The American Beagler Forum

Just got a new dawg 3 months ago and he has never been on any type of heartworm. The vet around here is not an option ........ with that said, looking to some of you experienced guys for advice. the dog is 17 months old.
Any responses will be greatly appreciated. Thanx

I believe (hope someone corrects me if I am wrong) that it can be dangerous to start a dog on Ivermectin or any heart worm medicines if they may have heartworms. That is what I was told by the vet. It is best to get him tested then get the meds from somewhere else besides vet.

I had one test positive for heartworms and my vet told me I could either go ahead with the more aggressive treatment that would be harder on the dog or go ahead and give him Interceptor and it would prevent any new worms from growing and the adult worms would gradually die off on there own. I chose the Interceptor and it seemed to work fine, dog eventually showed no signs of heartworms.

If you treat a dog for heartworm and it has heart worm bad things can happen.

So are you asking about starting him on preventive? If he has heart worms and you start preventative it will probley kill him. The treatment is expensive. Is he valuable enough to spend that much on? So I guess if you give him preventative and he dies he would any way, if he lives you know he doesn't have them and you are stopping him from getting them. Sounds cold hearted but its a reality. Only you can answer how much is he worth to you.

Check this page by a vet. http://www.oldcountryvet.com/