yearly heart worm testing?

[KennelMom]

How likely is it that dogs get heartworm without medication, what benefits are there from not heartworming a dog.
i used to not really worm a dog regular, just preventiv only once a year.

Heartworm prevention is NOT like "regular de-worming" which is done to rid the dog of intestinal parasites like hookworm, whipworm, etc...Unlike most intestinal worms, heartworm disease can be fatal!

Here's a link to some maps that show the distribution of heartworm carrying mosquito's in the US: Link

Heartworm disease is passed through mosquito bites. If you have mosquitos where you live, your dog can get heartworm infestation. There use to be a shot that lasted 6 months to prevent heartworms, but that has been taken off the market. As far as I know, the only effective, approved way to prevent heartworms at this time are monthly or daily preventatives. Topical and oral are equally effective, though I prefer oral simply because I want to KNOW the preventative has gone into my dog's system.

Here's a map of *reported* heartworm cases in the US in 2005:


Heartworm disease is virtually 100% preventable when prevention is given as directed by the manufacturer. There is simply no reason for a dog that lives in affected areas to contract this disease. And actually, cats can contract heartworms as well....even our cats are on preventative, even though they are 100% indoor cats.

The American Heartworm Society has a lot of great information: http://www.heartwormsociety.org/heart.htm

[Spiritus]

Our area is heartworm free, so none of my dogs are on a regular preventative. If I do travel to a heartworm affected area with my dogs, they get the preventative when we get home. This was advised to me by my vet.

[Rivsky]

We have loads of mozzies around where we live so in my mind heartworm prevantive is essential. I couldn't live with myself if River were to contract it knowing it could so easily have been prevented.

I use a topical but only because it does the lot (all intestinal worms, fleas, mites etc). We do have the yearly heartworm injection here which vets seem to love but I've read about it and aren't 100% comfortable with it but that's just my choice.

[D.Schäferhund]

Ok i know that HW can be fatal,
sorry my brain was thinking faster han i was writing...

I never used to HW because i didn't need to.
When i gave regulare wormer it wasn't more than if once a year!

When I give a HW preventuion here, better a product that does take care of regular worms,too -or one that doesn't?