deworming

[Marion]

Abby is 7 month now.She took Heartguard meds until the season changed.I would say to November.
Do I have to deworm her or have her tested for worms regulary in the winter month or is it just a danger in the summer?
How does the deworming scedule works for puppies and adult dogs??
Thank you

[Adina P]

The main reason for heartguard is to prevent heartworm--which comes from infested mosquitoes. Otherwise, deworming is not really necessary if your dog is not high risk for worms (based on where you and your dog go etc.). I I heard at a lecture about parasites, that dogs who are high risk for worms should be wormed annually if they are not on a medication like heartguard.

But we don't have heartworm where I live so far... so I have never used heartworm preventive medication on my dogs... someone else will probably have a lot more information.

[MBKANE]

I live in Virginia and around here all vets recommend that we keep our dogs on a Heartworm preventative 365 days a year.

[Renee]

I live in Illinois and we are on heartworm all year around as well.

[Sine]

Hi, I live in Portland, Oregon and I didn't think it was necessary to put Joey on this preventative med but my vet strongly encouraged it, plus the American Heartworm Society recommends all dogs to be on it so he will be on it year round. The dosing is based on weight.