Heartworm Prevention & Your Dog

Recently, our animal hospital has had an alarming number of pet parents come in for an annual visit with their dog, only to find out that their pet does not have protection against heartworms. Our goal as your veterinarian is to keep your pet as healthy as possible for as long as possible. Using the proper parasite prevention that we recommend is essential for attaining that goal. And it’s important to know where you are purchasing your prevention products from.

Purchasing Effective and Safe Heartworm Preventatives

At Animal Care Hospital, we highly recommend Advantage Multi for flea and heartworm prevention. We offer this product through our in-house pharmacy and our hospital’s online pharmacy. Yet, many pet parents have reported purchasing Advantage from other online stores or from local pet stores. In many of these cases, the owners are purchasing flea products only. The names of these products are similar to Advantage Multi and the packaging is similar as well.

Purchasing directly from your veterinarian (through our in-house or online pharmacies) is the best way to ensure you are purchasing the right medication for your pet. By purchasing from your vet, the medication comes with a guarantee to work as stated by the manufacturer’s warranty and you may also qualify for manufacturer’s rebates. If the website or store you purchase from does not ask for a veterinarian’s prescription or a heartworm test confirmation, you are likely not purchasing heartworm prevention. In addition, you could be putting your pet in danger. Many online pharmacies are not regulated and could be selling you expired, counterfeit, or otherwise damaged medications.

What Are Heartworms and Why Are They Dangerous?

Heartworms are internal parasites that infect your pet through the bite of an infected mosquito. They enter your pet’s bloodstream as larvae and then lodge themselves in the blood vessels of the heart and lungs where they grow, mature, and multiply. One of the most difficult things about this disease is that many pets have either no symptoms or very mild symptoms such as an occasional cough or wheezing. By the time you do notice dramatic symptoms, the disease is in a very dangerous stage.

While we are able to treat heartworm disease, it is very taxing to your pet and costly to you. Preventing the disease entirely with heartworm prevention is both healthier for your pet and much more affordable for you.

Rely on Us for Effective Heartworm Prevention

If you are ever unsure about purchasing your pet’s heartworm prevention, please talk to us. We can help you get the right medication to protect your pet in the safest way possible!