Yes you do need heartworm preventative. The cost is so minor compared to the cost of treating heartworms, or even worse losing your dog to heartworms. Our Vet also suggests checking pups weight every month or so. They grow so fast that the correct weight is important for adequate prevention. Our vet also does not charge for bringing the pups in just to get there weight. You should ask your vet office if there is a charge for it. It is good for the pups to go into the office and not have any shots or exams. They will learn that it can be a fun place to go.

Linda

I don't see why you couldn't weigh your dog monthly at home and call the weight into your vet so that he can provide the proper dose. You should DEFINITELY be administering heartworm prevention monthly, though. Infected mosquitos can be anywhere, as can infected dogs. The fact that the nearest dog you know of is several miles away doesn't mean you might not have stray or dumped dogs or wild canids wandering through your property. And yes, cats can get heartworm, too.

Laurie

laurief --- yes, it would seem I could personally weigh my dog. She is now 29# at four months and it will be a few months before she gets to the 50# weight on the dosage. I need a prescription for Hartguard Plus in order to get it through the internet and for that, the vet will give me one for a month only. Seems very 'money hungry' to me. Even if he doesn't charge for the monthly visit, we live an hour round-trip from the nearest vet.

And people wonder why I am so against the medical profession for people or animals.

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to bring in a dog at that age at least once a month anyways.

Some vets are honest, some aren't. Mine triples the price of the meds (both rx and non rx) from what I find in the stores and online.

If that's not nice enough, they claim they never get the many fax rx authorization requests from drsfosterandsmith. Even after I verify the fax number.

I'm pretty sure drsfosterandsmith didn't get their reputation for being incompetent.

Definitely keep your pup on heart worm preventive. We were taking our fast growing pups in every month to our vet , they would weigh and dose out the meds for us. They did not charge an office call for this. Also look around for a low cost spay and neuter clinic - we found one in our area that also sells the heart worm preventive for a more reasonable cost than our vet. We took our pups in walked them up on the scale and they sold us the meds that were appropriate for their weight. You do not want a dog with heart worm- it is costly and lots of work for you to treat , not to mention the hardship on the dog. You could even lose your pet- well worth the small cost of the preventive.

That's just silly. I'm sure you could estimate how long it will be until your dog would weigh enough to need the next higher dosage. I weigh my dogs myself by stepping on the scale, getting my weight, then picking up the dog, stepping on the scale again, and figuring the difference. One of my dogs weighs 45# and I can still pick her up easily.

I would talk to the vet and explain the distance you have to travel. Wasting your time is one thing, but depending on the type of car you have, an hour round trip is probably costing you $10 or more in gas! That single pill is really close to $20 when you factor that in.

If he still wants the weight monthly, you could call it in and they could mail you the pill for the cost of a postage stamp. If he still refuses, is there another vet in the area?

Heartworm is primarily a dog parasite, but it can also infect cats, wolves, coyotes, foxes and other animals. So if you have other wild animals in the vicinity, a mosquito can pick up the worms from them and pass it to your dog.

I do think you should use monthly preventative, but I also think that its silly to bring your dog back to the vet just to be weighed. You can weigh the dog yourself...and medicate appropriately... you need to talk to your vet...

Just an alternate point of view here.

Pups are very susceptible to all sorts of problems that can and do rapidly advance. Their health is nothing to play around, unless you want to take the obvious chance of losing it.

It is really your choice. You may or may not make the right one.

SG

Our vet uses Tri Heart - a generic heartguard medicine. Our dogs have been on it for years and it is cheaper than Heartguard.