# Heartworm Prevention when.....



## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

my vet insists they need Heartworm prevention all year around, we live in Ohio where we have all four seasons. So it get's very cold, I know there is no moskitos around here anymore. 

I know some states require all year around protection, but not here, please help me decide if my dogs need it or not, should I change vet's??


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## Mssjnnfer (Aug 9, 2009)

I'm gonna give mine preventative all year long. Our winter has been very mild lately, and I've actually seen a few skeeters in our garage. I don't want to take ANY chance. I figure the preventative is cheaper than treatment, so why not.


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## sophiesadiehannah's mom (Feb 11, 2007)

i give the girls meds march through november, i loive in mi. and that is what my vet has recommended for over 20 years.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

Why take the risk? It isn't worth your dogs health. Merial, the makers of HG brand will pay for treatment if your dog gets heartworm, but only if they're on HG year-round. Just some food for thought... also this guarantee is only valid if purchased from your veterinarian, not online.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Why run the risk of them being infected? Then you face expensive treatment that can have severe complications, up to and including death.

If you lived on the north pole maybe skip it during the winter, but even Alaska needs hw preventative!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

If I lived up North I probably would skip the winter months too. I already give as little frontline as possible (just a few times a year) because I hate putting all those chemicals on my dogs. Unfortunately, living in Louisiana, we always have mosquitoes. I give Interceptor every 6 weeks.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

It gets very cold in Ohio, you do have freezes. 

I give Daisy heartworm tablets from early spring through late Fall, usually the end of November ... until the first hard freeze. She's always been heartworm negative. But we don't have a problem with misquitos here, not sure why. I never see them at the lake either ... I think it's the bat colonies. There's a large one at the lake and I know we have a smaller colony down the road a few houses. Bats are good


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

It's always been my understanding that misquitoes and fleas don't live past the first hard freeze. Fleas will if you have them in your house. But you're asking about heartworm...why would your vet recommend year-round for your area? I don't understand.


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## cham (Feb 21, 2008)

The first year I had Hailey, I gave used HeartGuard and K-9 Advantix all year round because I didnt know any better. The second winter I had Mitchell and didnt use them. Last winter a Veterinary advisor to SGRR advised us to use them year round if only to keep the levels even in their blood, and if counteract any warm spells we might have have. 
This year I have no choice, because Raine had heartworms when rescued and was treated right before she was transported up to me, so she definately needs a full year before I can take her off. 

But, my feeling is , this is expensive medication, but not expensive physically or emotionally having a sick dog.

This is from the American Heartworm Society: http://www.heartwormsociety.org/

About 1/2 way down the page is the explaination for year round heart worm medication use.

http://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/faqs.html#q14


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## kathi127 (Sep 17, 2009)

I give heartworm meds all year round as we can have some warm spells here in MD in the winter and I'd rather be safe than sorry. I also use Frontline year round as well. In fact my guys are due for both today!


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

I was just recently reading up on the subject. What I got from it, is that the weather has to be a certain temperature for a certain number of days for the larva to grow in a mosquito to a point where it can infect your dog. So even IF there are mosquitoes around, if it is cold they cannot infect your dog. However, since no one counts days to figure out whether or not they should give preventative that month it is easier to give it year round. If you live where it gets cold, you are safe not to give it. Growing up in Wyoming we never used preventative and were advised by the vets not to. Why? Because it got too cold there so there was no heartworm in the area...ever.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Living in the south and having experience with swatting mosquitos in February, even after hard freezes, I give my guys HW preventive year round, as well as flea/tick preventive. I know some on this forum space the HW out more than 30 days, though I don't recall if it is 40 or 45 days. Each monthly pill has an effective life longer than 30 days, so maybe someone who does space out can tell you what the ideal interval is.


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## marieb (Mar 24, 2008)

I live in MA and Maddie gets year round Interceptor. However, I do tend to take a break from Frontline during the cold months ... I think I put an application on her in November and I'll probably wait until February to put some more on her.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

I give heartworm year round. I am one who really watches the chemicals that my dogs are exposed to and, even having an immune compromised boy, I wouldn't skip heartworm. It is a terrible terrible disease thats cure is painful and dangerous and expensive. However, the med is good for 42 days, and I space mine out at 35 days (5weeks). Whenever I buy new meds, I mark my kitchen calender and stlil I have a weeks leeway in case I forget. It also cuts down on the amount of med they receive in a year. The monthly dose figure is for the convenience of remembering to medicate the pet.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Here's an interesting article that explains the lifecycle of the heartworm and how it is transmitted http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/heartworminfo.htm.

