Frontline, heartworm prevention - do you use these?

[Fran101]

In Miami we had to use both, every month, all year. Mosquito heaven mosquito wise.. and ticks/fleas are the same way. We do get the backyard sprayed but the pick em up on walks sometimes

Here in Connecticut, Romeo doesnt get any of it. Hes on raw, fleas/ticks never seem to be a problem, and I check him after every walk.

 

[AGonzalez]

Fran, just saying, but when I lived in NY Heartworm is very prevalent in that area. It's carried by mosquitoes, and as wet as New England is, pretty common, especially in wildlife inhabited areas like yours. So you might want to consider keeping at least the HW preventative up.

No I don't use frontline or any of those. My vet in NY got me into using Ivermectin injectible (though this is not suggested to do without vet approval and amount to use) which I draw out of the bottle and dump on some yummy food once a month. You might want to ask the vet about this because it is considerably cheaper than using any of the pills (which also contain Ivermectin unless it's one of those made for border collies etc) - I paid $36 for the bottle and I've had it over 2 years.

 

[AGonzalez]

I'd rather use heartworm preventive medicine year round instead of Lola getting heart worm and dealing with it then. We have a ton of Mosquitos in NJ. One day they just might make it the state bird :lol-sign:

LOL, for once, I like your post...you might have to contend with NY for it to be the state bird though, just sayin'


Lilah, same thing here, since it's so dry and the altitude is high, you really don't see a lot of mosquitoes. I have yet to find a tick on anyone in the house as well, or fleas for that matter (though every time Lacey scratches my ex cringes and says "your dog has fleas" lol) Usually really dry climates don't have the problem with HW. I've yet to decide if I'm going to stop preventatives in the summer or not, but my hometown vet laughed when I asked about it there (in Arizona, yeah she had a point).

 

[LilahRoot]

LOL, for once, I like your post...you might have to contend with NY for it to be the state bird though, just sayin'


Lilah, same thing here, since it's so dry and the altitude is high, you really don't see a lot of mosquitoes. I have yet to find a tick on anyone in the house as well, or fleas for that matter (though every time Lacey scratches my ex cringes and says "your dog has fleas" lol) Usually really dry climates don't have the problem with HW. I've yet to decide if I'm going to stop preventatives in the summer or not, but my hometown vet laughed when I asked about it there (in Arizona, yeah she had a point).

LOL! I don't think I'd use HW preventative in Arizona either. I am just so used to being in such a wet climate that I can't get myself out of using it, I guess. We used to have to FIGHT to keep the fleas off of our animals even in the winter months in Pa. Even though we used Frontline on everyone every month they were still getting fleas. It used to drive me INSANE. I hate fleas with a passion! We got ticks on our inside/outside cat every once in a while, but the fleas drove me NUTS! Then there were the warbles. :yikes: Ya know, Colorado is sounding better and better all the time.:lol-sign:

 

[Gypsydals]

I use a HW preventive every month, except maybe during the coldest months. My boys have already been on it a month now. I have seen the effects of HW in a dog, and if I never see it again, I won't be sorry. It is a horrible horrible thing to see and watch. And I know it is preventable, so why risk it?

 

[LabLove]

I use Interceptor for my dog since it also gets rid of roundworms, whipworms and hookworms. Roundworms seem to be common at the places I take my dog to, such as the dog park. A lot of dog owners at one of the parks I visit have mentioned that their dogs had been diagnosed with roundworm. The fact that it also prevents heartworm is just an added comfort, as it is uncommon in my area (although my vet has seen dogs come in with heartworm).

I also use a monthly dose of Advantage flea control. Fleas are extremely common here, even in the winter. I have two indoor cats and even they will get fleas if not treated.

 

[MPP]

I have to use both, all year 'round. AND get every bit of property treated, indoors and out. And they STILL get fleas and ticks at times! South Florida is paradise for bugs.

 

[StillandSilent]

Argon has multiple sensitivities, so no flea stuff for him. We do use Heartgard every month though.
Grimm will get both because his coat is soooo thick even though it's short. I can't imagine sitting with him and checking for fleas like I do with Argon.

 

[Zoom]

When I was in Kansas, I used Interceptor and Vector 3D but since I"ve moved out here to Colorado, I haven't put anything on him and haven't found a single tick either. I was never very reliable at keeping them on it in KS either and I think I can count on one hand the number of ticks I've ever found on him. We had an issue with fleas at the beginning of one summer thanks to my roommates' dog and the local population seemed to have developed a resistance to Frontline. Switched over to the Vector, vacuumed with Borax sprinkled into the carpet and didn't see a single one after that.

 

[Pomp]

I live in the Northeast US, and ticks are crazy in the suburban areas here. I have my yard sprayed 4 times a year. No ticks since the spray started (knock on wood).

Re: Heartguard -- About a year after I rescued my dogs, they tested positive for heartworms. Went through the entire process. As I went through the process, I learned more about the different phases of heartworm maturity. It's debatable if Heartguard/Interceptor actually prevent your dogs from getting heartworms. The more likely scenario is that they prevent your dog from passing heartworms to other dogs.

Here's why.

A dog can carry heartworm, but it can only mature into something dangerous if carried by a mosquito. So a dog carrying the initial phase of heartworm needs to be bitten by a mosquito, the heartworm matures inside the mosquito, and then the mosquito bites another dog passing the more mature heartworm into the dog's system. At that point, Heartguard and Interceptor aren't much of a defense. Heartguard and Interceptor kill that initial pre-mosquito phase of the heartworm, so if a mosquito does bite a dog, it doesn't take heartworm with it.

