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Heartworm preventative

2K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  juliemule 
#1 ·
Nola goes in for her heartworm test next month, and I need to make up my mind on what to give her as far as prevention goes. Currently, she's on Heartgard Plus. I'd also like to find some kind of pill for flea control, as pretty much every topical on the market is failing down here. I'm considering:

Heartgard + Comfortis: $121 every six months :jaw::faint:
Most expensive option, but I really like having the option of spacing out giving them to her. Currently she gets flea drops on the first of each month and heartworm prev. on the 15th. I really like spacing it out, so if she every had a reaction I could pinpoint which thing was causing it.

Sentinel: $56 a year
I'm unsure of how well this would work, as it only kills flea eggs.

Trifexis: $89 every six months
Seems like the best choice financially, but I've heard a few horror stories about it.

I am not interested in putting on a topical heartworm prev.

Let me know your thoughts/opinions!
 
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#3 · (Edited)
On Chester I currently use the generic Heartguard (Tri-Heart Plus) and topical K9 Advantix for fleas and ticks. Tick protection is important to me since they are common here. I've used this for about 1 year with no problems. I plan to continue this since it has worked the best of all the combos I've tried.

I previously used the topical Revolution for awhile and then the pill Interceptor plus K9 Advantix (Interceptor is no longer produced)

On the fosters, I've used:
Sentinel with no additional topical. Did not protect well against fleas and of course no protection at all against ticks. Could use in combo with K9 Advantix or Frontline Plus per my vet for tick and additional flea protection.

Trifexis- the active ingredient is the same as in Sentinel (and the no longer produced Interceptor which I used on Chester for a year with no issues). I've used this on 2 dogs for a total of a year and it was good for both HW and fleas. No tick protection.

My vote if you completely want to avoid topicals is Trifexis. Many of our fosters are on it and no bad reactions, I think most of the bad reactions are due to drug interdiction rather than trifexis alone.
 
#7 ·
Oh yeah, I have used Ivomec to treat mange before and know people who use it for HW prevention. The thing that makes me not use it for HW prevention is that the dogs seems to try to spit or slobber it out because it is so bitter and I wouldn't feel confident that they are getting the full and proper dose. For mange at least, they are dosed daily and with a much larger amount.

The collar is a good idea if the dog doesn't regularly play with dogs or cats (getting mouthed on around the neck where the other pet may be chewing on the collar). I'd probably use that or a similar collar for an only dog. My friends two dogs have worn Preventic collars for a few years no problem.
 
#8 ·
We use Advantix and Heartguard. Ticks and Lyme Disease are a big problem up here. Frontline majorly failed on the fleas last year, and my cats were getting fleas that were jumping off the dog, so this year we went with the Advantix, and so far, no problem with fleas (knock on wood!). We're also more confident this year that the cats are not going to groom the dog (HAHAHA! in my dreams) so we weren't as worried about the cats ingesting the advantix.

Sentinel (and program) sterilizes adult fleas so that they can't reproduce, so it makes it so the fleas that are on the dog can't make more fleas, but it doesn't kill or prevent adult fleas from hanging out. I think it works best if you have an infestation and are taking multiple approaches to treat it.

There's always Capstar for breakthrough fleas. I've known people who give it periodically just to kill any stragglers. Of course it's short acting, so not practical for daily use.
 
#11 ·
Very, very high risk. Not only am I in Florida, my propriety backs up to a creek (mosquito breeding ground). Here it's guaranteed a dog will get heartworms by age 4 if not on year round prevention. Nola's been getting heartworm pills every month since she was 12 weeks old.

Fleas are also a big issue. My nieghbor has 15 dogs that are infested. Ticks are a concern, but not a huge one.
 
#12 ·
Ugh in those situations natural alternatives are really enough, definately not the heartworm but the heartworm meds are generally not as bad as some of the flee and tick. I'd try heart guard for the worms, Florida is pretty low risk for flees and especially Lyme and other tick born diseases, I find even chemical options for flees are often useless for flees as well as their natural counterparts, annoying little shits are hard to get out.

For flees and ticks (it does work for mosquitoes too so if you stop getting Mosquitos with this stuff, heart guard may not be nessesary)
This is a commonly used insect powder that is composed of a series of all natural insecticides both ancient and new that my family has used for a couple decades almost. It works stunningly for ticks and not only repels them but kills them before they can transmit Lyme. It also works decently for flees and bugs In general but also really well with, mosquitoes, horse and deer flies.
It's composed of;
1 part diatomaceous earth ( food grade)
1 part neem powder
1 part yarrow powder

Diatomaceous earth is a substance made of fossilized diatoms, and have very tiny (10-100 micrometers) very sharp granules. It repels bugs for reasons unknown to me, but the reason this powder is used is because the tiny particles rip apart the mucous membrane around insects, and dehydrates them to death within 24 hours, if ingested, as in when it bites your pet I find an adult tick dies in about 10 hours from ingesting it. For this reason it's become a very common ingredient in insecticides, natural and chemical. This is why it's amazing for ticks.

Neem powder is dried powdered neem leaves, from the neem tree, probably one of the worlds most ancient insecticides and repellants and has been used in India for thousands of years. The powder is mainly used as a repellant but it can also kill when ingested.

Yarrow is another plant, actually most commonly known as a healer, the plant when placed on deep wounds induces significantly sped up clotting, and healing. The plant though is VERY repellant, the flowers mainly. I'm going to note that in large doses it is toxic to dogs, because a certain member has been giving me shit for it for a while. But first of all this powder isn't being consumed its being dusted into the fur, and second, the ammount nessesary for MILD DIGESTIVE DISTRESS is 1/4-1/2 a cup consumed in a day for a large dog, you shouldn't be using that much powder in 4 months, much less 2 weeks.

You dust this stuff into your dogs fur on a bi weekly basis and you can even dust your whole house in this stuff to prevent a potential tick infestation.







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#14 ·
If you have tried natural stuff for flees and ticks its probably those vs essential oils and garlic pills and all that junk, they might help you with one annoying flee in the house but beyond that they are useless. Please look into the ingredients because they are used industrially in insecticides as well. The ingredients are cheap and easy to get, and considering the ammount it can help I really don't see why not.


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#18 ·
I use Frontline Tritak for fleas/ticks. It has replaced Frontline Plus, which has stopped being effective. I use Heartgard Plus for heartworm prevention. I'm not sold on any of the pills truly working for fleas, and they don't work for ticks. I don't like the topicals either, but it beats being infested with fleas/ticks, especially since I live in the deep south, where they're really bad year round.
 
#19 ·
There is a resistance to ivomec and heartworms, particularly in the Mississippi valley area, but south in general.

I have a total of four dogs positive with heartgard/triheart.

Also research comfortis with ivomec, there have been reactions. I used it for two years with no problems, but also used ivomec for many years with no issues until recently.
 
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