Lela Stratton
Heart-Guard Plus
Advantage Multi
Interceptor Plus
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When you get a dog, it is important to ensure their healthy all the time. Most dog lovers understand the mere importance of preventing the heartworm disease which is very fatal to their dogs and This Heartworm disease is very dangerous for your dog's health and is caused by worms that come from a mosquito which can cause damage to the lungs or even worse cause the heat to fail.
The reason why it is advised that you prevent it rather than cure it is because it is wiser and saves you lots of hospital bills trying to give your dog some treatment caused by heartworm disease. Therefore, it is much cheaper and moreover safer for your dog as well to have the prevention medicine.
The heartworm medicines for dogs are very efficient and are thereby important for preventing the heartworm disease leaving your dog healthier and safe from it as well. When you do not have the prior knowledge of the heartworm disease for dogs as well as the medicine used to prevent it you will have a hard time choosing one for your dog.
This guide will help understand the importance of preventing heartworm disease for your dog as well as know how to do it or which medicines to administer as well.
Best Heartworm Prevention for Dogs List
1
Heart-Guard Plus
The heart-guard plus is a heartworm medicine for dogs that is very efficient in preventing heartworm disease for your dog. It is manufactured with the combination of very effective medications which are namely pyrantel and Ivermectin which are used to treat most parasitic worms that may harm your dog.
The heart-guard plus having helps you prevent other parasitic worms that might harm your dog thereby helps you cut on the cost of buying other medicines after using the heart-guard plus.
When you buy medicine to administer to your dog most times dog lovers will look for the most considerate form of administrations since no one enjoys having to administer medicine to their dogs via syringe since it can be lots of work.
Therefore the heart-guard plus can be efficiently be administered or given to your dog as beef flavor which your dog feeds on as a normal meal and works very effectively.
Pros
Cons
2
Advantage Multi
The Advantage multi is very efficient medicine for your dog cause it used to eradicate the parasites that cause the heartworm disease in dogs thereby efficient for your dog.
The advantage multi is manufactured with a different component such as Moxidectin which is very powerful in preventing heartworm disease. The ingredient Moxidectin is efficient and powerful in that it helps deal with not only heartworms but also roundworms, hookworms, and many others.
The Advantage mult also helps protect your dog against Sarcoptic mange which is a highly fatal and contagious disease which is caused by Sarcoptes mites, these lead to a very itchy and irritating skin for your dog.
The Advantage mult is a multipurpose medicine for your dog since you can easily eradicate other intestinal infections that might occur without having to visit a vet.
The Advantage mult is highly recommended and is administered after your dog has had a bath for its results to be highly effective as expected. You do not have to worry about the medicine being affected by water since it is fully waterproof thereby more efficient after a bath.
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3
Interceptor Plus
The interceptor plus is a very efficient and effective medicine for your dog against heartworm disease for dogs. This is due to the ingredient Milbemycin which not only helps prevent and treat heartworm disease but also eradicates mites and helminths that cause sarcoptic minge.
The Interceptor plus is also efficiently helped by another effective anti-parasite additive called Anthelminthic that helps eradicate most worms from hookworms to roundworms and also whipworms all together. It, therefore, ensures your dog has one of the healthiest intestines any dog could wish for.
The Interceptor plus also contains Praziquantel which is a powerful additive to it to help it eradicate any tapeworm infections that might harm your dog as well. Interceptor Plus is effectively administered through a tablet that can be chewed easily by your dog since it has a chicken flavor hence the dog might not have a problem ingesting it.
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4
Proheart 6
The mere thought of going through a monthly administration of heartworm medicine to your dog might be a lot of work if, for example, you have a hard time keeping track of when to administer your dog with some preventative for heartworm disease if maybe you work a lot and forget some times.
Well, worry not since Proheart 6 is very efficient for your case since it is administered twice yearly. This can save you a lot of work of administering chewable's and applying a spot on to your dog on a monthly basis.
Proheart 6 is very efficient yet seems costly but when carefully analyzed you will realize it's only administered twice a year and is very effective since it's administered by injection hence it goes straight to your dog's system and tissue and eradicates any parasital infections found and works a lot faster than the other administrations.
Proheart 6 medicine also helps eradicate other intestinal parasites such as whipworms, roundworms, hookworms, and Sarpotic manges.
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5
Tri-heart Plus
The tri-heart plus is a very efficient medicine for preventing heartworm disease just as the Heart-guard plus medicine In that it contains the same ingredients found in Heartguard plus that is Ivermectin and Pyrantel which are actively effective in curbing any intestinal parasites that they are expected to cure.
