# Preferred heartworm medication?



## Duggie's Mom (Jan 30, 2017)

Hi Everyone!

This is my first post in the main discussion forum. My last post was in the cancer forum a few months ago after losing my 6-year old golden Duggie to hemangiosarcoma. He was my 'heart' dog and I was having such a hard time without him (still do some days). 

We decided to get another golden and now have a 12-week old golden named Teddy  I am loving every moment with him - except the puppy nipping! I forgot how sharp those little teeth can be lol. 

I need to figure out which heartworm medication to put Teddy on. We are not in a high-risk area for heartworm but there are always risks nonetheless. I have always had mixed feelings about heartworm medication - I never want to see Teddy have heartworm but at the same time I feel like I'm feeding my dog poison. After losing Duggie at such a young age I feel a little paranoid about what type of heartworm medication to give Teddy. It seems like all of them come with risks, like any medication, but there are so many scary stories online I'm not sure what is the 'safest' or if there is really a safer option. 

We used Revolution for Duggie. He had no side effects other than the fact it was torture every month to give it to him. He would pace after we put it on him for a couple hours...it was awful. We tried Sentinel once but I noticed he had a head tremor that same day. We quickly went back to Revolution after that but in hindsight, it likely wasn't the heartworm as he had a couple more minor head tremors prior to his passing. 

Any recommendations? I really, really appreciate it. I so want to give this little guy the best start he possibly can have.


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## usually lurking (Apr 21, 2017)

If you live in an area where mosquitos are prevalent, you'd be doing a huge disservice to your dog by not giving him heartworm preventative. The dose of ivermectin in heartworm preventatives is the lowest possible amount to maintain efficacy against heartworm larvae. Personally, I like Heartgard, not Heartgard Plus, as it does not treat any additional parasites. Other worms can be treated if my dog ever gets them, but heartworms are not easily treated, and the dog will suffer needlessly. I'm pretty sure there are several posters who have shared their heartworm horror stories. You can probably search the forum for "heartworms" and find them.


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## Duggie's Mom (Jan 30, 2017)

Thank you very much for your reply. I am definitely going to give my puppy heartworm medication so hopefully my post didn't come across that way..I'm just paranoid about what type to give him because of all the horror stories I have seen come up by simply googling.  I chose Revolution for Duggie as it only seemed to use one active substance compared to other brands that used 2+. I will certainly look into Heartgard. I did find it more difficult to find so-called horror stories through google about Heartgard when compared to some of the newer medications...

I just find it a little overwhelming with all of the potential side effects these medications can cause.


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## 115809 (Jul 27, 2015)

I used to always use Revolution for my dogs and had not issues with it, and it seemed to work fine. 

I now am using a brand from Sams Clubb called Pet Action Plus and I can honestly say this has been the best one I have tried by far. We have a lot of ticks around our area and the fall off almost immediately when using this brand. I find them dead everywhere (its kind of gross, but better dead than alive i guess).

Mostly it is personal preference. Everyone will tell you their brand is the best!


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## usually lurking (Apr 21, 2017)

There are some breeds of dogs that are sensitive to ivermectin and can have really horrible reactions. Goldens are not one of those breeds. Also, I can't recall the numbers off the top of my head, but significantly higher doses of ivermectin are given to treat things like mange. The dosage in heartworm preventatives is relatively tiny. I want to say it's something like 50 times less than would be used for a mange treatment. (Someone correct me, if that is wrong.)


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I prefer Interceptor. I've used it for almost 20 years with no ill effects. I am paranoid about using the proper pill based on weight, just as I am with tick preventative.

Since I live in Wisconsin, I give my first pill on June 1 and my last pill on November 1.

Pet Owner


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

nome89 said:


> I used to always use Revolution for my dogs and had not issues with it, and it seemed to work fine.
> 
> I now am using a brand from Sams Clubb called Pet Action Plus and I can honestly say this has been the best one I have tried by far. We have a lot of ticks around our area and the fall off almost immediately when using this brand. I find them dead everywhere (its kind of gross, but better dead than alive i guess).
> 
> Mostly it is personal preference. Everyone will tell you their brand is the best!


Pet Action Plus is for fleas and ticks, not heartworm prevention. If heartworm is an issue where you live, you need to add a heartworm preventative.


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## 115809 (Jul 27, 2015)

Whoopse sorry I misread. My reply was for flea and tick.. not heartworm!


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## Duggie's Mom (Jan 30, 2017)

Thank you so much Tahnee GR...is Interceptor the same as Sentinel?


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Did your Vet recommend a certain brand?

