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Not sure there *is* a generic form of heart worm preventative medicine. The combo pills from the vet that cover heart & other worms are not cheap--but what price do you put on protecting your pet's health?
First, you dog should be tested at your vet's office to make sure it doesn't have an active heartworm infestation before starting any type of heartworm preventative.
Using a heartworm preventative on a dog with an active, adult heartworm infestation can kill the dog.
Google for more info.
Second
Nuheart is a drug called ivermectin. Ivermectin can be deadly to several breeds of dogs or mixes of those breeds. Google for more info.
Nuheart is a drug called ivermectin. Ivermectin can be deadly to several breeds of dogs or mixes of those breeds. Google for more info.
Heartworm meds sold in the US through vets are the exact same thing, Heartguard etc., is Ivermectin also, and will have the same effect on some herding breeds.
You can also buy liquid Ivermectin purchased at any livestock store. I would never recommend this since it is very easy to overdose an animal this way unless you are competent at correctly dosing and diluting it with very accurate measurements via oral syringe.
I use ValuHeart from CanadaVet. I've used it for my own dogs for the past decade, and I'm now using it to slow kill heartworms in a HW-positive Pug I'm fostering (along with aspirin to thin blood). I buy the packets for large dogs, then break the tablets up according to the weight of the dog.
And all this is why the OP should take his dog to a vet to be heartworm tested. Then discuss with the vet the various forms of heartworm medication.
He can ask his vet for a prescription which he can then use to shop on the internet. If he wants to buy from another country, then he should be very careful to research were those drugs are being manufactured. In a reliable lab in Canada, Australia, fine, imported from China, no.
The bottom line has to be the safety of the dog, not just cheap medicine. Used incorrectly, these are dangerous drugs.
Ivermectin is the active ingredient in all heartworm preventatives. It is also the same stuff used in generic cattle wormer. Go to your local Farm & Ranch store, mine is a TSC (Tractor Supply Corp), and buy a 50ml bottle of Ivomec, also buy a 1cc syringe and a good size hypodermic needle to draw out the dosage. Pull the fluid out with the hypo, take off the needle and administer by mouth .1cc of Ivomec per 10 lbs of dog weight, ie., a 50 pound dog would get .5cc's. If your dog weighs more than 100 lbs you'll need a bigger syringe.
Ivermectin is a 'clean up' wormer, it won't prevent your dog from getting heartworms next week but it will go through the system and clean up any mosquito borne eggs he picked up in the last month before they have a chance to infect your dog. Do not use this dewormer on cats.
As far as I know there is not a shelf life for Ivomec but I keep it in the fridge just in case, total cost for this as a monthly treatment is less than $10.00 per year.
Last edited by jbtx; 08-07-2014 at 02:04 PM..
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beware of cheap and heartworm
