Interceptor

 Im new to this forum, and have been reading these posts...When you read about how heartworm comes to be in a dog, mosquitoes, why cant just using a good protector like advantix 2, which protects your dog FROM mosquitoes too as well as fleas and ticks....if the dog isnt getting bit from mosquitoes, due to being repelled from the treatment, then he wouldnt get the heartworm....my dog isnt around any other animals. we have an indoor cat who is healthy at 11yrs old...friends or relatives dogs my dog may play with all are healthy too... So just wondering, if the treatments for fleas  ticks and mosquitoes works to prevent the bites etc , then he wouldnt get the heartworm, i would think...just my thoughts

Thats a question that I bet many here have asked themselves...perhaps they will be able to give you an answer...I myself don't use those products either.

I know I'm a little late jumping into this but I had a problem here in NJ getting Interceptor as well. same problems everyone else has been having. I told my vet and he matched the price for me on the heartguard he had in stock. Not my favorite HW med but I needed it as it has been unusually warm  here too and my dogs were overdue.

As for the flea topicals I like to share what has worked for me. I used to use topicals but also didn't like the idea of all those chemicals on the dogs. And eventually they weren't working as well and I kept getting flea infestations. So I did some research and found a company that makes dog, horse, and human supplements. One of their big sellers is garlic for flea prevention. Honestly, I have been using the garlic supplement for over 2 years now and haven't found a single flea on either dog. I still find some ticks but as they are short haired and lighter in color I usually do a once-over after a walk and pick off any ticks I see crawling on them. It's worth it. i am very happy that I don't need to use any chemicals. The garlic also has other health benefits and my dogs look and feel great. The company I get the garlic from is called Springtime Inc.

Yes, they have horrible garlic breath and smell like an Italian restaurant but it only lasts for about 15 min. after they eat. Just don't let 'em sneak in any kisses, Haha.

 Good luck!  

nancy361

...When you read about how heartworm comes to be in a dog, mosquitoes, why cant just using a good protector like advantix 2, which protects your dog FROM mosquitoes too as well as fleas and ticks....if the dog isnt getting bit from mosquitoes, due to being repelled from the treatment, then he wouldnt get the heartworm....

Advantix is one of the worst ones for side effects (and it's systemic as well) -- there really isn't a reliable "repellant" mostly because in order to REPEL fleas it would have to be hugely strong, and it would have to "stay" on them a month (or you'd be spraying chemicals on them daily).  YOU only put repellant on when you *need* it --  and we still get bitten. 

Remember -- a dog has a coat.  Mosquitos tend to not bite us where we have a lot of hair (like on the scalp) but a dog has that protective coat all over -- that further reduces the effect of a repellant (because the mosquito has that layer between them and the skin) -- so repellants just tend not to be a good idea.  We wouldn't want, on ourselves, a repellant that would just stay in your body all month long?? 

 I hear you guys talking about heartworm meds/prevention  and then flea treatment.. does heartworm medicine  also kill fleas if they get on your dog??

I bought advantix ll online at petco.com... i put 1 tube on geno today and after reading  and more reading and talking to callie, im returning the rest.. i got a 4 month supply...so back in the box with receipt they go to the store... ill get store credit im sure... anything in the store i should get or order online and use the credit, to prevent the fleas? advantage or advantage ll, will that work better?  geno has no fleas, he is heartworm negative, had 1 pill at VET in FEB. even though here in south east PA it was winter still... i havent given him anymore or bought anymore heartworm med prevention... i dont know what i should get at this point...heartworm med and flea prevention stuff....sometimes too much reading up on things makes u nuts

nancy361

 I hear you guys talking about heartworm meds/prevention  and then flea treatment.. does heartworm medicine  also kill fleas if they get on your dog??

Not typically -- fleas are too different than pests (like microfilaria or mites) that live in the blood or body or in the skin.  Fleas are pretty danged tough --

There are some oral meds that kill fleas - -like Comfortis -- some people like them, some don't. 

nancy361

 I hear you guys talking about heartworm meds/prevention  and then flea treatment.. does heartworm medicine  also kill fleas if they get on your dog??

Not typically -- fleas are too different than pests (like microfilaria or mites) that live in the blood or body or in the skin.  Fleas are pretty danged tough --

There are some oral meds that kill fleas - -like Comfortis -- some people like them, some don't. 

The larvae’s development in the mosquito is dependent upon environmental temperatures. They may not be able to develop to the stage needed to infect dogs and cats unless the temperature has been over 57 degrees Fahrenheit, day and night, for at least fourteen days. If temperatures drop below that point at any time during the cycle, development may be prevented (though there’s no 100% guarantee). Remember, temperatures can vary according to where mosquitoes live (for example, it may be warmer under the eaves of the house or in other protected areas than the general ambient temperature).

Dyan -- my parents live in Jamestown, NY -- let's just say that 3-5 feet of snow is what keeps most of the local ski resorts solvent?  As in TYPICAL there.

Last year my folks were still mowing their lawn in DECEMBER.  This year?  they had snow in September, but have been mowing SINCE *December*.

It gets pretty hard to predict where the "last moquito" was when the weather is as it has been the last few years.

Then you've also got the mosquito hanging around produce that just came up from Mexico in some sort of refrigerated *maybe* shipment. 

