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The most common products recommended by veterinarians are Frontline® and Advantage®. The active ingredient in Advantage is Imidocloprid, an ingredient found in some tree & shrub insecticides. Many of these now also contain a fertilizer which you wouldn't want to put on your dog (my dogs are big enough already!). The key is to find a brand which ONLY has the active ingredient of Imidocloprid and nothing else. The most commonly available is probably Ortho® Max Tree & Shrub Insect Killer. You can find this at most WalMart, Lowes and Home Depot stores. We use one we just found at our local farm supply store. The label should read exactly like the sample label at left. (Click to enlarge)

DOSING: Use 1 ML of liquid for every 10 lbs. of body weight, to a maximum of 6 ML.
Get a plastic syringe without needle. Apply it in about a 3-inch stripe from between the shoulder blades back. For a larger Lab, we use about 6 cc's. We apply half of it between the shoulder blades as usual, and the other half from the dog's tail root backwards. This tree & shrub product is EXACTLY the same chemical AND in the same strength (Imidocloprid 1.47%) as Advantage®. It can be used as often as every other week if necessary.

This stuff costs about $15 for a quart bottle (about the same as a single dose of Advantage!). One bottle will last for years on a single dog!

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The most common products recommended by veterinarians are HeartGuard® and Interceptor®. The active ingredient in both of these is Ivermectin, a common anti-parasite chemical used for livestock. This must be used carefully, as the quantity for use in dogs is small and must be accurately administered. We use Ivomec®. The box says "injection" but we give this orally. We just use a syringe to extract the liquid from the bottle. Remove the needle, insert through the lips and teeth back by the jaw so they have to swallow it. NEVER use this (or any heartworm meds) unless you know your dog tests negative for heartworm.

You must have an accurate weight for your dog. Use your bathroom scale, set your scale to zero while you're on it, then hold your dog and read his weight. Use 1/10 of a CC (ML) for each 10 pounds of body weight. In other words, if you have a 70 lb. dog, use 0.7 CC (ML) of Ivomec. Besides heartworm, Ivomec also kills many other internal parasites like hookworms, roundworms and whipworms.

This stuff costs about $35-$40 for a 50 ML bottle, which will treat 5,000 lbs. of dog. One bottle will last for 6 years on a single 70 lb. dog! You can get it at any Tractor Supply or other farm store or on-line.

2. To rid your home of fleas and eggs, we recommend Precor®. A small bottle of the concentrate (around $10) mixes with a gallon of water, and will cover over 1,200 square feet. Spray it liberally wherever your dogs lay or play inside your home. Floors, dog bedding, everything that your dog has body contact with should be sprayed. Precor is an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) used by professionals.

3. To rid your dog's outdoor environment of fleas and eggs, use the Tree & Shrub Insect Killer we recommend above. Follow the label directions and mix up a gallon at a time in a common garden watering-can. Soak all the areas where your dogs commonly lie down or play. This product will stay active for nearly a year.

It is very important to begin heartworm treatment by about 4 months old and continue the treatment monthly throughout your dog's life. As we mentioned above, it is safe to suspend the treatments during the coldest months, when mosquitos which carry heartworm are dormant, but should be resumed in very early Spring in most parts of the country.

If you end up with a dog that tests positive for heartworm, whether through your own neglegence, or by buying or adopting a pet that has it, the treatment for it must be done very carefully, because chemical treatments which kill the heartworm, can also kill your dog. This happens when the worm(s) are killed, and the dead worms form a clot in the dog's blood vessels, essentially causing a heart attack.

NEVER use a heartworm preventative on a dog unless you are CERTAIN that they are heartworm-negative. In fact, your vet will not sell you a preventative without first running the test, unless he knows for certain himself. If your dog tests positive, it is VERY serious, even life-threatening, but it is curable!

A Testimonial

We rescued our first female Lab, Liberty from a disreputable breeder several years ago. We traveled 150 miles to buy a breeding-age female. What we found when we got there was a crated, miserable girl with fur like straw and long nails. She didn't even know her name. We discovered the next day when we took her to the vet, she had a serious case of heartworm that included a chronic cough. We bought and paid for her just to get her away from her previous owner, thinking perhaps she could never be bred, but that we could give her a good life here.

We used an all-natural, herbal remedy called Parasite Dr. on her faithfully for a couple of months and took her in for another test. She still tested positive. We continued treating her with it. I'm not exactly sure how many months or how many bottles we ended up using. It was perhaps 4-5 months worth. After that time, she was going into heat, so we brought her in to be tested again. She tested NEGATIVE, and the vet re-tested to be certain. The vet was impressed with the results, and so were we. He gave a go-ahead to breed her. We got four litters from our girl before we retired her from breeding. She has a permanent place on a mat at the foot of our bed, and remains in perfect health. I haven't tried Pet Dr. for other parasites that it claims to treat, but I can testify that if you are patient, and don't expect overnight results, even a serious case of heartworm can be overcome.