One of our members who is a Vet put this comparison chart together several years ago, this may be helpful for you.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...t-comparing-heartworm-flea-tick-products.html


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Duggie's Mom said:


> Thank you so much Tahnee GR...is Interceptor the same as Sentinel?


No, Interceptor is heartworm, whipworm, roundworms and hookworm only. Sentinel is a combo med for fleas, ticks and heartworm. I usually stay away from the combo meds-more chances of reactions.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

FWIW, I use Heartgard because I can pair it with Advantix (ticks and fleas) without doubling up on any meds. I have found both my past dog and current dog are always slightly off on heartworm pill day - just a bit more sluggish - but weighing the risk against the benefits, I support prevention. I used Sentinel with my last dog because we didn't have ticks around here at the time, and the Sentinel was HW and fleas.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

For heartworm prevention, my favorite is also Interceptor (which I believe has now become Interceptor plus... I haven't seen the original interceptor in a long while). Interceptor plus takes care of heartworms, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms (which I don't necessarily think is needed, but good coverage). 
There is NO product out there that does everything (heartworm, fleas, and ticks).
For flea/tick coverage, I like Nexgard and Bravecto. I also still like frontline plus as well as K9 Advantix II- I've used almost all of these on my dogs and they've all done well. I just haven't used Bravecto yet, but maybe in the future if I'm able to get a sample.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Okay, heartworm prevention is an undeniable necessity here on the Texas coast. No getting around it unless you want your dogs to get heart worms. In 2002 we adopted a young, fully grown golden and she was heart worm positive and we paid the $$$ to have her treated--and had her almost 12 years. Our next door neighbors moved in with a beautiful buff cocker spaniel and didn't give Buddy heart worm prevention because he was an "inside dog". Then they got a cocker/terrier mix. Same thing. Buddy died about the time he turned 8. He couldn't walk across the room with stopping and gasping for breath. The female mix got pregnant, had puppies and that was to much for her heartworm contaminated heart and she died a day or so after giving birth. I never could convince her she needed to give heartworm prevention. She now has 3 more dogs and "can't afford" the prevention.. Enough of that.


I hate giving my dogs anything more than I absolutely have to, including vax. In 2003 I made the horrible mistake of using ProHeart6 on my just turned 4 year old golden, Hunter (in my avatar) and it killed him. He died Oct. 16 after a week in ICU. I then started doing research and found so many others who had lost or almost lost their dog/dogs to it and we fought hard and in Sept. 2004, Fort Dodge removed it from the market....the FDA animal division deemed it unsafe. It had killed more dogs in 4 years than all others combined and some like the daily had been on the market 25 years. They tried to bring it back in Jan. 2005, but several went to the hearing and testified and many of us, hundreds in fact, wrote the story of the dog or dogs we lost or almost lost. And even tho Fort Dodge was there in force with lawyers, it's vets, etc, the panel ruled it could not be returned until reformulate--and it was off the market almost 4 years. Is back now, but I will never use it.


Our elderly golden retriever, Sophie (adopted Feb. 17, 2015 at age 11 and taken Oct. 13 2016 by hemangiosarcoma) had seizures after taking 
Bravecto for fleas. We didn't make the connection the first time, but did the 2ed.


Our Great Pyrenees had been on Heartgard for the 4 years his previous owners had him and after we adopted him, we kept him on it. No trouble for 2 years, and then last Nov. just a couple of hours after he ate it, he was very lethargic and "off", Then in Dec. it was the same thing, only this time he threw up. It was then hubby remember him having one of these spells in Oct. but we couldn't remember if it was HW prevention day or not. So I changed him to Interceptor and he has had it every month since with no problem.


However, he was diagnosed with liver disease back in Feb. He had; been just picking at his food, and losing weight. Vet put him on Royal Canin Hepatic food and he wouldn't touch it. I did good to get 1/2 a cup a day down him. He showed little interest in anything. I gave up and started home cooking for him---I did research what a dog with liver disease should eat and it had to have low copper. Now he is back to eating kibble that has chicken broth poured over it and little chunks of boiled chicken or baked turkey breast. He is now in the kitchen watching me cook, replying to every dog within 5 miles that barks, etc. I honestly do not know if for some reason he developed a problem with an ingredient in Heartgard after 6 years, or if his liver had started having problems and that caused him to have the reaction to the Heartgard. I would not hesitate to give Hertgard to another


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## Foster's Mom (Nov 29, 2016)

Foster gets Interceptor once a month and we usually administer his Advantix II on the same day. We have been ordering them in bulk from 1 800 pet meds and it saves a lot of money. No problems so far!


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