[Ryden'sMom]

I am interested in giving my dog a natural heartworm preventative. My 4.5 year old Shiba Inu gets terrible diarrhea each month after I give him the heartworm pills from the vet. I have tried several different types and all with the same results of a week of really bad diarrhea. Does anyone know of any homeopathic natural preventatives for heartworms?

 

[Amaryllis]

Where are you? In many places, 12 months of heartworm prevention is totally unnecessary. In order to catch heartworm, there have to be misquitos, and at least two weeks where the temp gets over 80 every day and not below 57 every night. So, in pennsylvania, you don't need heartworm prevention from October to April, minimum.

 

[Willowy]

That isn't something I'd mess around with, at least if you live in a high-risk heartworm area. Where do you live? If you live in a low-risk area, you might decide to take the small risk of heartworms instead of the risks of his bad reaction to the meds.

Have you ever tried just plain Ivomec?

 

[Ryden'sMom]

I live in central NJ. I have been giving it year round and dealing with diarrhea that has been getting worse after each pill. My vet has now given us a heart gaurd's generic pills.

 

[Shell]

You could try Revolution which is a topical heartworm, flea and tick med. Since the dog wouldn't be digesting it, it might not upset his GI tract like a pill does.

 

[Ryden'sMom]

I will definitely look into Revolution. Thank you!

 

[Willowy]

Here's a pretty good compilation of articles on the subject: http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjheartwormprevention.html

I agree that a topical like Revolution is worth a try. If that doesn't work out, try plain liquid Ivermectin. I wonder if it's the other ingredients in the heartworm pills that are causing his troubles.

 

[Ryden'sMom]

Here's a pretty good compilation of articles on the subject: http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjheartwormprevention.html

I agree that a topical like Revolution is worth a try. If that doesn't work out, try plain liquid Ivermectin. I wonder if it's the other ingredients in the heartworm pills that are causing his troubles.

I have read though these articles, thank you they're very informative. I have also read you can space out administering these pills every 6 weeks.