What if my pet has missed a month of heartworm prevention? The simplest answer to those who miss a month of heartworm prevention is to give the dose immediately and restart the monthly preventative schedule.
If you forget a month of preventative, make sure to give the next 2 doses on time to "catch up" for that missed month. If you miss several months in a row, you should give your vet a call for advice on when to plan for the next heartworm test and how to get started back on preventatives.
Because administering a preventative every 45 days is hard to remember, the easy-to-follow recommendation is to give the heartworm preventative every 30 days.
A: Give the dose you missed immediately, then continue giving the medication on the day you've always given it. If the missed dose is more than 2 weeks late, your dog should be tested for heartworm again in six months (click here to learn why). Want a free monthly reminder so you don't forget to give preventatives?
However, due to the heartworm life-cycle, it is likely that giving the medication every 45 to 60 days, rather than every 30 days, will allow immature heartworms to develop into adult heartworms. In other words, heartworm prevention medication is not effective when given every 45 to 60 days.
I have missed 2 months of heartworm prevention for my dog. What should I do? You need to consult your veterinarian, and immediately re-start your dog on monthly preventive—then retest your dog 6 months later.
Most of the monthly heartworm medicines have a safety factor of at least 15 days of protection if a dose is missed. This means that if you're just a week or two late, your pet is likely still within that window of protection and would be unlikely to become infected during that time.
There should be no physical activity for 6 weeks or until cleared by the veterinarian. No play, no running. Active dogs that have a hard time resting after treatment, may be prescribed calming meds during recovery. The recovery period is a great time to train the brain.
Talk to your dog's veterinarian to decide which preventive is best for your dog. The American Heartworm Society advocates to “Think 12." Give dogs 12 months of heartworm prevention and get them tested for heartworms every 12 months.
If you miss that monthly dose, your pet is at a potential risk of getting flea or tick bites, which can transmit some serious diseases. Heartworm preventive medicine is especially important to keep on schedule for your pet.
Signs of heartworm disease may include a mild persistent cough, reluctance to exercise, fatigue after moderate activity, decreased appetite, and weight loss. As heartworm disease progresses, pets may develop heart failure and the appearance of a swollen belly due to excess fluid in the abdomen.
Treatment Requires a Vet's Help
Once a positive test is confirmed, our veterinarians (in alignment with the American Heartworm Society) recommend treating adult heartworm infections with 3 treatments (injections) of a drug called melarsomine.
Dogs can live for at least six to seven months after becoming infected with heartworms. This is because it takes that long for adult heartworms to grow.
If a dose is missed, give SIMPARICA TRIO immediately and resume monthly dosing. When replacing a monthly heartworm preventive product, SIMPARICA TRIO should be given within one month of the last dose of the former medication.
Your preventative works by killing the larvae that have infected your dog during the PREVIOUS 30 days. Many people think it protects for the next 30 days, but it doesn't. If you are not consistent with your preventative, it is possible that some larvae may reach the stage which is not affected by the preventative.
Enforced Rest is ESSENTIAL! Positively NO Strenuous Exercise for 8 weeks! The heartworms will die over the next 6 weeks. As they die and are broken down, pieces of them could lodge in other parts of the body's blood vessels, causing unnecessary complications–if your pet's activity is too strenuous.
Although there are fewer mosquitoes in the winter, there is still a risk that your pet could get heartworms if you stop giving heartworm prevention medication during this season. That's one reason veterinarians strongly recommend pets receive heartworm prevention medication year-round.
Because no preventative is 100% effective and many pet owners (including those of us who work in veterinary medicine) are not always diligent to give their dog's heartworm preventative exactly once a month, we do also recommend testing your dog every year for heartworm disease, even if they remain on a preventative ...
Yes, your dog can get heartworms multiple times. For this reason, lifetime heartworm disease prevention can be important. It is highly recommended that you talk with your veterinarian about heartworm disease prevention before making a determination about what is best for your dog.
Prognosis: heartworm treatment success rates
With the three-dose adulticide protocol described above, in conjunction with doxycycline and macrocyclic lactones as recommended by the American Heartworm Society, 98% of dogs will be cleared of heartworm infection.
Dogs with heartworm disease can live high-quality lives as long as they are given appropriate care. After completing treatment and following your veterinarian's recommenda- tions on heartworm disease testing and prevention, the chances of any long-term effects are very low.
Restrict exercise.
But your dog's normal physical activities must be restricted as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed, because physical exertion increases the rate at which the heartworms cause damage in the heart and lungs. The more severe the symptoms, the less activity your dog should have.
If given to a heartworm positive dog by accident
In most cases no reaction of any kind occurs when an ivermectin-based heartworm preventive is given to a heartworm positive dog. In fact, giving an ivermectin-based heartworm preventive to an infected dog is the first step in heartworm infection treatment.
Dogs that have a high number of heartworms often develop symptoms such as pronounced and persistent coughing, difficulty breathing, and exercise intolerance. In more severe cases, dogs may also experience fainting or collapse, pale mucous membranes, weakness, elevated heart rate (tachycardia) and severe lethargy.