According to the American Heartworm Society, only about 55 percent of American dogs currently take heartworm preventives. This means that 27 million unprotected dogs are at risk for developing heartworm disease. Heartworm is potentially fatal; its parasitic worms invade the heart and surrounding blood vessels. Pet owners can prevent the disease easily, however, by giving their pets heartworm preventives such as Heartgard regularly.
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Identification
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Heartgard is a preventive medicine given to dogs and cats to prevent heartworm. Produced by Merial, an animal health company, Heartgard should be given monthly as an oral medication, either in tablets or in chewable treats flavored with beef.
Function
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Heartgard, which uses the drug known as ivermectin, works by removing the heartworm larvae that contaminate dogs and cats. The larvae live in an animal's blood or tissue and are fairly harmless while in the juvenile stages. The medication prevents the larvae from maturing, sparing the pet from disease and controlling any heartworm infections that may be acquired during the preceding 4 months--but only if the pet has been given monthly treatments for least 12 months.
Dosages
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Dosages for Heartgard medications are determined by the weight of your pet. Heartgard is available in three different boxes--red, green or brown, according to your pet's weight. The standard for dosages is 6 mcg ivermectin for each kg of weight (2.72 mcg/lb.) and 5 mg pyrantel (pamoate salt) per kg (2.27 mg/lb.) of body weight.
Tips for Giving Heartgard
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If your pet is hesitant to chew a tablet, break it up in pieces and give your pet small dosages mixed with its favorite dog food. Or, make the mixture more enticing by adding human food such as broiled hamburger meat. When he consumes all of it, lavish him with praise, saying, "Good boy! You ate your treat!"
Reminder Aides
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Keep a visible calendar on which you circle the date when the next month's Heartgard tablet is due. To help you remember, your box of Heartgard tablets contains stickers of red hearts that you can stick on your calendar. Also, have a friend or someone who lives with you remind you not to forget when a tablet is due. To make it easy, give Heartgard on the same day of the month, every month, such as the first or last day.
Warnings
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Heartgard must be given every month. If you miss a month, you must get your pet retested to be able to buy more.
Also, do not give Heartgard to dogs with existing worm infections. Cats can get heartworms, as well, although it's harder for heartworms to infect them.
Just as dogs, cats should be tested for heartworm infections before they're given heartworm medications. You can give Heartgard to cats that have existing heartworm infection safely, but you should not give infected dogs heartworm medicine. The infection should be treated by other methods before starting a heartworm preventive program.
Do not go under or over the recommended dosage; this can cause serious side effects such as blindness and even death.
Do not give Heartgard without supervising your pet to ensure it consumes the full dosage.
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