The Tri-heart Plus is not only alike to the Heart-guard plus in the ingredients and additives but the tastes and flavor both have during administration to your dog is also the same hence much affecting as Heartguard medicine. The Triheart plus is also administered once monthly as the Heart-guard plus hence very effective and keeps your dog parasite-free the whole month. It also comes as a tablet that is chewable for your dog just as the Heart-guard plus medicine.
Then difference that the Tri-heart medicine has from the Heartguard itself is that it is slightly cheaper in the market hence will cost you twenty percent less than what Heart-guard plus medicine would. Therefore, it is effective and cheaper if you have a smaller budget required. It might be said that they are the same but they are both very effective as well for your dog.
Pros
Cons
Things to Consider Before Purchasing the Best Heartworm Prevention for Dogs
Just for a quick catchup, heartworm is a deadly disease that may have severe consequences if your favorite pet, especially dogs contract it. For starters, it may lead to lung problems or disease, eventual heart failure and damage of others organs.
However in extreme cases, it results to the death of the pet. Therefore, you may want to prevent this disease instead of waiting to cure it. Generally, the disease is caused by a parasitic worm called Dirofilaria immitis, worms that spread though mosquito bites.
How then do you prevent your dog from contracting this deadly disease? As with other common diseases already discovered, various medicines have been developed to combat this disease and keep your dog safe.
However, just with the common headache in man, the types of medicines that have been manufactured are very many. They vary in many aspects, starting from their market price.
The problem is therefore knowing which medicine will be most effective and worth the value of your money. Having recognized that this is a challenge for many people, we have attempted to give the essential things that you should consider.
I know that this buying guide will be a useful resource in your quest to obtain the best, and you should definitely go through it.
Ease of Administration
You are highly advised to purchase heartworm medicine that will not give you unnecessary difficulties when it comes to giving the do the same. There are three main modes of administration from which you have to choose.
Oral application
This type of administration is practically speaking the most common and the easiest method of administering the medicines. Most often, they come in the form of chewable tablets that are differently flavored.
In most cases, you will find medicines that are brought to you in either real beef flavor or real chicken flavor. This is a common meal that all dogs like. However, you may want to purchase a flavor that is compatible with your dog, as it may be having allergies.
The only problem with this mode of application is that you will be forced to hide the medicine, let’s say in the dog’s food before it consumes it.
Spot-on application
These mode requires that the medication be applied onto the skin of your dog and not on its hairs, so as to achieve maximum efficacy.
This may prove to be a problem under some circumstances. On the one side, you may have difficulty applying these medications. On the other, it may make your pet uncomfortable and give it some uncalled for stress.
A case in point is when your dog has a very strong wiggler. This will affect your ability to restrain it. Further, if your dog happens to be having coats or furs that are difficult to part, you may experience further difficulties applying the medicine unto the skin.
Some may fall on the dog’s hair reducing the effectiveness of the medicine as it will eventually fall off.
Injections
Some other heartworm medicines will come in the form of injectable. This form of administration has been proved to be the most effective in both human beings and animals. There is some scientific rationales behind this.
First, this is owing to the fact that the medicine is directly injected into the skins subcutaneous. Put differently, the medicine is directly administered into the dog’s bloodstream.
Further, the medicines do not have to pass through the stomach, as it then means they would have been required to have the ability to withstand the highly acidic environment in the stomach. The same would have been the case in the small intestines.
Although it may be quite difficult to restrain your dog so as to inject the medicine, the advantages of injectables speak for themselves. Nonetheless, it may not be the best mode for someone who fears injecting the same.
The Price of the Medicine
There are two main types of heartworm preventatives that you are most likely to encounter in the market. The difference will also manifest itself in the prices of the preventatives.
At the one hand, you will find the branded heartworm preventatives that will often be very expensive. However, they may be more effective than their counterparts and many people will be inclined towards them.
On the other hand, you will also encounter generic heartworm preventatives that are usually way less cheap than the branded versions. These always have a tainted image, and most people tend to believe they are different and less effective.
In your attempt to settle for one option between the two, it is important to note that cheap things may be expensive. All good things come at a cost. You are therefore advised to be willing to take the risk and buy quality products, not just sub-standard ones.
In so doing, you should set the amount you are willing to spend on the drugs. Move on to consider all the other requirements that you are looking out for in the medicine. Set apart those that match those requirements.
