What is the medicine for heartworms for dogs?

Answer 1

As a heartworm researcher in graduate school and a practicing veterinarian for over thirty years I am very well-versed in all aspects of heartworm disease and welcome the opportunity to respond to this question.

The treatment for heartworm disease is very dangerous, so it is better to prevent the disease than risk your dog developing the disease. If your dog is heartworm positive, it is crucial to explicitly follow the treatment plan and home care set up by your veterinarian.

The difficulty in treating the disease is because of the location of the heartworms in the heart and pulmonary vessels (from the lungs). When a dog is wormed you are basically giving a medication which will "poison" and kill the parasites, but obviously, not kill the dog. With intestinal parasites, it is fairly easy as when the worms are killed, they pass out in the feces and are gone. However, in heartworm disease, it is a "closed system" so when the worms are killed the place they would go is directly into the lungs, which could lead to sudden death or other complications. The drugs used in treating heartworm disease actually kill the worms "slowly" so the dying worms can be gradually absorbed by the body. If the pet is too active during the treatment process there is a risk that the dying worms could be swept into the lungs too quickly; that is why restriction of activity during this period is essential.

The protocols and drugs for treating heartworm disease have changed over the years. The current recommended treatment protocol that veterinarians follow (and is very effective) was established by the American Heartworm Society and is somewhat involved. I will outline the steps.

1) The diagnosis of heartworm disease must be verified. Restriction of activity must begin. If the dog is symptomatic with the disease, appropriate nursing care must be provided to relieve the symptoms. A four week course with prednisone (an anti-inflammatory) on a decreasing dosage regimen is begun.

2) Day one after the diagnosis, a dose of heartworm preventative is given. This should begin to kill the microfilariae so to prevent an anaphylactic reaction, an anti-histamine as well as the prednisone is given to quell any sort of reaction. (The dog is monitored in the hospital for 6-8 hours after the preventative is given in case a reaction occurs) In addition, a 28 day course of treatment with doxycycline (an antibiotic) is begun. The doxycycline prevents disease transmission and reduces the pathology associated with dead heartworms.

3) Another dose of heartworm preventative is given at 30 days.

4) At day 60, another dose of heartworm preventative is given. The first dose of melarsomine (Immiticide) is given intramuscularly. This is the drug that will kill the adult worms. Another 30 day course of prednisone is begun again. Activity restriction is heightened, cage rest and walks outside on a leash only. This is when the adult heartworms begin to die, so increased activity could lead to serious complications.

5) Day 90, the second dose of melarsomine is given, as well as another dose of heartworm preventative.

6) Day 91, the third dose of melarsomine is given, and another 30 day course of prednisone is begun. Exercise restriction is continued for 6-8 weeks following the third melarsomine injection.

7) Day 120, check for microfilariae and if positive, treat with a medication which will kill the microfilariae and restest for microfilariae in 4 weeks. Be certain to stay on year round heartworm preventative.

8) Day 271, conduct a heartworm antigen test (this tests for the presence of adult heartworms in the system) to be certain treatment was successful.

As you can see, quite involved. Another complicating factor is that the melarsomine is in short supply (as of this writing) and is difficult to obtain. As I stated before, the disease is easily preventable so do not run the risk of allowing your beloved pet to contract the disease, and face all the problems that could develop from the disease as well as from the treatment.

Answer 2

Heartworm prevention (Heartguard, Sentinel, Trifexis, etc.) will kill BABY heartworms. If given every 30 days, taking a heartworm prevention will prevent baby heartworms from migrating to the heart and becoming adults. It will NOT kill (or have any effect on) adult heartworms.

If your pet has adult heartworms, there is only one treatment available to kill the adults, and it's called Immiticide. This is a medication that has to be administered by your veterinarian and is incredibly expensive. You also must keep your pet on cage rest for 8 weeks or more while the treatment is going on. If a dog exercises while having heartworm treatment, bits of the dying heartworms can break off and clog your pets arteries; this can cause death.

Answer 3

There are several patented brand-name heart worm medications for dogs; any of these will work just fine. I don't believe there is any scientific evidence for one medication working better than any other.

Answer 4

There are two basic treatments for heartworms in dogs. The "fast kill" method involves giving the dog a very expensive medicine called "Melarsomine". The "slow kill" method involves giving the dog monthly treatments of a medicine like HeartGuard. The "slow kill" method is much more inexpensive, but it takes a much longer time.

Answer 5

The medicine for heartworm for dogs is heartguard there are different kinds of heartguard medicine but just get the right one accrding to your dog.

Answer 6

There are three stages to this and they won`t always kill the heartworms.Call around for the cheapest rate.Some vets will charge $300.00 and up to $1500.00.

Answer 7

If you think your dog has heart worms, you should take it to the vet asap and let the vet make a prescription.

Answer 8

The dog needs a blood test by the vet to see if it has heartworm; if the test is negative (no heartworm), a regime of a monthly chewable tablet to prevent heartworm is started.

Answer 9

You can get the heart worms meds for your dog at a vet clinic.