Heartguard/flea meds

I have a few questions.......
I was reading the boards this Am and I noticed that alot of people give their cats heartguard. My vet told me that since Stormy is an inside cat she does not need it?? So now Im confused I do have frontline for her in the spring time for fleas, but there also the vet told me from November until February I dont need to give it to her because the fleas are not a problem then. So my questions are.......does Stormy need heartguard? And should I be worrying about fleas all year round. I treat my dog with heartguard and frontline and the heartguard is year round but I only treat her for fleas from March through October........
Any insight advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

I can only tell you that we do not treat our cats with Heartguard. We use Advantage from our vets during our spring and summer months just as you do as fleas really are no problem here in the winter. Our cats go outside on harness and leash and that is why we treat them with Advantage. If they were totally indoor cats I wouldn't even use the Advantage.

Perhaps you need to talk to your vet and get him/her to explain about the Heartguard and if you aren't entirely confident with their answer, get a second opinion. That's my best advice.

Under normal circumstances, I would agree with Yosemite. The biggest problem in our present times is that, after the Hurricanes, I'm sure you have local rescues who have taken animals from the south. The problem is, most of them have heartworm. Heartworm is transmitted when a mosquito, bites a dog or a cat with heartworm, and then goes and bites another dog or cat.

I don't know if Heartworm is common in your area. Here in the northwest, it isn't much of a problem. However, I treat my animals with Revolution, it covers, fleas, ear mites, and heartworm. And that way, everyone is protected. At the clinic I work at right now there are two dogs who have it, who came from Louisiana. Generally, with things like that I don't want to mess around.

Had the rescues not been bringing up these infested dogs and cats, it wouldn't be a concern for me, but it is something to think about.

Originally Posted by Plebayo

Under normal circumstances, I would agree with Yosemite. The biggest problem in our present times is that, after the Hurricanes, I'm sure you have local rescues who have taken animals from the south. The problem is, most of them have heartworm. Heartworm is transmitted when a mosquito, bites a dog or a cat with heartworm, and then goes and bites another dog or cat.

I don't know if Heartworm is common in your area. Here in the northwest, it isn't much of a problem. However, I treat my animals with Revolution, it covers, fleas, ear mites, and heartworm. And that way, everyone is protected. At the clinic I work at right now there are two dogs who have it, who came from Louisiana. Generally, with things like that I don't want to mess around.

Had the rescues not been bringing up these infested dogs and cats, it wouldn't be a concern for me, but it is something to think about.

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Excellent advice. I've actually never heard of a heartworm case in our area but you are obviously very much aware of this problem due to the horrible hurricane devastation this year.

I've also read here that Revolution is better than Advantage in that it protects against the ear mites and heartworm as well.

I had Dori on Heartguard during "mosquito season" this past summer. We had a larger than normal number of mosquitos and we were in the new house. We have a pool so the sliding glass door was constantly being opened and closed when people were over and I noticed mosquitos were coming in. Dori is an indoor only cat but it made a little worried. Before this year though I didn't treat her with it.

Excellent advice. I've actually never heard of a heartworm case in our area but you are obviously very much aware of this problem due to the horrible hurricane devastation this year..

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Thanks! Yeah, well it just so happens my clinic works with a "lovely" rescue. I hate them with a passion actually. But we just sent two cases home [after they were at rest with us all week]. Heartworm really isn't an issue here in the northwest, and in all of my short 17 years of living, I have never thought of treating my pets, and my parents certainly never did. But with rescues like the one I work with who brought in 30-40 dogs and cats, it is a concern. Here in Oregon we have multiple rescues who brought in animals in. So it is a bit concerning.

As far as Advantage/Revolution comparison. I think technically Advantage is better flea control, in that is SPECIFICALLY targets fleas, if you had a hardcore infestation, that might be the way to go. I like revolution because it covers so many things and when I first used it, it killed the fleas on my cat within 8 hours which was pretty impressive. I just figure, if you want heartworm protection, why buy two products when you can buy one [which is hopefully cheaper].