How necessary are Heartguard and FrontLine?

Question

Hi all,

I've been wondering how necessary Heartguard and FrontLine are for dogs. I have always put my dogs on these medications when spring came around but at the moment, I have a sick dog and all of my money is going towards his treatments and I don't have an extra $400 lying around to get them tested for heartworm and get the meds.

I don't ever remember my parents using products like these on my childhood pets and they were never ill or had fleas/ticks and they lived in a heavily wooded area. I live in the city and go to the city park with my dogs which is a wooded area. I asked my vet and he said that they should be on them without a doubt but my vet doesn't care about my growing mountain of debt that I have with one of my dogs. Can I get away with not giving them these products for one summer or is it absolutely necessary for them?

I live in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The vet asks $80 for each heartworm test (I need two). It's $122 for the frontline 6 month supply and $109 for Heartguard pills 6 month supply. For those of you wondering.

Answer 1

Not knowing where you live, $400 seems a little high. My vet charges $19 to check for heart-worms. And I keep my dog on Revolution 12 months a year. l buy my medications for him in Mexico and save well over 50%. 3 months in the US and Canada cost me $78 while in Mexico it costs me $27.50 for the exact same medication.

I have lost one dog to the horrible pain in incurred from heart-worms before there was medications to prevent them. I never want another dog of mine to go through that.

Answer 2

Heartguard is very important to give your pet because if they get bit by a flea/mosquito that is carrying the worm virus, they can die if not treated right away. If it's something left alone and then after they develop symptoms not all dogs recover because their hearts have become so constricted with the virus. It's not something I would want to risk by not treating my dog. As for the Frontline, it's great for keeping fleas and ticks off of dogs and if take your dog regularly for walks through parks etc. then I would also make sure he receives monthly treatment for this as well. Both of these medications come in 6 month packs and don't cost $400. I purchase my supply from 1800petmeds which is an online supplier and for both it's approx. $85 (my dog is small not sure the size of yours).

When my parents had a dog (or other pets) they didn't even take the dog to the vet annually. I don't remember them ever getting immunizations and if they lived to be 10 years old...great...if not they'd just get another dog. Now we care about our dog as if they were a member of the family (because they are...aren't they?). If your dog gets sick, you want to do anything for it to improve his quality of life. Applying these medications avoids future problems that could have been prevented. You can't stop the bug from biting your dog, but you can prevent him from getting sick as a result of the bug bite.

(I live in PA as well and my dogs have been receiving these medications since they were puppies.)

Answer 3

In my opinion, heartworm preventative is absolutely essential. You certainly have mosquitoes in the city (cities have lots of places that make excellent breeding grounds for mosquitoes) and all it takes is one bite from an infected mosquitoe. And there is not a single state in the US where heartworm is not a problem. Some states may have a higher incidence than others, but unprotected dogs in ANY state are at risk. The cost of heartworm preventative is a mere fraction of the cost of heartworm treatment. And that's just the financial cost...the emotional and physical toll it will take on your dog (and you) is much higher.

If you feel confident that your pets are not at high risk and are prepared to deal with fleas if they should pop up, then flea/tick preventative is totally up to you. Personally I find that the extra protection is worth it. Most of the medical conditions that result from flea infestations are easy to deal with and with today's flea treatments it is not nearly as hard to get rid of an infestation as it was 10 years ago.

Answer 4

You are bringing up a very good point. Do we really need all the medication our vets tell us we need. My grandparents farm dogs lived long lives with never ever going to a vet. The dog I had as a kid never had a shot and never went a vet and lived to be 15 years old. Are all of us spending money we don't really need to? Should we consider taking our dogs to the vet only if it gets sick? I am retired on a fixed income and the vet bills can be a problem. If I have to do it I will because I love my dogs, but if I can cut some of the cost it would sure help.

Answer 5

In my opinion I believe these 2 meds are essential to a dogs health. If you take your dogs outside to use the bathroom, then they are vulnerable to heartworm or for that matter any kind of worm as well as fleas and ticks. I always give these med to my dogs year round to assure protection for their health, because if your dog does get any kind of worms, you'll have to go the vet anyways and spend even more money than these meds would cost, so when not save yourself time and money?

Hope my answer helped, and have a good day!

Answer 6

You can probably get away with not treating them for fleas. If they end up getting fleas, you can give them a flea bath and it isn't too much of a problem. However, Heartgard is very, very, very necessary. Heartworms are 100% preventable and not always successfully treatable. I know three people who have had dogs die of heartworms. It is definitely not something you want to risk.

Answer 7

No you may not divide the meds. normally meds are actually not the two disbursed by using the full pill/pill. you ought to purchase the regularly occurring version that's greater low priced. that's a long far greater constructive to be risk-free than sorry. How undesirable could you sense if one or the two certainly one of your canines have been given coronary heart worms cuz you have been attempting to maintain a pair of greenbacks by using playing with their well being? Vets don't make fortunes from advertising coronary heart laptop virus preventatives.

Answer 8

If you live in the South (you don't say where you live), heartworm protection is MANDATORY.

P.S. My puppy died from heartworms because the sorry ***** who owned her before me did not treat her for heartworms.
I spent countless hours and hundreds of dollars trying to save her from the abuse her previous owner had inflicted upon her.
If I could have gotten my hands on that woman the day I picked up my puppies coffin from the crematorium she would have needed a coffin herself.

Answer 9

definitely necessary