Why do I need to test my dog for heart worm first before I start him on medication??
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at
4:20 am
Question by magsoh19: Why do I need to test my dog for heart worm first before I start him on medication??
He is 3 years old, and shows no sign of ever haveing heart worm or haveing heartworm, my friend says it is ok to just start him on it, but the vet says otherwise, do they just want my money??
Best answer:
Answer by paintedrain2
Heartworms can go undetected for quite a long time.
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Tagged with: Before • first • Heart • medication • Need • start • Test • Worm
Filed under: Dog Worms Symptoms
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The medicine will kill the dog if it already has heartworms. Heartguard and others like it are for prevention, not treatment.
No, vets always test before giving the heartworm prevention. the preventative stuff stops the dog from getting heartworm, but it doesn’t cure it if he already has it. the symptoms don’t always show up for a long time, so better safe than sorry, get the test!
Yes, I have this problem too, the damn Vet wont sell me any of the chewable heart worm prevention meds until I get my dog checked, its like dont tell me what I can and cant give my dog!! Vets can be real @ssholes!!! Good luck!!
I volunteer for an animal rescue and all of our dogs are on heart worm preventative. Unless the dog is old enough that it’s been around in the summer it isn’t able to have heart worm because it comes from mosquitos. The test isn’t really all that expensive and I would recommend it. You won’t see signs of heart worm until the late stages of it. It is more of a preventative than anything. You do need a prescription to get heart worm preventative and a vet won’t give it to you without the test. You really only need to do the preventative during the summer months but I do mine year round. It does prevent other types of worms also and most vets will only require a blood test every other year if you keep them on it year round. Don’t go without it. Heart worm is very common and the treatment is very dangerous and expensive if they get it. It’s a cheap preventative.
Of course the vet wants your money. But for a good reason. If the dog already HAS heartworm, the treatment is a whole lot different than the prevention. Don’t listen to your friend. Isn’t this what you’re actually paying the vet money for?????
If you start a puppy on heart worm preventetive you do not need to test, an older dog yes. The meds can do a lot of harm to your animal if he/she already has been infected.
No the vet is not trying to rip you off but trying to prevent you from possibly killing your dog
3 yrs old needs to be tested!!
You don’t want the dog to die and it can die if given the heartgaurd and it is already positive for HW.
By the time a dog starts showing symptoms of heartworm disease, it has already progressed far enough to cause permanent damage to the heart.
Also, it can take 6 months after infection for the heartworm test to show up positive.
And finally, if your dog has heartworms and you give him the preventative, he can have a deadly reaction to it.
That’s why it’s important to have them tested initially and then every year. Your vet is right, please listen to him.
Many manufacturers have a guarantee attached to their heart-worm medication. If your dog has had a heart-worm test and has shown that it is clear of the heart-worm then the guarantee is in force. If you sign the waiver and don’t have the test and your dog later develops heart-worm the guarantee is void. They would have helped, or paid for the cure if your dog had been tested.
The test is significantly less expensive than the cure for heart-worm.
Being one of the most preventable diseases, testing is for your pet’s benefit. If you fail to test before starting on a heartworm preventative, it can have serious side effects. If infected, once they start to show signs, there has been a good deal of damage done.
More info on heartworms & the lifestages:
http://heartgard.us.merial.com/whyheartgard/why_abouth.asp