Heartworm/Flea Preventative in the Winter?

[BrownieM]

How many people give their dogs a heartworm preventative in the winter? My dogs use Sentinel (which is also a flea birth control) and I am trying to decide if I even need to give it to them tomorrow. I do not give Frontline during the winter. I only use it on an as-needed basis in the summer.

I live in St. Louis - so our winters are pretty cold.

[Bauer's Mom]

We have always given both throughout the year. In the past I have stretched the flea preventative out during the winter though. We live in NC so you never know what the weather is going to be. I mean it was in the 60's yesterday and today it is freezing and then it is supposed to be close to 70 on Wednesday. Crazy weather!! ;)

[BrownieM]

Bauer - We are having some crazy weather too! It was almost 50 the past couple days and now today we are supposed to have some historical winter storm LOL! An inch of ice followed by 6-24 inches of snow in some areas!!!!!

[KC23]

I never give heartworm meds during the winter. I have 3 dogs--I gave them 3 doses each last year during the warmer months. From what people on here say, you can go 45 to 60 days in between treatments. The vet tries to get me to give it all year long, but I never do. I had a big dog that lived 13 1/2 years--I never gave him heartworm meds in the winter either, and he never ended up with heartworm.

[Bauer's Mom]

Bownie,

YIKES!! That is some crazy weather!! Almost sounds like NC ;) I am just ready for it to warm up a little bit. Hope you and your crew stay warm!! :)

[tem_sat]

Unbeknownst to me, when I adopted my Dachshund he was heartworm positive. He went through the Immiticide treatments and the very scary weeks and weeks of aftercare. Living in South Texas and having gone through all of that, I won't take the risk of him missing any dosages of his Interceptor.

-- Tara

[KC23]

Yes, I suppose it depends on where you live/temperature re: the heartworm meds. I live in Ohio, so we don't have that many months of warm weather. That's part of the reason I stopped using topical flea products as well. If I need to treat, I use Capstar--and I've had very good luck w/that product.

We are supposed to be getting a big snow storm too....

[CorgiPaws]

Fleas are a non-issue where I live, so unless we travel somewhere that they are a concern, I skip out on this altogether, and haven't had issues here.
I give Heartguard every 45 days March thru October, but I skip the super cold months of Nov, Dec, Jan, and Feb.

I do have to have them tested before I can buy it the next time around, but it's ok with me.

[BoxerMommie]

I use Frontlins Plus every 60 days year round and Heartgard Plus every 6 weeks year round because I live in Arizona and we don't get cold enough long enough in the winters to kill things off. So personally I give it year round but I do a modified schedule being every 60 days on the Frontline Plus (instead of 30) and every 6 weeks on the Heartgard (instead of every 4).

[_Trish]

I use flea preventative on an as-needed basis. My dogs have only needed it three times in 4 years. As for hw preventative - I use it year round. My friend's dog contracted HW in December, even though we have cold winters here. I have found mosquitos in my house in the winter as well, even though it was freezing, or below freezing outside. Heart worm disease is such a terrible thing, and if it means giving the hw preventative every single month to be SURE that they will not get it.. then so be it! To me, it is just not worth it to leave it up to chance, even if the chance is small, I would rather there be NO chance. Buying it for what the vet was asking for 4 dogs was pretty outrageous, I found much less expensive prices on Pet Supplies | Dog & Cat Supplies, Pet Meds | DrsFosterSmith.com Pet Products .. I asked my vet if they would price match, and they did, which saved me over 60% compared to what I was paying.. which is a BIG deal! I use Tri-Heart Plus, the generic for Heartgard.