That's the gist of it.

 

[setter-chick]

At my clinic (Minnesota) we start Frontline today (Just put it on friday) and heartgard next month, it goes till nov 1st, or at the first frost...

 

[Ando]

I use HeartGuard throughout the spring, summer, and fall months- but don't give it in the coldest times of winter. I would rather give Ando some medication to prevent heartworm rather than shoot arsenic-like chemicals throughout his body to treat them.
I also use Frontline Plus every month or two during the spring, summer, and fall months when fleas and ticks are out- but stop almost altogether during winter months when they are not out.

 

[Southpaw]

I live in the Northeast US, and ticks are crazy in the suburban areas here. I have my yard sprayed 4 times a year. No ticks since the spray started (knock on wood).

Re: Heartguard -- About a year after I rescued my dogs, they tested positive for heartworms. Went through the entire process. As I went through the process, I learned more about the different phases of heartworm maturity. It's debatable if Heartguard/Interceptor actually prevent your dogs from getting heartworms. The more likely scenario is that they prevent your dog from passing heartworms to other dogs.

Here's why.

A dog can carry heartworm, but it can only mature into something dangerous if carried by a mosquito. So a dog carrying the initial phase of heartworm needs to be bitten by a mosquito, the heartworm matures inside the mosquito, and then the mosquito bites another dog passing the more mature heartworm into the dog's system. At that point, Heartguard and Interceptor aren't much of a defense. Heartguard and Interceptor kill that initial pre-mosquito phase of the heartworm, so if a mosquito does bite a dog, it doesn't take heartworm with it.

That's the gist of it.

Interesting, although not what we've been taught in school. Adult heartworms in an infected dog produce microfilaria. Mosquito bites infected dog, therefore ingesting microfilaria, which continue to develop in the mosquito. Infected mosquito then bites uninfected dog, introducing the infective stage of the larva to the dog.... THIS is the stage that HW preventative is supposed to kill. Which is also why when treating a HW+ dog, after Immiticide has been given to kill the adults, often the next step is to give something like ivermectin or milbemycin to kill the microfilaria (if there are any). It's the same concept as giving Heartgard monthly as a preventative--it kills the baby microfilaria so that they don't develop into adults.

Unless I'm just misunderstanding your post, which is entirely possible since it's 1am...

 

[Fran101]

Well spring has arrived lol Winter was virtually flea/tick free but now its spring and I saw a tick crawling on his fur..dammit.

So after a good bath romeo is now on K9advantix

 

[Whisper]

I live in Arizona, a very low risk area. Neither of my dogs get anything. I'm usually hesitant to put anything foreign into my dogs' bodies. However, the idea of heartworm scares the crap out of me, so I'm thinking about heartworm preventative for peace of mind.

 

[MisssAshby]

All four of mine are on Interceptor for HW. For the past few years they have only taken it during the warmer months (around March - November). I'm considering just leaving them on it year round since it's only four more months.

Those of you that only do the warmer months do you have your dogs tested every year before starting the HW prevention again? Also, is it safe to only give the Interceptor every 45 days or is possible that they won't be covered?

We haven't used anything for the past two years for fleas and I will see one every now and then but not enough to warrant prevention. I use a natural approach when I do see them, but I have Frontline on hand in the case of an emergency.

 

[Fran101]

All four of mine are on Interceptor for HW. For the past few years they have only taken it during the warmer months (around March - November). I'm considering just leaving them on it year round since it's only four more months.

Those of you that only do the winter months do you have your dogs tested every year before starting the HW prevention again? Also, is it safe to only give the Interceptor every 45 days or is possible that they won't be covered?

We haven't used anything for the past two years for fleas and I will see one every now and then but not enough to warrant prevention. I use a natural approach when I do see them, but I have Frontline on hand in the case of an emergency.

I just set his annual vet visit for March, which is right around when we restart flea/Hw prevention
the annual vet visit, they take blood, give rabits, weight, etc.. and check for heartworm and all that other stuffs

so its just a matter of scheduling his normal annual vet visit after winter

If I couldn't..I wouldnt use frontline or K9advantix or the like... I mean honestly, its basically putting pesticides on my dog. but still, in florida, there really is no other option unless you want ur dog crawling in fleas

tho I have noticed that dogs that are RAW fed have less of a flea/tick problem..

 

[MisssAshby]

I just set his annual vet visit for March, which is right around when we restart flea/Hw prevention
the annual vet visit, they take blood, give rabits, weight, etc.. and check for heartworm and all that other stuffs

so its just a matter of scheduling his normal annual vet visit after winter

If I couldn't..I wouldnt use frontline or K9advantix or the like... I mean honestly, its basically putting pesticides on my dog. but still, in florida, there really is no other option unless you want ur dog crawling in fleas

tho I have noticed that dogs that are RAW fed have less of a flea/tick problem..

Taking all four dogs in for their annual checkup, rabies (if needed), titers, and blood test would be rather expensive so I split it up two/two. I have two that go in the spring time and two in the fall/winter time.

Getting HW test done is simple - I just have to schedule them a lab appointment so it's not a big deal. I was just wondering what everyone else did...

 

[mrose_s]

I use advantix. We have paralysis ticks here, they can kill a dog too quickly for me to risk it.

 

[Southpaw]

Those of you that only do the warmer months do you have your dogs tested every year before starting the HW prevention again?

That's the standard at the clinics I've been to, they don't give you a preventative until your dog's been tested. I've gotta get Juno in so I can get her started in May....