Heart worm Tests and Vaccinations for Dogs

I asked my vet about giving vaccinations every 3 years to the cats and she agreed is that the same for dogs? I have been vaccinating my dog annually but would love to save a few bucks if it is also recommended every 3 years for dogs also.

And do dogs need to be tested for heart worms every year? I recall someone telling me their vet did every other year. I never miss giving my dog the heartworm meds so I feel she should be safe to test every other year. My vet bill would be significantly lower if I did not have to do those yearly.

the heartworm preventative is the biggest suspect in Gigi s ATYPICAL cushings ... I will never give it to another dog of mine...

We've had several cases of heartworm locally, so I give the meds every month.

My vet leaves testing up to me, if I've been on heartworm preventative year round. That said, I test just because I'm paranoid....what if one of the dogs has heartworm & I miss it?

Vaccinations I do yearly because my vet is too stubborn to go 3 years.

My mother has had 2 dogs get heartworms and my husband's aunt's dog was just to pts due to heartworms last year. I will not risk my dog getting heartworms by not giving the preventatives.

I found this site and it gave me really good info http://www.heartwormsociety.org/article.asp?id=48

Because I know for a fact my dog has not missed a dose, if my vet will allow me I will test every other year.

Originally Posted by kitytize

My mother has had 2 dogs get heartworms and my husband's aunt's dog was just to pts due to heartworms last year. I will not risk my dog getting heartworms by not giving the preventatives.

I found this site and it gave me really good info http://www.heartwormsociety.org/article.asp?id=48

Because I know for a fact my dog has not missed a dose, if my vet will allow me I will test every other year.

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Just realize YOU ARE Risking there "senior yrs " by giving the prevention which is mainly a high power wormer( IE POISON ... ...

I would likely rethink prevention if I lived in a heavy heart worm area, but alas I dont three cases in 5 yrs ... When I gave Gigi hers we were in a moderate area and she was tested yearly....

And if you have to treat them for heartworm, you are giving an even bigger dose of POISON and in a shorter amount of time.

Neither choice is perfect, but in areas where heartworm is an issue, it is the responsible thing to do. My vet has a map of our town on his office wall with pins marking the home of a pet with heartworms. He uses a different color for each year. Very sad in a town of 250,000.

We took in my b-i-l's puppy years ago. Positive for heartworm and the treatment was hard on him.

It would be interesting to see the statistics on issues from taking the meds and from treating heartworm.

BTW, I have two dogs whose breed has issues with severe reactions to heartworm meds. They have tested negative for the gene.

I do heartworm testing yearly on Perky because there are rare cases where they get it even on the preventatives, so I don't want to take any chances of missing something. I wouldn't give preventatives if we were in a low-risk area, but it is pretty common around here.. You hear about quite a few dogs at the shelter being put down because they test positive, and it seems like the rescues are always looking to round up money to treat a postive dog.

As for vaccinations, I only do rabies yearly as required by law. I haven't quite decided how often the others should be done, but I don't believe yearly is necessary. Perky got her puppy shots and first year boosters, then boosters every 5ish years I think for the higher risk stuff.

Originally Posted by sharky

the heartworm preventative is the biggest suspect in Gigi s ATYPICAL cushings ... I will never give it to another dog of mine...

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I'm curious to know if you wouldn't mind sharing which type of heartworm medicine you were using (would you PM me please if you don't wish to say in public?)? There are a few different choices of active ingredients, some newer than others. I live in an area where heartworm infection is pretty much guaranteed if dogs aren't kept on prevention year-round, so I'm curious to know if one type of heartworm prevention might be more problematic than the others.

Originally Posted by wishiwas

IYou hear about quite a few dogs at the shelter being put down because they test positive, and it seems like the rescues are always looking to round up money to treat a postive dog.

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Around here, almost every adult dog in the shelters is either currently being treated for heartworm infection, or has just been treated.


Our vet doesn't require yearly testing if a dog is kept current on prevention, but they do recommend it annually, or at least every couple of years. It is unusual but not entirely unheard of for a dog on prevention to still get heartworms.

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Kitytize - On the question of vaccination, you can discuss the risks vs. benefits with your vet, but please don't use not needing to vaccinate every year as a reason to skip annual physical examinations - annual exams (every 6 months in senior pets) are very important, even if your pet doesn't need vaccination.