What age is too old or too young to begin giving my puppy heartworm medication?

Question

I have a Pug puppy who is about 7 months old. She has shots but I want to begin giving her preventative heartworm medication as soon as possible, but I heard something about having to do it before a certain age... Is that true? I think someone told me that I need to start it by 6 months of age... Will it be just as effective if I start now? I'm hoping it's not true about needing to get it before 6 months... I'm just wondering what the facts are.
Thanks!

Answer 1

FACT- you can still start the dog on Heart worm preventative like Interceptor monthly. BUT....you need to take the dog to the VET first & have a Heart worm test done, to make sure your dog doesn't already have adult heart worms, if your dog does, then giving a preventative instead of treatment can actually be very harmful to your dog.



You need to talk with your Veterinarian about a heart worm test & then starting the dog on a monthly preventative.





Rogue Bullies-your VET may have something different.

My VET however requires a test before the preventative. My VET doesn't even carry heart-guard!!!

So NO I'm not wrong, you are just being an idiot.

Answer 2

No, it is not too late to start your pup on Heartworm preventative. However, all dogs over the age of 6 months MUST have a Heartworm blood test that comes back as negative before the preventative can be administered.

Answer 3

Heartworm preventatives are typically started in puppies four weeks of age or older, and weighing two pounds or more. As with any heartworm preventives, dogs must be tested for heartworm prior to using it.



You need to consult a vet before starting this treatment. There are many different types of heartworm preventatives out there, and only your vet can decide which is best.



Heartwork is very serious, so please contact your Vet and get started on monthly prevention.

Answer 4

Now is the time to start HWP. They don't need to be tested till 9-10 months old. HW's cannot be detected until they are mature which takes 6 months from initial infection from a mosquito. HWP kills off HW's after infection so the name (heartworm PREVENTION) is deceiving. You are really killing any heartworms that may already be there. Anyhow, start now (Interceptor or Program are good since they also provide a general dewormer). And while your at the vet, set up you HWT. No real vet will sell you HWP after 10 months old without a HWT. If you pup had adult HW's and you gave him HWP, you could easily kill him as the now dead HW's clog his heart.

Answer 5

Your pup is not too young to start Heart worm prevention. You can only get the medication through a licensed Veterinarian. They will first have to run a heart worm test before starting your dog on the prevention.

Answer 6

You can start heartworm prevention at any age. The puppy will need to have a blood test first, to make sure that she isn't already infected.

Answer 7

can a dog be too old to be wormed?

Answer 8

WRONG EVERYONE! I just talked to my vet about this. They have to wait 6 months until they can get worm test after taking heart guard. They told me when a dog has heart worms the first thing they do it put them on heart guard and they can't tell if they have the worms until later in the process.



The fact is to go to your vet and talk to them about it. They will put your dog on heart guard and then have you take a test 6 months later. Your dog is not to young my pup started on heart guard at 8 weeks and vet told me to start him on it then. When he was 6 months he get his first heart worm test done.



EDIT: Why is everyone saying they need to test done before they get on heart guard? My vet just told me the first thing they do when a dog has heart worm is put them on heart guard. Heart guard is not like the old ones that use to effect the dog if it had heart worms heart guard helps the treament of heart worms. I just talked to my vet about this and this is what they told me.



Chi girl - Well as for heart guard that is what you are suppose to do and I am not being an idiot I am being truthful of what my clinic told me. Most vet clinics use heart guard. They told me some of the older medications out of date crap use to harm a dog if it had heart worms already, but heart guard helps with heart worms and they put your dog on it if they have it or not.

Answer 9

they can start preventative before 7 months old, however at 7mo. is when she will need to be tested for the first time so now is a great age to get that going...