KodaYoda.12 wrote:

Since I work at a vet, the Reps usually give us a years worth of HeartGuard for one pet, but a Rep for Novartis came in the other day, and gave us a years worth of Sentinel for both dogs. So i'll be giving them that and Frontline after our HeartGuard runs out. Saves me a lot of money!

I use Sentinel for now as that's what my vet highly recommends, and so far so good. I guess they said it was better than Frontline because in addition it covers another type of worm too.

KibaHope wrote:

we do Iverhart. i think its the knock-off cheap version of something more expensive (dont ask me what). did trifexis for a while but too expensive although the flea part was good.

Iverhart is generic Heartgard, same stuff but sometimes cheaper. Sometimes I can get Heartgard cheaper than Iverhart though so it just depends where you get it.

We do Iverhart and its only $7 a dose at our vet.

I get single doses of Heartgard Plus for $8 at luvmypet clinics in Petco.

Bella_Jasper wrote:

Just read through this thread and am wondering how the ivomec is working out for everyone that uses it?  My two are going in for their heartworm tests saturday so I am looking for a heartworm pill for them.  I have always used heartguard plus before but just heard about comfortis and triflexis which sound wonderful but I dont need a flea combo for winter and dont have the funds for any of those right now.  Is the ivomec ok to use with a capstar tab?  My two have fleas while the other two animals in the house and one they play with alot do not so i'll be picking up a box of those to use and scrub them up, after more baths we'll be using oils hopefully.

Are you going to luvmypet? You should get the Sentinel since it covers fleas & heart worm. It's only $8 per month http://www.luvmypet.com/prices.html
I would only get 3 months worth since all the mosquitos die around September/October in Illinois. You can then switch to a generic frontline plus to cover fleas for the winter

For anyone who uses Ivomec... my breeder uses and recommends this, but says not to use it until pups hit the 6 month mark. Has anyone used it for pups younger or do I use something else until we reach that age?

I was wondering if anyone had ever heard of anything more natural for heartworm protection. Kenzi hasn't been on heartworm protection for around a year (I forgot about it) and I've managed to get about all of her other preventatives down to natural items and oils and wondered if anyone else had learned anything new since this thread started. I read this article:
http://www.thewholedog.org/heartworm.html
and found it interesting and was wondering if anyone else had any other opinions on what they say about preventatives. My old dog and my parents dog has never been on heartworm pills once in their lives and they are currently 8 and 13 years old with a clean bill of health. Any opinions or thoughts would be appreciated. I'm just trying to choose my path with this. It's hard for me to get into the vet so I tend to lean away from pills, but am considering Ivomec.

I believe black walnut is one, but it won't use it because it can be toxic. I still use ivermectin every 45 days and don't begin until it warms up here.

TwisterII wrote:

I was wondering if anyone had ever heard of anything more natural for heartworm protection. Kenzi hasn't been on heartworm protection for around a year (I forgot about it) and I've managed to get about all of her other preventatives down to natural items and oils and wondered if anyone else had learned anything new since this thread started. I read this article:
http://www.thewholedog.org/heartworm.html
and found it interesting and was wondering if anyone else had any other opinions on what they say about preventatives. My old dog and my parents dog has never been on heartworm pills once in their lives and they are currently 8 and 13 years old with a clean bill of health. Any opinions or thoughts would be appreciated. I'm just trying to choose my path with this. It's hard for me to get into the vet so I tend to lean away from pills, but am considering Ivomec.

As much as I'm all for natural & holistic pet care, I wouldn't recommend natural heartworm preventative. The treatment for heartworm is far more invasive than the preventative. Megan's regimen of ivermectin every 45 days during the warm months is a very reasonable approach.

eddycaaa wrote:

As much as I'm all for natural & holistic pet care, I wouldn't recommend natural heartworm preventative. The treatment for heartworm is far more invasive than the preventative. Megan's regimen of ivermectin every 45 days during the warm months is a very reasonable approach.

