should i get my labrador checked for heartworm?

Question

should I get my 16 week old chocolate labrador checked for heartworm.
Given it is the No1 disease for dogs in the USA but I live in the UK...Merseyside.

Answer 1

Hi there!

Heartworm is not prevelant within the UK. I am a veterinary nurse and have never seen or heard of a case within the UK. Some flea treatments that you can buy from the vets do protect against heartworm.

I would speak to your veterinary surgeon their opinion.
One thing to take into account is the cost of the test, thats if the vets you go to does it.
hope this helps!

Answer 2

NO

First 16 weeks he is too young to have gotton HW. They need to be put on preventative before they are 6 months. You can start now.

Second Cancer is the #1 killer in dogs and bloat is the #2 killer.

Heartworm is horrible. Worse than Parvo. Parvo they can only treat the symptoms. Heartworm the treatment requires two stays for about two days at the vet for two separate months. They have to stay so that the Dr can make sure the POISON injected into the spine of the dog does not kill the dog. When your pet comes home from each of these visits he will be sensitive to anyone touching or rubbing his back. You have to keep them in a crate 24-7 except for potty on leash only. They can not play or run. They can not get their heart rate up in anyway. The poison kills the worms but if their heart rate goes up it could release the dead worms into the lungs.

YOU NEVER GIVE HEARTWORM PREVENTATIVE TO AN ADULT DOG WITHOUT BEING TESTED NEGATIVE!!! Six months is our cut off - we test. (My 14 yr old daughter has been testing for HW for 3 years) They dog will blead out. This is when the bleed internally and blood will come out of every oriface!!!

I kept my first HW survivor. It destroyed me taking her through those treatments. I had been told they were fine after treatment. Once the worm is gone they are fine. They are not fine even after the worm is gone. There was massive Heart damage to this beautiful dog and no one wanted her. Well now she is running and jumping on the other dogs. She is getting better and there is new heart tissue growing but the treatment is so painful and horribly sad to watch. I rescued and promised her a better life and she went through H*LL.

Answer 3

Heartworm prevention YES...however we here in New York do not test untill 6-9months old. Because there is a 6 month incubation period before it would even show up positive on a test.
But yes do start the preventative now!

Heartworm is treatable...how ever the preventative and testing is MUCH cheaper than the treatment. The treatment is not always a 100% cure...the treatment it's self can be fatal.

Answer 4

Heartworm takes three months to develop, so unless your pup was outside in mosquito infested areas at four weeks old, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Also, if the momma dog was on heartworm preventative, that prevention gets passed through her milk to the pups so that pretty much eliminated any risk of a pups having heartworms this young.

Your vet will prescribe you some preventative to give the pup (be sure to keep giving this treatment year round) and there should be regular yearly testing after that.

Your vet will probably test for roundworms and hookworms though.

Answer 5

I don't know that you could even give the heartworm medicine to a pup that young. Heartworm is caused by a mosquito bite, Are you in a heavily populated mosquito area? Is that why you're worried?
I have had 4 Black Labs (they're the BEST!!) and live in California. I have had no problems.
You should check with your vet for your area.

PS Here's a great training book--"The Art of Raising a Puppy" by the Monks of New Skete.

Answer 6

No, you'll just be throwing your money away, heartworms will not show up in the blood until 6 months after infection!! What we do at the clinic is start the dog on heartworm preventative and then do a blood check at their one year physical.

Answer 7

There is no need to test at 16 weeks, even if the dog has contracted heart worm they would still be so small that a Heart Guard type product would be the proper care.
One word of caution, some breeds of dogs are hypersensitive to "Ivermectine" which is the active ingreediant in these products. So always consult your vet.
Ivermectine does kill all common worms in dogs as well as heart worms.

Answer 8

There are some aeas that are still heartworm free..so, call the vet offices in your area..call more than just one..and ask if there have been any cases reported..
Here, there is a system for vets to report all cases, so a map of outbreaks is kept up..
Heartworm preventative IS a low dose of toxin, that you are feeding or applying to your dog's skin..so it will be up to you (and your vet) to weigh the pros and cons in your particular area..If you travel with your dog, he should certainly be given protection..

Answer 9

Even in the U.S., it is not necessary to get a 16 wk. old checked. It takes 6 months for them to make it to the heart. See what everyone else is doing over there about preventative treatment which should begin before 6 months.

Answer 10

normally i dont think they check until about 6 months. they dont even want you to preventivly treat for fleas and ticks until 12 weeks. if you think there is a good reason to have it done now, then go ahead, but if you're just worried because its so rampant, the stop worrying. i had a 15 y/o and still have a 13 y/o and we never treated them for it let alone tested for it more than once every few years and neither ever got it.
all it is is a blood test, they take the blood from between the toes. you might want to not do it so early because your dog may hate the vets office after that. i know ours did and she HATED the dr that did it and we always had to request a different dr because she always remembered who had done it to her