September 6, 2010

Choose Heartworm Medicine For Dogs By Comparing Options And Price

by D. Thurmond, D.V.M.

Prescription pet medication can be expensive. This is especially true for owners of multiple pets or if your dog needs treatment for a long term problem. Discount pet medication websites offer an alternative for dog owners where the most commonly used pet meds are available at prices significantly less than found in your local veterinarian's office.

Buying the arthritis treatment for you dog at an online pet meds site can save a lot of money. Look for a site associated with a practicing veterinarian to ensure receiving the real (not fake) pet med you need at competitive prices.

When buying heartworm preventive medication, a poor substitute can harm your loved pet. Heartworm prevention is a critical part of your dog's care. Using a cheap formula may not have any affect on the worms transmitted by mosquitoes to your animal and could lead to development of heartworm disease that might require expensive and painful treatment to cure. Heartworm medicines for dogs are divided into ingestible and topical spot on applications. If your pet has known allergies choosing an ingestible tablet that does not contain that ingredient may be the deciding factor of which brand name to choose.

Heartgard is perhaps the best known and most widely used heartworm medication for canines. The small, beef flavored wafer is a treat to most dogs who eagerly take it from your hand. Given once a month, Heartgard is effective at preventing heartworm disease at a low cost to the owner. A prescription is required to purchase Heartgard. This is mainly because your dog needs to be tested for the disease before beginning a preventive regimen. You can shop online for Heartgard as most discount pet med sites will call your vet for a prescription or the prescription can be faxed to the site administrator.

Owners who prefer to protect their dog against multiple parasites with one pet medication may choose Interceptor, a monthly oral heartworm medicine that also prevents hookworms and roundworms. Interceptor is especially effective in preventing whip worms which are parasites difficult to diagnose even by a vet. Sentinel Chewables offer full protection from heartworm disease and from roundworms, hookworms and hwipments. Sentinal also prevents flea eggs from developing and the once monthly pet med can be used on puppies 4 weeks of age. Any side effects from heartworm medicine for dogs will appear shortly after the medicine is first given to the animal. Symptoms may be diarrhea, vomiting, itching or redness of the skin, loss of appetite, drowsiness or even seizure. Report any side effects to your veterinarian immediately.

An easy spot on treatment is provided by Revolustion for dogs. This popular topical medicine is a monthly application that solve several problems for your dog, including ear mites, fleas, some ticks and sarcoptic mange.

Advantage Multi for Dogs - Advantage Multi is another topical medication applied monthly to prevent heartworm disease in dogs. Like Revolution, Advantage Multi addresses multiple problems such as fleas, hookworms, roundworms and whipworms.

Heartworm medications are considered safe product to use for canine. Choosing which preventative to use may be simply a matter of deciding which medication can be found at the best price or is easiest to apply to your pet.The additional benefits of flea control and prevention of other intestinal parasites may allow the pet owner to use one medication rather than applying multiple products to his dog each month. Your veterinarian may suggest a specific heartworm medication but will be happy to discuss other options to help you choose. In the end, your decision may be based on visiting discount pet medicine sites to find the best prices.

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Filed under Dog Health by D. Thurmond, D.V.M.

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