I completely agree with you there. I'm a big fan of holistic medicine to compliment traditional stuff, but heartworm is something I won't mess with. I found a dog that I was going to adopt (unsuccessful at finding owners) when I was like 10 or 11, and he wound up being heartworm positive and had to be put down. That one has always stayed with me.

mbarnard0429 wrote:

I still use ivermectin every 45 days and don't begin until it warms up here.

Ahh this is what I was looking for. If you don't mind answering, where do you order your ivermectin from? I was gonna get it from some enterprise website but wasn't sure if it was reliable or not.

Just out of curiosity, do you guys always get the heart worm from your vet? I always have, but I was wondering if there are any websites that are cheaper.

Megan, I bought ivermectin from my vet.... I think it ended up being cheaper than 1800petmeds. You can ask for a quote from the vet and compare it to 1800petmeds

mbarnard0429 wrote:

I believe black walnut is one, but it won't use it because it can be toxic. I still use ivermectin every 45 days and don't begin until it warms up here.

My old dogs chew on a lot of walnuts so if that's true perhaps that's why they have never had heartworm issues, or maybe they've just been lucky. I think your regimen of 45 days during warm months would work best for us. I do want her on something since we travel with her a lot and will potentially be spending a lot of time on the river and down south later on. She goes in for her rabies next month and to be HW tested then we can start back with it.

Some farm supply stores carry Ivomec. Our previous dogs were always treated with Ivomec but we stopped treating with it when we started owning long haired dogs because at the time there had been reported issues with them and the product. Now that dosages have been more perfected I'm comfortable going back to it, but was curious what others thought or knew of natural products. Thanks everyone!

I buy ivomec from tractor supply. It's the injectable solution, but I just measure out .1 cc and squeeze it into freeze dried liver.

It's 40.00 a bottle and it's 50ml....that's about 500 doses. So, super cheap IMO

mbarnard0429 wrote:

It's 40.00 a bottle and it's 50ml....that's about 500 doses. So, super cheap IMO

Ill have to check that out they just built a tractor supply by my house, i usually get the heart worm pill from the vet i think its like 60 dollars for 6 months or something like that and i need to get a refill. glad i came across this post

mbarnard0429 wrote:

It's 40.00 a bottle and it's 50ml....that's about 500 doses. So, super cheap IMO

Thanks! Yeah even if it were more price isn't a major concern to me right now I just want what's healthiest for them!

I'll be starting my boy on Iverhart Max tomorrow. Was checking if anyone here had their pups on that too. Nice to see some of you here do use Iverhart. I had asked for Trifexis but I was told they were out of that so thats why they gave me IM.
My Mylo is 7.2 lbs. He will be 10 weeks old tomorrow. I hope he doesn't have a bad reaction to this stuff it will be his first preventative pill/tablet.

I'm going to update and say that I have officially finally stopped buying prescription HW meds from the vet and am now using Ivomec. $34.95 for a 50 ml bottle at JeffersPet, awesome.

David, i too use the Iverheat max, Being in the country my girl keeps picking up tape worm, and the max(I think it's the max) has an added preventive for tape. She has done very well on it. The trifexis was suggested to me, had her on comfortis for about 6 months and she had terrible reactions to it. So I stay away from the comfortis and trifexis.

Val, I just haven't brought myself to having the courage to dose properly, kudos!! Imho, that is the way to go. Maybe someday I will have the confidence to do it that way. If you don't mind please update us on how it goes, from what i understand your dog doesn't even notice it on their food, and giving pills is so difficult.....

Renee - ask your vet to calculate the concentration for you and show you how to measure it out with a syringe.

I'm thinking of going that route next year and trying something different for ticks, senior brain, I've temporarily forgot the name of the topical that has amitraz as the active ingredient. I still have to verify, but I believe the ivermectin also controls sarcoptic mange (our fox population...)

Renee, the dose is so small that he doesn't even notice it in his food. I mix it in when I make up their dinner.

The breeder I got Prince from would squirt it straight into the dogs mouth. I prefer to put it in their food, it's just easier that way...no struggling.

Val - I'm feeling lazy. Does the ivermectin also control intestinal worms? Renee infers that's a no to tapeworm but what about the others?

Amy, yes it does, although I couldn't tell you off the top of my head which specifically.