By taking precautions to safeguard your dog, you’re doing more than just making sure he doesn’t become sick or hurt; you’re also doing your part to guarantee that he enjoys a long, healthy, and fulfilling life.
Heartworm prevention is a vital aspect of keeping your dog healthier. Parasites, known as heartworms, can cause serious problems for your dog’s cardiovascular system. Typically, mosquitoes spread them from dog to dog. Heartworms can grow so large and numerous in their later stages that they obstruct the heart’s ability to pump blood. This may lead to heart failure.
What Allows The Transmission Of Heartworm Illness
Mosquitoes are critical to the continuation of the heartworm life cycle. Microfilaria, or immature heartworms, are produced by adult female heartworms and circulate in the bloodstream of infected canines, foxes, coyotes, and wolves. Mosquitoes pick up these worm eggs when they feed on an affected animal, and after about 10-14 days, the larvae have developed into the “infectious stage” and can spread the disease to other mosquitoes.
The mosquito then lands on another dog, cat, or susceptible wild animal and injects its infective larvae into the skin before biting it. It takes the larvae about 6 months to develop into adult heartworms once they have entered a new host.
Heartworms have a maximum lifespan of 7 years in dogs and 2–3 years in cats after they reach maturity. Due to the worms’ ability to survive for lengthy periods of time, an infected animal may have more worms by the end of each mosquito season.
There are over 63 million households in the USA that have dogs. And when a situation like arthritis or heartworm strikes, all the dog parents want to make sure they’re giving their pets the best possible treatment.
Some dogs do not react well to a certain brand of medicine due to the combination of the components, but there are several trusted medicines you can try out for your fur baby.
Here is the list of the most popular five alternatives –
Advantage Multi
Both Advantage and its successor, Advantage II, are widely-used flea treatments, and most pet owners have heard of them. Moxidectin is one of the ingredients in Advantage Multi that works to keep heartworms at bay. It can also prevent sarcoptic mange and eliminate fleas, in addition to eliminating whipworms, hookworms, and roundworms. Amazingly, SIX distinct parasites commonly affecting canines are taken care of wihh this med.
The monthly administration of the topical solution Advantage Multi is a need. Even though the treatment is watertight, it shouldn’t be applied until 90 minutes after your dog has been in the water. Thus, you shouldn’t use it if you take it for a swim or if it rains just after you get it. Failing to meet this suggestion could undermine the effectiveness of the preventive.
HeartGard Plus
Often considered the gold standard of heartworm preventatives, Heartgard plus chewables for dogs employ the proven combination of Pyrantel and Ivermectin to completely eradicate any heartworm larvae before they can mature into adults, as well as two distinct species of roundworms and three different species of hookworms. Mange and lice are two more pests that it has been successful against.
If you miss a month of giving Heartgard Plus, your pet is at risk of contracting heartworm disease. This chewable pill has a delicious meaty flavor and may be given to your dog as a treat or slipped into his regular meal.
Tri-Heart Plus
You can rest easy knowing that there is an inexpensive choice for heartworm prevention for your pet if you are worried about the expense. On average, Tri-Heart Plus is discovered to be 20% less expensive than HeartGard Plus, its main competitor.
Tri-Heart Plus shares the same active chemicals as HeartGard Plus, namely Ivermectin and Pyrantel. When given in a timely manner, they have a high success rate in avoiding heartworm infections. Tri-Heart Plus is one of the most competitively priced heartworm treatments for dogs due to its chewable tablet form and palatable flavor.
Interceptor Plus
Interceptor Plus, a chewable monthly preventive that comes in a chicken flavor, is a common substitute for the more well-known Heartgard. Milbemycin oxime, an anthelmintic, is the active component.
What this means is that it can protect your pet from a wide variety of worms, not just heartworms. This includes hookworms, whipworms, roundworms, and tapeworms.
ProHeart 6
Select ProHeart 6 to protect your dog from heartworms if you’re worried about forgetting to give your dog a monthly preventative. It is important to note that ProHeart 6 is the only injectable medication for heartworm prevention that the FDA has approved. However, your veterinarian is the only one who can provide it to you.
Although it is most well-known for its effectiveness in preventing heartworm in dogs, it also treats sarcoptic mange and the parasitic worms whipworm, roundworm, and hookworm.
The owner wants to provide the best care when the dog is in pain. The growing pet care market, valued at $120B, is proof of that.
However, any preventative measure or care is only as effective as the person implementing it. Your pet’s chance of contracting heartworm disease increases if you administer the medication late, miss a dose, or give too little.
