I am ALWAYS so good about remember to give Brady his heart worm pill at the first of every month. I guess this whole Happy Feet thing and Matt's mom living with us this month has me all forgetful and frazzled and I was 20 days late giving it to him. I feel horrible. Now do I need to have him tested, or what should I do? I have one more to give him before the pack is up, and they always ask you if he has missed any when you buy a new pack.
Heart Worm Pill question
- Thread starter bogolove
- Start date
I remember once I thought I had some left, but when I went to give it ...YIKES..empty! I knew Dave wouldn't be able to stop at the vet til the following week, so I called and asked them. my vet said you don't need to test if you miss one...even two. he said he'd never start them again if you miss 6 months before retesting. so I just skipped the pill that month, and started the normal routine the beg. of the next month. 
(then wrote it on my calendar bigger cause I need the reminder even after all this time..LOL)
(then wrote it on my calendar bigger cause I need the reminder even after all this time..LOL)
B
I remember once I thought I had some left, but when I went to give it ...YIKES..empty! I knew Dave wouldn't be able to stop at the vet til the following week, so I called and asked them. my vet said you don't need to test if you miss one...even two. he said he'd never start them again if you miss 6 months before retesting. so I just skipped the pill that month, and started the normal routine the beg. of the next month. (then wrote it on my calendar bigger cause I need the reminder even after all this time..LOL)
(then wrote it on my calendar bigger cause I need the reminder even after all this time..LOL)
http://heartgard.us.merial.com/other/reminder_services.asp
Its actually something like a couple of months you need to worry about. we had an expired box once and I freaked and the vet explained how the growth cycle is even if they had had it they would have been fine becaue it was not far enough advanced to have the dog be injured in any way. the point its bad is if the worms have really gotten into the heart already.
Well, he has been on it continuously and on time since he was old enough to be on it. He is on the Heartguard chewables, he loves them. Heartworms come from mosquitos, right? It has been too cold for them here, but I still just want to do right by him. I can ask the vet when I go in to get his next pack in December.
Most of the heartworm meds (Heartguard especially) actually last longer in the dog's system that thought therefore one has kind of a "safe" period in which their dog is still protected even if the owner is late on the next dose. If I remember correctly, Heartguard has a 45 day effective period (but it may be more). The best thing is to go ahead & give the next dose & don't forget the annual heartworm check when the dog is due.
However, in the south where mosquitos are prevalent all year long, missing a couple of months CAN put your dog at risk. One of the techs I worked missed 3 months of her dog's HG when here baby came. It was a total accident, but her dog showed up slight positive a few months later.
However, in the south where mosquitos are prevalent all year long, missing a couple of months CAN put your dog at risk. One of the techs I worked missed 3 months of her dog's HG when here baby came. It was a total accident, but her dog showed up slight positive a few months later.