Heartworms

[ACAkeyla]

I was wondering when my Basenji puppy should start heartworm meds? And I also read that Basenji's should be treated for heartworms by its self, not with whipworms, roundworms, etc? Is that true?

Thanks!

[sharronhurlbut]

You need to have a vet check for heartworms for your b before treatments begin.
Its a simple blood test.
YOU want to know if the heartworms are there before you start a preventative.

[renaultf1]

I've never heard that about only preventing for heartworm and not whipworms, etc. I use Interceptor (only from May - October, as there aren't mosquitoes here year round - and then have them tested each spring) on my 2 adult bs and my 5mo old pup. The med (mylbemycin) in Interceptor prevents other sorts of worms besides heartworm.

My vet wanted Liyah (my pup) to go thru a heartworm season (Maine is cold - not many mosquitoes yet) with preventative and then be tested this time next year. She had me start Liyah on meds this past Saturday (3 days before she turns 5 months).

I would check with your vet though…I think you need a prescription thru them anyway for the meds.

[renaultf1]

@sharronhurlbut:

You need to have a vet check for heartworms for your b before treatments begin.
Its a simple blood test.
YOU want to know if the heartworms are there before you start a preventative.

My vet wants Liyah to go thru a season on preventative and then be tested next spring (I live in Maine so mosquitoes are just starting here and she hasn't been exposed)…they didn't do a blood test when I had her at the vet on Friday - and we just purchased more Interceptor. The adults had blood tests.

[tanza]

Puppies can start on Heartworm as young as 8 weeks… and being in Texas, I would not start without the blood test first.

I gave for years the Heartguard Plus that had both heartworm and for whip/round with never a problem... but since I have never had a problem with worms (and never had a litter that had worms or needed to be wormed either) (other then the few times with Tape from eating "critters they caught" on the adults) I just give straight up plain heartworm. One of my pups has a reaction to Heartguard and we put her on Interceptor and no more problems. Here where we are in California we (at least I do) give year round and I would suppect in Texas it should be year round also... and really, it is not that much more expensive to do.

[renaultf1]

One more thing regarding Heartgard Plus (Ivermectin) - there are documented seizure issues in some breeds (collies, whippets, some others) and that was enough for me to read when researching to put the kids on Interceptor instead. I believe the info is on Merial's Heartgard website regarding seizures…I think that was where I saw it.

I was just thinking about it and I remember the reason why Liyah could just start on preventative...because mosquitoes are just starting out here and Liyah hadn't really been exposed yet. So for her it was safe to start without the blood work. Hey, tonight it is in the 20s here...mosquitoes don't do well in that!

[ACAkeyla]

Thank you for the great info. I will probably get her tested first because she has gone so long without in any prevention. I hope everything will be okay. It sounds like Interceptor would be the best to use? The vet gave us a 6 months supply last time we were there so I'll start her on the meds June 1st.

[renaultf1]

@AC~Akeyla:

Thank you for the great info. I will probably get her tested first because she has gone so long without in any prevention. I hope everything will be okay. It sounds like Interceptor would be the best to use? The vet gave us a 6 months supply last time we were there so I'll start her on the meds June 1st.

Actually, when you have the blood test, you are technically supposed to start the medicine right after. So I wouldn't wait a couple of weeks to start it. Yes, please have her tested first.

[tanza]

@renaultf1:

Actually, when you have the blood test, you are technically supposed to start the medicine right after. So I wouldn't wait a couple of weeks to start it. Yes, please have her tested first.

Agreed… should be started the same day as you get the results... or so they say.... like I said, I would not know, because once I start.. they are on forever.... since we have "critters" year round... even while we have a few "frosty" days... we still have days that the critters are out year round... as I would suppect you do in Texas also... much different the the Northeast/Mid West.. that they really have a hard freeze for a more then a few months out of the year.... When I lived in Conn... I did heartworm from the first hard freeze to the first spring thaw.....

[wizard]

Best to have your vet do the blood test and make a recommendation rather than self medicating.

[ACAkeyla]

So we took Akeyla to the vet for her heartworm check…everything went great! We will start her on heartworm prevention today