Heartgard and Heartgard Plus are veterinary medicines intended to prevent heartworm disease by eliminating the tissue stage of heartworm larvae for a month after infection. It can also prevent ascarids and hookworms. It is made with beef, so it's generally appealing to dogs, but some pets may refuse to eat it without encouragement.
Things You'll Need
- Heartgard Plus tablets
- Dog treats
- Peanut butter
- Scrambled eggs or beef stew
Instructions
Remove the appropriate chewable tablet from the foil-backed card. There are three different color-coded tablets, each appropriate for different sized dogs: 0-25 lbs. receive tablets in blue packaging, 26-50 lbs. receive green tablets, and 51-100 lbs. receive brown tablets. Dogs larger than 100 lbs. should receive a combination of tablets that equal their weight.
Feed the tablets to the dog. The tablet should be chewed for maximum benefit, so if your dog tends to swallow treats whole, break the tablet up into smaller pieces. If the dog refuses to eat the tablets, proceed to step 3.
Give your dog several treats of a similar size to the Heartgard tablet. Once the dog has eaten several of these in a row, switch to the Heartgard tablet. With luck, the dog will eat the tablet thinking it is a treat. If the dog refuses to eat the tablet, proceed to step 4.
Break the tablets into small pieces and coat them with peanut butter. The stickiness of the peanut butter will discourage dogs from swallowing it whole, and the flavor should disguise the Heartgard tablet. If the dog refuses to eat the tablet, proceed to step 5.
Mix the Heartgard tablet into a meal the dog enjoys but doesn't often receive. Scrambled eggs and gravy-covered meat--such as a leftover stew--are both popular with dogs and often eaten quickly.