"*How Heartworms Infect Dogs: It’s Not Easy!*
*Step 1: To infect your dog, you need mosquitoes (so you need warm temperatures and standing water). More specifically, you need a hungry  female mosquito of an  appropriate species. Female mosquitoes act as airborne incubators for premature baby heartworms (called microfilariae). Without the proper mosquito, dogs can’t get heartworms. Period.*
*That means dogs can’t “catch” heartworms from other dogs or mammals or from dog park lawns. Puppies can’t “catch” heartworms from their mothers and moms can’t pass heartworm immunity to pups.*
*Step 2: Our hungry mosquito needs access to a dog already infected with  sexually mature male and female  heartworms that have produced babies. *
*Step 3: The heartworm babies must be at the L1 stage of development when the mosquito bites the dog and withdraws blood.*
*Step 4: Ten to fourteen days later — if the temperature is right –the microfilariae mature inside the mosquito to the infective L3 stage then migrate to the mosquito’s mouth. (Yum!)*
*Step 5: Madame mosquito transmits the L3’s to your dog’s skin with a bite. Then, if all conditions are right, the L3’s develop in the skin for three to four months (to the L5 stage) before making their way into your dog’s blood. But your dog still isn’t doomed.*
*Step 6: Only if the dog’s immune system doesn’t rid the dog of these worms do the heartworms develop to adulthood. *
*Step 7: It takes approximately six months for the surviving larvae to achieve maturity. At this point, the adult heartworms may produce babies if there are both males and females, but the kiddies will die unless a mosquito carrying L3’s intervenes. Otherwise, the adults will live several years then die.*
*In summation, a particular species of mosquito must bite a dog infected with circulating L1 heartworm babies, must carry the babies to stage L3 and  then must bite your dog . The adult worms and babies will eventually die off in the dog unless your dog is bitten again! Oh, and one more thing.*
*Heartworms Development Requires Sustained Day & Night Weather Above 57˚F*
*In Step 4 above I wrote that heartworm larvae develop “if the temperature is right.”*
*The University of Pennsylvania vet school (in a  study funded by Merial) found: “Development in the mosquito is temperature dependent, requiring approximately two weeks of temperature at or above 27C (80F). Below a threshold temperature of 14C (57F), development cannot occur, and the cycle will be halted. As a result, transmission is limited to warm months, and duration of the transmission season varies geographically.”*
*Knight and Lok agree: “In regions where average daily temperatures remain at or below about 62˚F (17˚ C) from late fall to early spring, insufficient heat accumulates to allow maturation of infective larvae in the intermediate host [the mosquito], precluding transmission of the parasite.”*
*The  Washington State University vet school reports that laboratory studies show that maturation of the worms requires “the equivalent of a steady 24-hour daily temperature in excess of 64°F (18°C) for approximately one month.” In other words, it has to be warm day AND night or development is retarded even if the average temperature is sufficiently warm. They add, that at 80° F, “10 to 14 days are required for development of microfilariae to the infective stage.”*
* Jerold Theis, DVM, PhD, says, “If the mean monthly temperature is only a few degrees above 14 degrees centigrade [57 degrees F] it can take so many days for infective larvae to develop that the likelihood of the female mosquito living that long is remote.”*
*I have never found this temperature-dependent information on a website promoting “preventatives,” but only in more scholarly works not easily accessed by the public. There is, as far as I can find, only one mention of temperature on the Heartworm Society (on the canine heartworm page) and none in the Merck/Merial Veterinary Manual site or Merial’s heartworm video — even though Merial funded the UPenn study.*
*The  Society also reports, “Factors affecting the level of risk of heartworm infection include the climate (temperature, humidity), the species of mosquitoes in the area, presence of mosquito breeding areas and presence of animal reservoirs (such as infected dogs or coyotes).”"*


*There's more in the article if you want to read it all. I really don't think personally heartworm prevention is necessary in most places during the winter, and in some places it is not needed at all. Depending. Regional differences though make it hard to compare...
*


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

FWIW, heartworm preventative also protect from all other worms except tapeworm, so if your dog has exposure to other dogs, or to possible dog feces, there's that aspect to consider as well.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Don't get me wrong my crew has been on Interceptor for years all year around, just been hearing lately that a lot of people around here don't have their dogs on it though the wintermonth an got to wondering.

It's been as cold as 14 here already so I know those skiters are dead..lol


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

hotel4dogs said:


> FWIW, heartworm preventative also protect from all other worms except tapeworm, so if your dog has exposure to other dogs, or to possible dog feces, there's that aspect to consider as well.


