are unsure ask your vet what they think.
Each month…every month!
You need to give your dog heartworm preventative year round.
Heart worm pills whether heart guard or daily must be given all year round so before you embark on starting heart worm make sure you have a blood test to see if your dog does not have it as the pills will kill the dog.
There is now an injection which is given every year like the annual shots which works out a little cheaper.
I live in Chicago, too. You can go get the blood test now. April appointments will be more difficult and May appointments will be nearly impossible. The idea is to get started BEFORE there are any mosquitos and you must have the blood test first to make sure the dog isn’t already infested. You need to continue with the monthly pills until 2 MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST FROST!
By them all those pesky critters should have froze to death.
Depends on the weather in your area.. Its warm enough here in OH for things to start breeding.. so I’d reccommend starting a dog on it now.
I’ve seen warm weather even in late november.. so I’d reccommend keeping a dog on it until you’re well past warm weather.
I keep my dog on it year-round, as the medication I use also has an extra wormer for intestinal worms.
ADDED
actually 2 months after frost is a good idea.. if you consider how the stuff works.
The cycle of the worm is approx 30 days, which is why you give the wormer every 30 days… The pill doesnt stay in their system and protect the dog for a full month tho.. when the dog gets the wormer, that kills any microfilea currently in his system, and prevents them from becoming adult worms… if your dog gets a mosquito bite after that wormer, he may not be protected for any infestation until the next course of wormer.
I’d start well before the weather warms up, and also continue it for a bit after the first frost.
first the facts, then the formula
FACTS:
All year long is NOT always correct (unless it is warm all year)
meds kill larvae when given & do not last all month
larvae that create heartworm take more than 30 days to do so
testing is NOT needed prior to meds
Ivermectin – an prominent med is 95% effective in dogs who skip 4 months & are positive for the larvae that cause heartworm
it is the f3 & f4 stage larvae that eventually cause heartworm
for f3 or f4 larvae to survive there must be 30 days or longer of sufficeint warm weather
the presence or lack of mosquitoes is NOT accurate method for risk
FORMULA:
take last 30 days
high temp of each day MINUS 57 (i.e. count temp above 57 only)
add all up
if over 240 start meds, when under 240 stop meds
for example last 2 days high temps were 60 & 65, so for those 2 days the add up to 11 (60-57=3 & 65-57=8). Just do it for 30 days. A bit easier & in normal situations still safe (maybe figures a little sooner) is to if last 30 days highs averaged 65 or higher.
Vets make big money off this so they are last ones to ask. Better off asking a vet student at a university who knows facts, but not making $ off it yet. The testing is waste & if you are logical you can see why. Test for it because if positive we cant give meds to prevent it??? sorry, but if positive, the conflict of meds will be least worry & either dog is gonna die anyway or very slight chance test if off & meds will help. Its like saying we must test a person for gunshot wound before putting a bullet proof vest on them because the vest might kill them. uh, yeah, right! In Chicago area you should only have to pay $3 per month per dog for approx. 4-6 months for total cost of $18 maximum per dog. Buy meds online, research wiki & university sites, and spend the extra money on better food for your baby instead of the vets kids college tuition. I’m not cheap (spent $1000 on one dog leg), I’m just being practical.