From there, proceed to weigh one against the other and settle for that which will be friendly to your pocket.
Consistency
Your ability to consistently administer the medicine to your dog and to stick to a regular regimen highly determines whether the preventative medicines will be effective.
Just as with human beings, you ought to religiously administer the medicine in the required dosage before you see any fruits. This is therefore a vital aspect that you should consider before finally settling for a given drug.
The mode of administration may determine how consistent you ought to be in giving your dog the medicine. As pointed out earlier, there are three modes of administration.
The first is the oral application. Falling in this category are mostly the oral chewable medicines, and they ought to be administered once every month.
The second category was the topical spot-on applications. Just like the oral application, this form of medicines need to be religiously applied to the skin of your dog once every month for results.
Lastly, we have the medicines administered through injection. More often, injectable preventatives will tend to have a longer-lasting effect than the other two. They only need to be administered twice every year.
Basically, it therefore means that injectable drugs have a longer duration of effectiveness which is up to six months. Consequently, this screams something with regard to pet owners who may have heeding to the monthly regimen of their dogs.
If you are one such dog owner, you may want to settle for the injectable medicines when you want to purchase drugs.
The Active Components of the Medicine
You should give adequate attention to the ingredients that have been used to prepare the product that you are looking forward to purchase. Is this to say that some of them may be ineffective? No, that is not the case!
While all the components used to make up most preventative heartworm medicines have been proved to be effective, they may have adverse effects on your dog, depending on various factors.
One such case in point would be if your dog has some allergic reactions. You therefore have to ensure that the medicine you are buying does not have some ingredients that will trigger this allergic reactions.
Some of the potential side effects that may be brought about by using the various ingredients include: loss of appetite, lethargy or weakness, dehydration, depression, vomiting or retching, diarrhea, dilated pupils, temporary blindness and muscle spasms.
Further, the medicines may cause disorientation, inability to maintain a steady gait or uncoordinated movements, excessive hypersensitivity to touch or tactile stimulation, too much drooling or salivation and finally, inability to get up after lying down.
It is of utmost importance that you settle for medicine that will have the least possible side effects and that poses no apparent danger to the safety of your dog. This therefore means that you should avoid over the counter drugs and always engage your veterinarian.
The Age and Weight of Your Dog
It is a trite law of nature that the age and weight of your dog, just like a human being, affects the dosage of medication that you should be giving it.
As always, different preventative heartworm medications will come with different recommendations regarding the dosage. This always varies according to the unique qualities recipient.
It is imperative that you choose a dosage that conforms to the age and weight of your dog o as to maximize the effectiveness. Often, an under-dose or an over-dose will always have various repercussions on the health of the pet.
On one end, an under-dose will not give the necessary protection that you are looking forward to achieve. This is owing to the fact that the efficacy is undermined.
On the extreme end, an overdose may cause severe consequences on your dog. This is one possible rationale as to why your dog may develop some potential side effects after consuming the medicine.
Other Additional Advantages of the Drug
It is not uncommon to find a medicine that comes as a complete package to the treatment of more than one disease in pet animals.
The important question that you should therefore be asking yourself is whether you need a drug that specifically prevents heartworm disease in dogs, or that can treat other infections as well.
If your answer is in the positive, then you should proceed to look for the medicine that has those extra ingredients needed for the treatment of other diseases.
The extra treatments include infestation of ticks and fleas and even intestinal parasitism. Looking at the brighter side, this proves to be very economical and worth the value of your money.
Conclusion
Before buying any heartworm medicine for your dog it is advisable that you first test your dog for any intestinal infections or parasites first to be able to know which one to administer effectively as well.
The heartworm disease for dogs is very important and one should focus in preventing it effectively instead if waiting to cure it since it might cost you a lot or you might even notice it too late for your dog, therefore, you have a chance to pick one and keep your dog healthy and safe.
The heartworm medicine I would widely encourage one to go for is the heart-guard plus medicine since it is very effective and efficient in curbing the heartworm disease for dogs at large.
This is because it has a triple-action function of eradicating intestinal parasites and infections for your dog effectively which are; heartworms, hookworms, and roundworms effectively.
And for it to function as expected it is administered by a tablet that your dog can chew easily since it contains a beef flavor added in it to enhance the taste of it hence easily ingested.
Therefore the Heart-guard plus medicine might be a good starting recommendation for your dog against the prevention of heartworm disease effectively.
