Heartguard

[michaelsh]

Mike,

What do you think about the necessity of giving Heartguard once a month?

I read about it and I know already that it depends much on the region where you live.

Fortuantely you just live approx. 20 miles away from me so I guess whatever you do would be great for me.

I am not concerned about the costs of giving it to my dog but about feeding "poison".

Is there a better way to protect against heartworm?

Keep up the good work.

Michael

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

I personally don't give heartguard to my dog, since I have never come across a dog in our region that has contracted it. Working as a vet tech the only dogs I ever saw that were positive either came from the South or would travel to the Southern States with their families. If I lived down there I would surely use it.

The other good thing about heartguard is that it can prevent other intestinal parasites from getting a stronghold. Again, this is a personal choice. You can always monitor by submitting a stool sample to your vet every few months or use other meds such as panacur on the schedule of your choice.

Overall though I never saw a dog have a bad reaction to heartguard, so if cost not a big factor I would say low risk.