When it comes to your dog’s health, you shouldn’t take any chances. Ensuring the best health for your dog is a must. Did you know that an increasing number of dogs are potential victims of the deadly heartworm disease? Your precious canine friend could be one of them. Usually transmitted by mosquitoes, heartworm is a parasite that typically infects the lungs and heart. If the disease is left untreated, a dog will most likely die of heart failure. You don’t want your dog to suffer, do you? Thus, it pays to prevent heartworm disease early on rather than treating it when your dog is already infected. Treatment can be expensive and complicated.

You can protect your pet against heartworm infections by giving him the proper medication. One way to do that is to administer Heartgard For Dogs. It is a medicine that can fight parasitic worms, thus saving your pet from heartworm infection. Here are some essential steps you must keep in mind before and during the process of feeding your dog with Heartgard.

Before the medication
Visit your veterinarian first to have your dog’s blood tested for heartworm disease. If your pet has been tested positive for heartworm disease, then ask your vet about the necessary treatments. Otherwise, you may proceed to getting a Heartgard as a preventive medicine for your dog. But before you leave the vet’s clinic, ask for a prescription for this medicine. You will not be able to buy Heartgard For Dogs without prescription. In addition, your puppy or dog must be older than six weeks of age before he can take the medication.

When shopping for the appropriate Heartgard for your dog, make sure to read the product label first. The label contains necessary information such as the medicine’s benefits, dog’s weight to which the product is appropriate, and the amount of ingredients that the medicine contains. Also, make sure that you get the one that is right for your dog’s weight to avoid insufficient or excessive dosage of the medicine.

How to use

Each box of Heartgard For Dogs contains six chewable tablets. Don’t take out a tablet from its wrapper until it’s ready to be given to your pet. Because it tastes good for dogs, the Heartgard chewable can be offered by hand to your pet. You can also mix the medicine to your dog’s food. Moreover, make sure that your dog does not swallow it whole. Give it in a manner that makes your dog chew it rather than swallow it. One strategy you can use is to break the chewable into pieces and then feed them to your dog. Or you can crumble the medicine before mixing it with your dog’s food.

Dosage

Heartgard For Dogs should be given orally once every month. Ideally, the medicine should be given on the same day of every month. To help you remember the day when you must administer Heartgard, the medicine’s package comes with stickers. Use them so that your dog won’t miss a single dose. Heartgard becomes less effective when you fail to give the right doses. Ivermectin, an active ingredient in Heartgard, kills growing heartworms in a dog’s heart. And if your dog misses his Heartgard doses, the heartworms might grow to the extent that the medicine could no longer fight them. The medicine must also be administered monthly for the rest of your dog’s lifetime.

Overdosage is not good for your dog, either. Be careful not to give your pet more than what is indicated in the product’s label. But once it happens, seek medical help from your vet. Signs of Heartgard overdose include weight loss, diarrhea, and vomiting.

Side effects

Once you have started using Heartgard for your dog’s medication, monitor your dog’s digestive condition. In rare cases, dogs experience digestive problems at the onset of Heartgard For Dogs medication. In addition, some dogs develop neurological damage because of taking in heartworm preventive medications. This also occurs rarely. But you still need to observe your dog—watch out for any staggered walking and other unusual behaviors. If your dog experiences one of or both conditions, discontinue the medication and ask help from your vet.