This is a good point, I over looked the fact that most heartworm preventative also protects against intestinal parasites.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

GoldenSail said:


> Here's an interesting article that explains the lifecycle of the heartworm and how it is transmitted http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/heartworminfo.htm.
> 
> "*How Heartworms Infect Dogs: It’s Not Easy!*
> *Step 1: To infect your dog, you need mosquitoes (so you need warm temperatures and standing water). More specifically, you need a hungry female mosquito of an appropriate species. Female mosquitoes act as airborne incubators for premature baby heartworms (called microfilariae). Without the proper mosquito, dogs can’t get heartworms. Period.*
> ...


*Thanks for that *article, very interresting! I will keep mine on the monthly prevention for now!


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## Sivin (Nov 23, 2006)

I questioned our vet about this when we lived in the San Francisco area. He told me the flea preventative was entirely up to me, but felt the heartworm stuff was a necessity.


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## goldengirl09 (Jul 23, 2009)

I live in Colorado and my vet said it was up to me whether to use it in the winter months. He said he probably would not but his wife makes him  I asked one of the techs too and she pointed out that it also has protection from other worms so it's a good idea to keep him on it if he goes to the dogpark (which he does) so I decided to keep him on it year round. I had a foster dog with heartworm once :/ Definitely not worth the risk! 

She also said if you stay on it year round, you can test for heartworm every 3 years instead of every year.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I give heartworm protection year round. Back in '78 a rescue shepard mix we adopted had heartworm for probably over a year before dx. Since it was not widespread at that time in CT, the vets were not able to dx him sooner and he had all types of problems (cough on exertion, inability to gain weight or absorb nutrients etc). The treatment was very expensive, he had 3 days of a hospital stay, 12 weeks of very limited activity and was probably never as active as he should have been due to the chemo.

So, preventive is good insurance in my mind ...


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## Goldnbear (Dec 28, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> FWIW, heartworm preventative also protect from all other worms except tapeworm, so if your dog has exposure to other dogs, or to possible dog feces, there's that aspect to consider as well.


 
This is not entirely true. For example, Revolution is not listed to protect dogs from any intestinal parasites. Heartgard protects against hookworms and roundworms as well as heartworms, but not whips or tapes. Also, remember that these types of worming are just like if you would give your dog a one time wormer, they do not protect against intestinal parasites all month long. 
But, I will always keep my dogs on preventative all year round. It is not worth the risk of exposure. Another point to remember is that these products work retroactively, meaning if you give the preventative in December, it is actually working for November. They are designed to kill the microfilaria after the dog is infected. In some areas, vets often prescribe the meds to kill off just this stage, though it does not work for adult worms.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

I took Sadie in today for her heartworm test and it was negative...they all got their Interceptor and I'm gonna keep them on year around..you guys confinced me it's not worse the trouble of having a sick dog.

I won't listen to all those people telling me "they don't need it all year" anymore...going with my own instinct:doh:


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I've given my dogs year-round heartworm preventative since I had a dog in the early 80s get heartworms. We had just moved to South Carolina and had never heard of heartworms. The treatment is harsh and having to keep them quiet/crated for several months afterwards would not be worth it to me.

The dog behind us was just treated this year for heartworms. I live in Ohio.


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## Rob's GRs (Feb 25, 2007)

hotel4dogs said:


> FWIW, heartworm preventative also protect from all other worms except tapeworm, so if your dog has exposure to other dogs, or to possible dog feces, there's that aspect to consider as well.


Protection from other worms is part of the reason I give Interceptor year round as well.


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## Zeppelin (Jun 28, 2009)

Zeppy gets HeartGuard year round and Frontline March thru December. Vet said that the Frontline is not needed in the winter months around here.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I don't believe our state requires all year protection, but I do purchase and provide Shadow and Tucker will All Year Protection.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Our vet gives us a choice, but I'm anal and paranoid so I use it year round because we do sometimes have milder spurt during the winter and I just think it's not worth the risk.


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## Tristan (Dec 24, 2009)

I am glad that I stumbled on this discussion!
I use a holistic Vet who thinks that almost all meds are overdone in both animals and humans.
I have always had dogs, mostly Labrador Retrievers, and we only gave the heartworm march though December.
Trinian is my "new" pup, a 14 month old Golden- my first pure Golden.
Tristan was 1/2 Lab 1/2 Golden, and he was such a special boy... I thought I might recapture him in a Golden.
Other than an interest in EATING ROCKS, he is wonderful and his eyes are magnetic.
I paint all my dogs, so Trini is going to have to sit to have his portrait done.

Right now, we have almost 3 feet of snow, so no mosquito could live through that.
Still, he is covered for January. I am debating about the rest of winter's meds.


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