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We follow the recommendations of the American Heartworm Association, which advises once yearly heartworm checks, or anytime prior to restarting preventative if treatment has lapsed. Heartworm preventatives are antibiotics, and while they are highly safe and effective, there is a risk of the development of antibiotic resistant heartworms that may eventually begin to elude our normal preventatives.
It is also common for people to forget to give a dose from time to time, leaving their pet open to infection. Some dogs are very clever about taking their pill and then hiding it somewhere in the house or outside. Some dogs could have a subclinical viral infection that disrupts the normal metabolism of the preventative by the liver, rendering the dose ineffective.
There are numerous reasons why you may not be able to guarantee that your pet has gotten every dose of preventative during the year. There is a risk associated with giving heartworm preventative to a heartworm positive dog, potentially turning a heartworm into a deadly embolism (like a blot clot). In addition, as the manufacturers guarantee the efficacy of their product when given monthly, if your pet were to contract heartworm disease while taking the preventative, the company will pay for all costs incurred in treating the disease, but only if there is a record of a negative heartworm check each year in your pet’s history. Please visit www.heartwormsociety.org.