My point?  Today "environmental temperature" can be whatever the dial is set at -- and mosquitos can live just as well in air-conditioning as they can outside and that's one of the ways heartworm has spread so far -- it's not that the dogs are walking far enough to spread it -- but that the mosquitos catch a ride (see all those semi containers on railroad cars??) and get to different parts oft he country.

Doesn't matter if that mosquito just lived long enough to bite a dog in Michigan or Idaho - and *then* died.  The fact that it lived long enough to BITE the dog is the operative thing.

I am sure you have read this, http://www.blakkatz.com/spellcast/HW.pdf  its been around for a while...but in case you haven't,  its one of many websites out there that are letting you know that its not just so easy as a mosquito coming up from down south on a truck and biting your dog to give him Heartworm.  With all the cancer, auto immune illnesses and all the awful things killing our dogs.....to feed him pesticides in the event that the right mosquito will come along and bite him at the right time... is just not worth it.   I do give it in summer months...and I really ponder a lot on it. But its really feeding them poison......poison to kill heartworms in case they get them. The chances of getting them in winter months in the cold states makes it a reason to not give them year round pills.  We used to get Ollie Heartworm tested 2 times a year and not give him any of the  preventatives, I really don't know why I don't do that with Gibson.  Here is more to read if anyone would be interested.  http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/heartworminfo.htm  You know Callie....if I lived where you live....I would  have to think differently.. no doubt!

calliecritturs

Dyan -- my parents live in Jamestown, NY -- let's just say that 3-5 feet of snow is what keeps most of the local ski resorts solvent?  As in TYPICAL there.

Last year my folks were still mowing their lawn in DECEMBER.  This year?  they had snow in September, but have been mowing SINCE *December*.

It gets pretty hard to predict where the "last mosquito" was when the weather is as it has been the last few years.

This is exactly why Luke is on year-round preventative. The vet clinic I used to suggest taking your dogs off of it in winter. They'd give you year round if you wanted it, but up until the last year or so, they had been sending a restart reminder out, and if you went in the weeks leading up to, or just after the start of Spring, the bill had that reminder on it. This year, the reminder was there at the end of Fall, telling us they now recommended it year round. We had snow in October, but aside from that, it never snowed again. We had no worries this Winter at all of black ice. Max, the dog I had before Luke, I would skip as long as it was staying consistently below 50 (mosquitoes need 57, so I went with 50 to be on the safe side). If he was due and it had been below 50 the past few days, and would be remaining, I'd just watch and wait. This year, it didn't stay consistently. I just didn't feel comfortable doing it that way this year, and I would not suggest that method to the typical pet owner, as it requires far too much thought. If next Winter is more typical, I'll probably go back medicating only when it's above 50.

griffinej5

This is exactly why Luke is on year-round preventative. The vet clinic I used to suggest taking your dogs off of it in winter.

I understand that all  ( most ) vets are suggesting to keep them on year around, believe me. I worked at a vet clinic.  My vet said to me " but there might be a dormant mosquito", and when I reminded her that not just any mosquito can carry HW she said " but they also cover worms!"  Yes...they do which is another good thing that HW prevention does.  BUT we are not talking dewormer here.   BUT because they suggest all year HW meds doesn't mean that they can get HW in the cold states any more now than they did when the vets were not suggesting year round.  You know... up until a few years back they were suggesting yearly vaccines too....and little by little vets had to change their suggestions, and I don't think it was in their best interest either.

I am not suggesting you ( or anyone ) give your dog HW prevention any other way then your vet suggests, I am saying why I don't and will not.  If you read the two links that I posted above, you will see why.  Again, I worked at a very busy ( and by busy, I am saying something like 4 patients per hour most days )  vet hospital for 4 years, and only once did I see a HW ill dog, and that dog was rescued and brought up from down south.  Do I think that a dog in Ohio can get HW here in the summer? Yes, its possible but not half as probable as a lot of people make out.  Do I think they can get HW in Ohio during the winter from a dormant mosquito? Not likely, certainly not enough to give my dog pesticides all year around.

I wish that people would read those links and I tell us what they think. I have been reading them for year, back when Ollie's immune system was so shot down that I started studying why.

I have been following this thread since it began and though I'm not a fan of being lambasted I  wanted Dyan to know I understand and support her viewpoint.I feel pesticides do carry risks and those must be weighed against the risks of disease.I would not do year round personally and in some cases will not use HW preventative at all such as in the case of a dog that carries the MDR1 gene or is very near the end of it's life such as my labrador. My merle Australian Shepherd Noel threw up interceptor three times in a row before I decided she was trying to tell me something.She won't be getting preventative anymore.I will reduce her exposure as best as I can to mosquitos and I will not fret over the possibility of Heartworm disease.I will continue to use Interceptor on Turbo because he spends alot of time outdoors and has no adverse reaction to the preventative.One more point I'd like to make is how annoyed I am that after the companies making ivermectin based preventatives lost buisness to Interceptor their response was to lower dosages so folks who owned herders would buy their product again.This has led to dogs contracting heartworms despite being on preventative and worms that are more resistant to ivermectin.They{the makers of HW preventative} don't have my dog's best interest in mind,only I have that.They are interested in making money that is crystal clear to me.

                                                                        Tena