Heartworm treatment for dogs

So, I’m sitting out on my back deck with the laptop (yea! wireless!), and Vance is laying in the grass. Though it’s early in the season yet, we’re in the south, so mosquitoes are already a fact of outdoors life. I’ve killed six already and we’ve only been out here for a half hour or so.

The reason I bring all of this up is that Vance has had a few mosquitoes on him, too, and it reminded me that I wanted to talk about heartworm protection. If your dog isn’t currently on a monthly heartworm prevention pill, he should be–you don’t want to mess with these creepy crawlies.

Vance used to be on a heartworm prevention and also on a flea medicine, but the flea medicine was applied to his skin and caused a really bad allergic reaction. So, he now takes Sentinel instead which is a little more expensive than one or the other (heartworm prevention or flea protection), but less than the two of them together and it does both. I really like only having to give him the one monthly pill, and I love that he no longer gets a serious rash at the base of his tail (I think he likes that, too).

Lest I sound too much like an infomercial for Sentinel, it has one serious drawback–it doesn’t protect against ticks, so I have to perform a weekly check. Since he used to get the occasional tick on the previous stuff (Frontline), and I’m brushing him every few days anyway, this isn’t a serious hardship, it’s just a minor annoyance. And, truthfully, I’m not sure I don’t prefer fewer chemicals coursing through his system anyway.

If the smell of Frontline bothers you, or applying it topically is irritating your dog’s skin, I highly recommend checking with your vet to see if Sentinel might be as good for your dog as it’s been for Vance.

And, this is a really good time to say: It’s the first of the month. Heartworm day. (I’m totally stealing that from the Jet Dry commercials, but around here we do indeed give Vance his heartworm prevention pill on the first of the month, so it’s perfect.

What do you give your dog to protect against heartworm and fleas? I’d love to know what works for you! And, don’t forget you have until the 6th of June to enter for a chance to win an Omega Paws Tricky Treat Ball. With so many ways to rack up points, I hope you’ll enter more than once (remember, your first entry is a comment, then your other entries are to spread the word about the contest via Twitter and your blog, and to subscribe to this blog by RSS or email).