heart worm...too late?

[tasillo]

Hi,
we are getting our baby in a week.
She will be 12 weeks and is spayed and up to date with her shots.
I had asked the breeder about heart worm pills and she said her vet said it is unneccessary....due to where they live...it is not prevelent.
Now that it is november should i be putting her on the heart worm pills or is that more for summer and spring?
Thank you

 

[Shakira's Ma]

In our area they used to have you use Heartworm preventive for only the spring and summer months, but now they prefer that you keep your babies on it year round. I do this because I want to do what is best for my baby. I know that it gets cold enough here to kill off the mosquitoes but you can never be too sure, just last week when we were out on the porch handing out Halloween candy to the little beggers there was a mosquito flying around and one would think that they would be gone for sure for the season, so you can never know when one might be looming somewhere and might bite your baby.

 

[LuvBxrs]

It's definitely good to keep them on Heartworm prevention all year round like Shakira's Mom suggested cause you never know if any of those nasty mosquitos can be lingering around. I know that depending on where you live some people do discontinue the use for fall & winter. Use your best judgement for your baby & you. Being that I live down South & it stays warmer down here I'll be keeping both my babies on it year round just to be sure. ***** Look on kvvet.com they have really reasonable prices for heartworm meds etc. Their prices are even better then PetMeds.com*****

 

[Jan]

You definitely don't need to have your puppy on Heartworm pills in the winter in Ontario and depending on where in Ontario you live you may not need to use it all. If you do a search on Heartworm, there have been posts on what the temperature requirements.

 

[Rlr.Giraffe]

If you're from southern Ontario, you will probably need to use it in the summer... but a vet will know for sure! Here in Calgary we don't need it because it's so dry and cold.

 

[tasillo]

thanks

I am in Mississauga, Ontario...very close to Toronto.
And here its freezing already too...well thats great to know...i am not a big fan of over medicating our animals and over immunizing them as well...there is so much info for and against it....even with skin kids ...it has always been a tough decision for me

 

[JulieM]

The presence of a mosquito does not mean your dog is at risk for heartworm. In order to reach a stage where the worms can be passed from the mosquito to your dog, they must first do some maturing inside the mosquito. This takes 24-hour temperatures above 64F for 30 days; any drop below 57F aborts the process. It is unlikely enough to call practically impossible that you would reach these temperature requirements in Ohio or in Ontario year-round, so there is absolutely no reason to give medication year-round. (Heartworm pills, remember, don't prevent the dog from becoming infected with heartworm. They simply kill what the dog might have contracted in the last 30 days.)

Visit www.heartwormsociety.org for more information - find the AHS guidelines (under the Vets section) and look for the Epidemiology paragraph.

 

[Laurie_Duke]

I am just outside Mississauga Ontario.....and my 2 are only on heartworm and flea control during the summer months.....hope this helps.

Laurie

 

[ktn67]

Just to take this on a slight tangent, would anyone (JulieM for instance) recommend maintaining year-round HW for those of us who show? What are the risks of HW infection traveling to warmer climates for a weekend show? Charm won't be traveling with a handler or other dogs so she's at home in Ohio with me unless we go somewhere. Of course this won't start until February but I was curious.

 

[Jan]

The same temperatures would apply that she posted above. The temperature would have to be above 64 degrees for 30 days for it to be necessary.