Best Heartworm Preventative Treatments For Dogs

Heartworm in dogs is no laughing matter. This vile parasite infiltrates your pet’s heart or lungs and causes severe illness. Although there are heartworm treatments available, they can be costly and exhausting for both you and your dog. Explore the much easier path of preventative care to keep your dog heartworm-free.

What Is Heartworm?

Heartworm is a parasite that can reside in a dog’s heart and pulmonary arteries. Heartworms can grow to be up to one foot long and resemble very thin spaghetti. By feeding on the tissue, they cause direct damage to the heart and arterial walls. Heartworms can also block the pulmonary artery, resulting in decreased blood flow to the heart and lungs, which can cause further damage.

Heartworm disease is extremely dangerous and can be fatal in dogs. Dogs with heartworm can indeed be hospitalized and treated with Melarsomine, an injectable drug, as well as antibiotics that target bacteria associated with heartworm infections. Reduced exercise and cage rest are expected for a few months while the heartworm infection is treated and the dog recovers.

What Causes Heartworm in Dogs?

More than 70 mosquito species are capable of transmitting heartworm between dogs. Several mosquito genera, including Aedes, Anopheles, Culex, and Mansonia, are known to serve as intermediate hosts. If this species of mosquito bites an infected dog, tiny heartworm larvae can grow within its body. Heartworm larvae may be passed on to another dog after 10-14 days if the mosquito bites again.

Symptoms of Heartworm in Dogs

Heartworm disease is often asymptomatic, which means there are no early warning signs. However, after the disease has progressed, the following symptoms can be observed:

  • Loss in weight
  • Respiratory difficulties
  • Reduced workout tolerance/Lethargy
  • Fluid deposition has resulted in a distended abdomen
  • Fainting as a result of a shortage of oxygenated blood in the circulation
  • Hiccups and Coughing

Heartworm Prevention

Fortunately, heartworm is both preventable and treatable.

The trick to protecting your dog’s heart and lungs is to keep heartworm infection at bay in the first place. Avoiding mosquito bites is a good start, but it is not a safe way to guarantee that your dog will not be exposed to heartworm, as it is almost impossible to go through the summer without being bitten by a mosquito.

Heartworms are prevented from developing inside your dog by clinically approved treatments, even though your dog is bitten by many contagious mosquitoes during the summer. Heartworm preventatives are typically administered monthly, and your veterinarian can advise you whether to use a heartworm preventative year-round or seasonally based on your dog’s health.

Though treatment is an option, it can be time-consuming, stressful, and financially draining. The only way to keep your dog away from the diabolical clutches of heartworm is to administer a monthly preventative. Here are a few healthy heartworm treatment choices for dogs.

1 – Nuheart

  • Nuheart for dogs is a highly successful heartworm prevention product for dogs
  • It’s easy to give to dogs as it has a meat-flavored base
  • Nuheart tabs can be quickly dissolved in a small amount of water and blended into the food of fussy dogs
  • It’s a low-cost treatment that’s just as good as more expensive heartworm prevention
  • Suitable for puppies 6 weeks of age and older

2 – Heartgard Plus

  • Heartgard Plus Chewable is a monthly heartworm preventative
  • Heartworm, roundworm, and hookworm prevention
  • True beef is used in this recipe
  • Suitable for puppies 6 weeks of age and older
  • It can be used as both a preventive and a preventative for heartworms

3 – Nexgard Spectra

  • Ticks that cause paralysis, Bush ticks, and Brown Dog ticks are all eliminated
  • In dogs, Nexgard Spectra helps to prevent heartworm disease
  • Flea and tick infestations in dogs are treated and prevented
  • Due to its fast killing action, it protects dogs from flea tapeworm infection
  • Treatment for gastrointestinal nematodes is efficient
  • Controls adult roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm infestations
  • Safe for all breeds dogs 8 weeks of age and weighing 4.4 pounds or more.

4 – Revolution for Dogs

  • Revolution for Dogs is a monthly topical treatment
  • It is non-greasy and dries quickly
  • Heartworm disease is prevented
  • Eliminates fleas, flea eggs, ear mites, scabies, and ticks.

5 – Sentinel Spectrum

  • Sentinel Specturm Chewable tablet once a month
  • Highly palatable beef-flavored tablet
  • Heartworm, roundworm, hookworm, tapeworm, and whipworm are all prevented
  • Eliminates fleas and flea eggs
  • Safe for dogs weighing 2 pounds and more

6 – Interceptor Spectrum

  • Interceptor Spectrum provides protection against roundworm, whipworm, tapeworm and hookworm
  • Aids in the reduction of heartworm infections
  • Highly successful and well-liked by pet owners and veterinarians
  • A cutting-edge worm-control therapy
  • Flavored chew that is both tasty and effective

7 – Advocate for Dogs

  • Advocate for dogs is a spot-on treatment for multiple parasites that is easy to use and works quickly
  • It protects against heartworm infections
  • Within 12 hours, it kills all fleas
  • It prevents flea infestations
  • Within 3–5 minutes, it has an effect on re-infesting fleas
  • It shields dog from the most common gastrointestinal nematode worms
  • Effective treatment for lice, ear mites, Demodex mites, and sarcoptic mange

Regardless of the list of top-rated and highly successful heartworm treatments, it is important to address heartworm prevention for your dog with your veterinarian. And we’re confident that you’ll get one of the treatments mentioned above. Other precautions to remember include medication consistency, the use of a single type of treatment, and the use of an acceptable dose of product.