If you miss a month of heartworm prevention, your pet may be unprotected and at risk of infection, as monthly medications only kill larvae that have been transmitted in the last 30 days. You should give the missed dose immediately and contact your veterinarian for specific guidance.
The American Heartworm Society has recommended year-round heartworm protection, without missing a dose. A missed heartworm pill leaves your pet exposed to becoming infected, which can happen even in winter. Making monthly heartworm medication part of your pet's health care regimen makes it easier to remember.
How long can a dog go without heartworm pills? Heartworm prevention medication should ideally be administered to your dog every 30 days. If a dose is missed, you'll have 15 days to administer the dose before your pet is likely to become infected.
You need to consult your veterinarian, and immediately re-start your dog on monthly preventive—then retest your dog 6 months later. The reason for re-testing is that heartworms must be approximately 7 months old before the infection can be diagnosed.
The mechanism of how Heartgard medication functions is quite intricate, but essentially, you have more than 30 days; there is typically a grace period of one to two weeks. It is advisable to administer it every 30 days to ensure optimal protection, but taking it 45 days once should not pose a significant issue.
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).
Use heartworm prevention medication year-round
Pets must have the proper amount of heartworm prevention medication in their blood for it to work correctly. If mosquitoes emerge early in the year, pets that haven't received heartworm prevention medication during the winter run the risk of getting heartworms.
Not all dogs with heartworm disease develop caval syndrome. However, if left untreated, heartworm disease will progress and damage the dog's heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys, eventually causing death.
The cough associated with heartworm disease in dogs is often likened to the sound of a goose honking. If your dog tends to get into coughing fits after activity or eating, and if those coughs sound harsh and honk-like, then she may have heartworm disease or another heart related concern.
Dogs in this condition are not likely to live more than a few weeks or months. Your veterinarian will advise you on the best treatment approach for dogs diagnosed with advanced heartworm disease. Treatment to kill adult heartworms requires an injectable drug, melarsomine (brand name Immiticide®or Diroban®).
If you miss a dose, give it as soon as you remember, and then continue with the regular dosing schedule. However, if it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and resume the regular dosing schedule. Do not give the pet two doses at once.
Because heartworms must be eliminated before they reach this adult stage, it is extremely important that heartworm preventives be administered strictly on schedule (monthly for oral and topical products and every 6 months or 12 months for the injectable).
Common indicators of heartworm infection are as follows:
If you realize you've missed your pet's heartworm medicine by a few days, give the missed dose as soon as you remember, then return to your regular schedule. However, if it's been longer (especially more than a month), don't just resume as normal.
The first 7 -10 days after heartworm treatment are the most dangerous. But your dog is not out of the woods for several weeks more. These side effects are happening because the dead worms are breaking up and being carried into the lungs where they cause severe inflammation. With time, the body absorbs them.
Approximately 1 in 500 cats nationwide test positive for heartworms each year. Heartworm rates are higher in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, where 1 in 200 cats tested positive (see Louisiana-specific news release).
The dog has trouble breathing and has signs of heart failure. Stage 4: There are so many worms in the dog's heart that blood flow is blocked; this is also called caval syndrome. Caval syndrome can only be treated with a risky surgery to remove the worms. Even with surgery, most dogs with caval syndrome die.
Early Symptoms of Lungworm in Dogs
Myth #3: If my pet has heartworms, I will see them in her feces. Although many worm types, such as roundworms and tiny hookworms, are shed in your pet's feces, heartworms do not live in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and are not found in feces.
And that is what is taken up by a mosquito. It matures inside the mosquito, and then a mosquito can bite an uninfected dog and transmit the baby worms into their bloodstream. Once those baby worms have a chance to mature over the next six months, they become the adult heartworms that you see in the heart.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that herbs such as garlic, black walnut and wormwood, and the homeopathic heartworm nosode, may actually prevent as well as treat infection. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find substantive proof that these therapies can reliably and safely prevent or treat infection or disease.
Lethargy and reluctance to exercise are common signs described in dogs with advanced heartworm disease. If your pet loses interest in going for walks or is fatigued after activity, it may be a sign of heartworm disease.
The temperature cannot drop below 57°F during this time frame or either the mosquito will die or the development of the heartworm will stop.
In most parts of the country, exposure risk is greatest during the warm months of summer and early fall.
How often do I give my dog HEARTGARD Plus chews? Give your dog a HEARTGARD Plus chew once a month, year-round.