Treatment every three months should be effective no matter where you live
Even treating your dog monthly for six months is unnecessary, Kerasote wrote. If your dog gets stung by an infected mosquito on June 1, the larvae will not grow into adult heartworms for a couple of months.
You could treat your dog with Heartgard in September and again in December and call it done.
“Even on the Gulf Coast, where the ambient temperature may not ever dip below 57 degrees, dosing your dog with heartworm treatment once every three months should protect it,” he wrote. “For many parts of the United States and Canada, no treatment at all is required.”
He does recommend a yearly heartworm test, just to be sure, especially if you travel to warmer climates with your dog.
While every situation is unique, I hope you consider your dog’s actual risk of developing heartworm disease and make the most appropriate decision for your dog.
Is the cost of heartworm prevention a factor?
Heartworm prevention through a monthly medication such as Heartgard is affordable, starting at around $6 per tablet. This is not going to break the bank for most of us.
In addition, a heartworm test is around $40 in my area. Obviously if you have to treat your dog for heartworm disease, the cost will be much more than it would have been to prevent the disease.
So what’s the problem? Why don’t I just spend $100 or so on heartworm prevention and call it good?
What is a dog’s actual risk of contacting heartworm disease?
If a mosquito actually bites an infected dog and ingests heartworm larvae, the ambient temperature must remain above 57 degrees Farenheit for about two weeks in order for the larvae to develop into mature infective larvae within the mosquito, wrote Kerasote.
Under those ideal circumstances, these could then be injected into another dog, starting a new cycle.
Because of the unique temperature requirements, heartworm disease is only a year-round risk in warm regions such as the southeastern portion of the United States and the Gulf Coast, Kerasote wrote.
If the ambient temperature drops below 57 degrees even for a few hours, the heartworm larvae living in the mosquito cannot become infective and the life cycle of the heartworm is broken.
How Long Should I Give My Dog Heartworm Prevention Tablets For? – Dog Health Vet Advice
The risk of a dogs being infected with heartworm disease each year is 250,000 out of 50,000,000; this translates to one in 200 dogs becoming infected each year.
Find the non sequitur in the following series of statements: Heartworms cause severe lung disease in dogs and cats and can kill them. Heartworms cause zoonotic disease in people. Heartworm disease can be prevented in dogs and cats by giving them medication once a month that also controls various internal and external parasites. Heartworm infections are diagnosed in about 250,000 dogs each year.1 But there is no good reason for dogs to receive preventives all year; it is just not needed.