Heartworm Medication & Flea/Tick Medicine

[EC]

Hi fellow doodle lovers,

A new member here!  Totally love that there is a forum dedicated to doodles.  :)  Just a bit of background: My husband and I recently got a doodle for our one-year anniversary.  He is three months old as of 8/1.  I have some experience with dogs because I grew up with two mini schnauzers, and my hubby is a complete puppy newbie; however, I'm pretty clueless about medications and such and feel like a complete newbie as well since my parents raised our pups.  :)

Basically, we are trying to figure out some more information about heartworm preventative medication and flea/tick medication.  The vet gave our doodle a tablet of Trifexis for heartworms.  I asked her about Heartguard Plus because that is what my family's/parents' two mini schnauzers take every month, and the vet said that Heartguard Plus could also work.  She also squeezed some flea/tick liquid on the back of his neck/back area.  I'm not sure what brand she used.

We're not sure what kind of medications to use because we're pretty overwhelmed by all the information out there on the web.  Our doodle also had some diarrhea for a few days after the Trifexis tablet... (We're not sure if his diarrhea was due to change in home, diet, schedule, or a puppy booster that we were feeding him 3x a day as we were told to do, etc.  The vet checked him out and gave him an antibiotic to help with the diarrhea.  The vet also told us to stop giving him the puppy booster since it tends to cause diarrhea, and lo and behold, our pup started having normal stools once we gave him the antibiotics and stopped the booster.)  Therefore, we're not ruling out Trifexis, but we read some horrifying stories online.

We would like some recommendations.  We live in Chicago and don't have mosquitos year-round... we take him for walks regularly, and he socializes with neighborhood dogs.  We don't want to feed him unnecessary drugs and whatnot, but we also want to be safe and prevent any illness/infection.  Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!  Help?  :)

Thank you!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Welcome to DK. I have two dogs and have always used Heartgard Plus and Frontline Plus. I have never had a problem with either with my dogs. If you have the time, look over some of the groups on DK. We have a Puppy Group, as well as a Food Group, and tons more and you can gather a wealth of information on any one of them. Good luck with your puppy. He is adorable.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I use Advantix II on both of my doodles, I never had a problem with it, never a flea nor tick.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I agree with Laurie on joining some of the groups because there is a wealth of information.  The one thing that troubles me a little in reading your post is it really doesn't seem like the Vet took much time with you or provided you with any options.  My Vet told me what my options were with regard to Heartworm and what the pros and cons were and then let me (or helped me) decide what was best for our girls.  It also troubles me that he/she just put the flea stuff on the dog and didn't tell you what was used or provide you with additional for future use.  I might be considering a different Vet.  What is the puppy booster that you were feeding and did that come from the Vet?

[EC]

Hi Lucy and Sophies Mom,

Oh, no!  Our vet was really great.  I reread my original post and am regretting how terse and cold I made our vet sound.  I didn't want to go through the entire vet appointments so summarized everything.  She actually did give us options, but I zeroed in on Heartguard Plus because that is what I am used to seeing at my parents' place for their mini schnauzers.  My husband just told me that she used Frontline Plus on him.  We both agreed to go ahead and give Trifexis and Vectra at the vet's because we wanted some immediate protection for him as we figured out which preventative medications we're actually going to give him for next month.  She didn't pressure us to purchase anything through them and welcomed us to research more, figure out what we decide on, etc.--as long as we do it before the second month.  :)

The puppy booster was actually from the pet store.  It's a "high calorie supplement for finicky eaters."  The vet told us that we shouldn't give this to him if he was eating regularly and well; she told us because a lot of pet stores and some breeders worry that puppies will become hypoglycemic, they give this booster to new owners.  After we stopped giving Gus the puppy boost and gave him some antibiotics, his stool progressively became more normal (in consistency).

I hope this relieves your concerns, but if our vet still causes some concern, please let us know!  We thought she was great and the staff was also wonderful to Gus, us, and other patients there.  :)

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

We use Heartguard and Advantix II.  We personally stopped using Triexis due to tummy upset for one of our dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm in the Chicago suburbs, I have cared for my own dogs since 1977, (and lived with them since 1958), and I use Frontline Plus for fleas and ticks, and Heartgard Plus for Heartworm. My Jack has two immune-mediated diseases and is in the care of two specialists, and both feel these are safest, partly because they've been around the longest.

[EC]

Thank you so much!  It's very helpful to know about your dogs, especially since we're from Chicago/Chicago suburbs.  :)  Do you keep them on the medication year-round?  I've been reading about how some people don't give heartworm medication during the winter months because there are no mosquitos, but I feel uneasy doing that...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I used to give it year round, but Jack has lots of health issues and is on lots of meds, so I have stopped giving the Heartgard in Jan, Feb, and March. The dose they get this month kills any heartworm larva they may have picked up last month. If you discontinue giving it during the winter months, your vet may require a HW test in the spring before you start it again.
You can stop using the flea/tick topicals once we've had a hard freeze, and then start again after the spring thaw, at least for fleas. I have never seen a tick on any of my dogs, (or even not on my dogs, lol) so I don't worry too much about those, but i know that can vary by area, especially if you spend a lot of time out in wooded areas.

[Sam, Risa and Archie]

Hi Karen, as you know Its pretty expensive to get the heartworm meds and Fleas & Tick (Frontline Plus) at the VET.  I know Chewy.com doesn't sell them and most pet stores don't have heartowrm meds, but would you know where to get that stuff online (safely, and fairly priced)?  

We use Sentinel for Heartworm and Frontline Plus for flea & tick.

Thanks for any help you could provide :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Not  Karen but I get meds from 1-800 Pet Meds and  have not had a problem : )

[Sam, Risa and Archie]

F, thank you!  Do you know how quickly they ship? I have always been wondering where a decent priced pet meds site was lol

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How did this two year old discussion get brought back up? 

I don't find the vet's pricing on the Heartguard or Frontline to be expensive at all, compared to some of JD's other meds, lol, and I feel better knowing that it is the real deal straight from the manufacturer. I was ordering it from Smith & Foster, but I got a batch of the chewables in a baggy with none of the original packaging and different lot numbers and expiration dates! I sent it back. It's just not worth it to me to save a couple of dollars a month to take that kind of chance.