Missed Heartguard Meds

[punchinella]

I feel terrible! We always give Punchinella her heartworm medicine (preventative) on the first day of the month. However, tonight I suddenly realized we forgot to give it to her on February 1st. So, I immediately gave her the missed dose, but it's three weeks past due.

So my question is two part...

First of all, how concerned should I be that she will become infected? It is winter, and had been very cold, so not likely to have much mosquito activity, which I understand to be the carrier of heartworms. But I am still worried.

Secondly, when do I give her the next dose? Normally it would be March 1st. Do I still give it to her on the first and just get her back on that routine? Or do I now start counting 30 days from today?

 

[Jan]

Chances are she will be fine. I would not give her another one on the 1st. Just give her the next one in 30 days. If you are really concerned you could have her blood tested at the vets.

 

[BigDies]

I agree with Jan, you're most likely fine. However if you do decide to get punchinellas blood tested you will have to wait 6 months. It takes that long for the parasite to take hold and be testable at the vets office.

 

[argosrocks]

i know your down south and am not sure about the temps,but here in the midwest,most if not everyone i know stops the hear meds after the first hard freeze (below 32),and doesnt start until 30 days after it has been 40-50 degrees for 6 consecutive days,which usually isnt until late april-may,,its all about the mosquito life cycle,most vets will tell you to continue year round treatments,but like nutrition,they are misinformed usually,,there are sites that deal with this issue,such as doghearworm.org that can help,,the heartworm meds we give our pets(heartgaurd,interceptor,etc)are pesticides,that kill the larvae that have been layed by an infected mosquito,so in actuality,they arent really preventing heartworm,but nullifying or destroying the eggs before they hatch and do any major damage.

 

[punchinella]

Oh I so hope she will be okay. I will never forgive myself if she gets sick because of my mistake. :(

 

[RileyandMax]

I wouldn't even worry about it.

 

[RockyCody]

speaking of this...

since we got rocky in OCT and it was already freezing we never started his heartworm meds. He's 7 motnhs next week and i was thinking: I have no idea where or what to get him.

Where do you get heartworm preventative meds from and how do you know which kind? Is there a certain age you start giving them at?

Also - flea prevention - same question -where do you get them and what kind. How often and is there a certain age?

Thanks for the info - I"m a newbie here and still learning!

 

[RoxiesEcho]

I hate to admit what a bad mom I am but I am late more often than I am on time. Maybe I'm treading in deep water but Bella and the boys have their blood checked every year and there has never been a problem. I wouldn't worry too much about a couple of days.

 

[johann]

since we got rocky in OCT and it was already freezing we never started his heartworm meds. He's 7 motnhs next week and i was thinking: I have no idea where or what to get him.

Where do you get heartworm preventative meds from and how do you know which kind? Is there a certain age you start giving them at?

Also - flea prevention - same question -where do you get them and what kind. How often and is there a certain age?

Thanks for the info - I"m a newbie here and still learning!

We get our heartworm through our vet (Interceptor). I usually buy either a 6 month or 12 month supply at his annual check-up. Our vet does yearly HW/lyme tests, so you'll probably need to have that done before he gets the first dose. Our vet recommends year-round treatment, but we treat from April to October.

Johann gets frontline plus for flea treatment (also buy thru our vet) on the same schedule (April thru October or November). We mostly do the frontline for ticks (crazy amounts of ticks where we live)......and our daycare requires some sort of flea prevention. Don't buy any of the cheap flea preventions from a grocery/pet store, stick to a brand name one like Frontline/Revolution/Advantix. There is 1 brand that can't be used if you have cats (Advantix?).

Rocky will definitely be old enough to start HW/flea meds this spring, we started Johann at 8 weeks (HW) and 12 weeks (frontline).