The American Beagler Forum

I have a male dog that i ran out of interceptor tablets for so last month i gave him nemex2 just to make sure he was wormed. I have gotten more heartworm pills since then so should i have him checked by the vet for heartworms before i put him back on the meds or just give them to him since it has only been a month.

From the Interceptor Insert:

The tablet(s) must be administered monthly. If you miss the 30-day interval by no more than 7 days, administer Interceptor immediately and resume your monthly dosing schedule. If the interval is longer than 7 days, consult your veterinarian before you recommencing the monthly dosing schedule.


You have to do what YOU feel COMFORTABLE with. Your vet will LIKELY recommend having them tested but WHY WOULDN'T HE (or she) do so? The vet will make money and eliminate his/her medical liability rather than not make money and assume more risk! However, since the microfiliaria count will likely be low (since ALL of them will come from host mosquitoes rather than sexually mature adults heartworms) a negative result is almost guaranteed (my opinion).

I would NOT have intentionally waited that long - Please be more careful in the future! However, if I took in a dog that had lapsed or suspected one of mine had missed a dose, I would give it 1/10 CC per pound of Cattle Ivomec and immediately resume giving the Interceptor monthly. Again, YOU have to do what YOU feel comfortable with! Best of luck!

Well i still don't know what to do. Does any one else have any advice.

We don't start puppies on ivomec untill 3 months old. Can a puppy get bit by a mosquito in that length of time, sure... We've never had a problem restarting a hound on ivomec if we were late or missed a month.
Can't tell you what to do, only what we've experienced.
I think the larva does take some time to develop, onced passed from the mosquito. Beaglesunlimited did have a good hound info page on deworming, check it out.
If you were to draw blood with heartworm larva from a hound with a syringe, then place that blood into the blood stream of another hound. The larva you put into the other hound would never develop into an adult heartworm. It must pass through the mosquito, and then, into the other hound to develop into an adult heartworm. It's part of the life-cycle of the heartworm, no part of the cycle can be broken or if so, a living adult will not result. I think this development time is what gives us a time cushion on administering the ivomec.
Research and do what you feel is best. The clock is ticking...Patch