If I treat my dog every month for heart worm prevention, is that preventing her from everything?

Question

If I have my St. Bernard treated for heart worm prevention every month at our vet's office, does that protect her from all worms...or ONLY heartworms?
And if she does have any worms now (not heartworms, one of the other kind), and we go ahead and start her on the heartworm, will that kill any that she may have now?

Answer 1

Lots of conflicting answers here, how do you know who's right? Ask your vet!

Answer 2

Unfortunately, Heartworm preventative is only for heartworms. It prevents a worm developing after a mosquito bite.

Any other type of worm, they would use medication to kill. Like tape worm etc that can be found in the stool.

If you are concerned that your dog might have a worm, I would take her to the vet right away.

In their yearly exam, they are tested for worms.

Answer 3

It depends on what heartworm prevention medicine you have your dog on. I used to use Revolution on my old pekingese and when I got my boston terrier they wanted to put her on front line and heartguard.so i asked the difference. They said revolution dont prevent against all worms but it had flea control and heartworm in one. Heartgaurd prevents against all worms. So Now i used heartgaurd and frontline for flea and tick protection. They a little more expensive but worth it. Most vets will also cover any cost if they know you use heartguard regularly. If your dog would get heartworms they would pay for the treatment. The treatment is expensive too. I would check with the vet if they do pay if you have proof their on the prevention. Mine does but I dont know about all vets.
My boston when she was just got she had worms they dewormed her and still put her on the heartgaurd/front line protection. She is fine. Matter of fact in had to go back in 3 weeks for booster shots and got dewormed again. Now she is cleared up and worm free and still on her month meds. I mark it in a calender and when i give it to her i mark it then count ahead 30 days and mark the next month saying heartworm med due. I keep up with it like clockwork.
Just call your vet and ask about your med and see if it covers all. All I can tell you is what I know from what my dogs been on. I would do what I have mine on because all worms are covered. Good Luck.

Answer 4

Generally heartworm prevention prevents MOST internal parasites. You can check the back of the box to find out for sure. They usually list what it prevents.

However, it does not de-worm if there are worms present. In that case you will have to get de-wormer (which does not prevent anything).

Answer 5

Heartworm meds are for heartworms - period. The other wormer medication is cheap, so you can even get it at the pet store and skip the vet fee. Just be careful to give your dog the correct quantity.

Answer 6

Most heartworm preventives are also designed to help eliminate/prevent infestations of other types of worms. Hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms, and whipworms are all protected against by one or more of the various brands of heartworm preventive.

Answer 7

I think heartworm treatment only treats heartworms. Other worms live in the digestive tract and should be treated separately.

Answer 8

Heartworm prevention only prevents heartworms. You can get de-wormer from your vet, for the other types of parasites that your pup may have.

Answer 9

NO its not... you need to get her shots also... most worms in dogs are gone after they are puppies, you can pick up the stuff you need from a feed store... and no it wont kill heart worms its a serious thing if you suspect you need to immediately get her to a vet, they can block an artery and cause a heart attack then death.

Answer 10

no it only protects against heartworm. and no it won't kill any worms she has theres another medicine for that its called a deworming shot or pill or paste for that

Answer 11

If you go to 1800petmeds.com look at the diffrent meds for heartworms. They do prevernt/treat most worms.