heart worm?

[edrabbit]

how come if you start a dog on the treatment they can never be taken off and what if you miss a month

[edrabbit]

ttt

[flatpick]

You can stop heartworm(hw) treatment whenever you want, but then your pet is exposed to hw infection. It works like this, hw meds will stick with a dog for about 35 to 40 days. If the dog is infected during this time, the hw larvae die. No problem. Without meds, after an infected mosquito bites your dog and the dog is infected with the hw larvae, it takes them (the larvae) about 3 days to develop into worms. They then take up residence in your dogs heart. About 30 days later, they start producing filia that resides in the dogs bloodstream. When bitten by a mosquito, the mosquito now can infect more animals. If you skip a month, you expose your dog to infection. I live in eastern Tennessee, and after Thanksgiving, mosquitos are all gone. I don't give heartworm meds until about March, or until I see a mosquito. Haven't had a positive hw check in all the time I have been using meds. I use ivomec. Search this forum for info if you need it.

Use the meds for hw and other worm, and see a vet. If you care about the dogs, take care of them.
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