The phrase
"oral heartworm" refers to a type of medication that is given to dogs to prevent them from getting heartworm disease. It is taken by mouth as a pill or chewable tablet.
Full definition
We have monthly
oral heartworm preventatives in combination with intestinal wormers, and we have oral preventatives in combination with intestinal wormers that also can inhibit the hatching of flea eggs.
Tri-Heart Plus Chewable Tablets is a once - a-month
oral heartworm preventive for use in dogs to prevent canine heartworm disease and for the treatment and control of roundworms and hookworms.
Heartgard Plus is a
monthly oral heartworm preventative and intestinal wormer for dogs and puppies 6 weeks of age and older.
there are alternative approaches to most situations...... this includes dilutions of ivermec for
oral heartworm prevention to keep the «have nots» pets free of heartworms.
However, a recent Harris Poll found that of the dog owners surveyed who provide a monthly
oral heartworm disease preventative to their dogs, nearly one quarter (23 percent) say their dogs do not always eat the entire tablet.
Some interesting results came out of a study of Ceva's Vectra 3D flea / tick / mosquito repellant: It turns out it's a powerful tool in the fight against canine heartworm disease, relying on what the company calls the «double defense» of a topical mosquito repellant combined
with oral heartworm preventive.
In cases which do not respond to amitraz, some success is being obtained with milbemycin or ivermectin,
oral heartworm preventives, but this requires daily treatment, and these drugs are not approved for this use.
The active ingredient, moxidectin, is in the same drug family as the monthly
oral heartworm preventatives we are already familiar with: Heartgard, Interceptor, and Sentinel.
Iverhart Max and Iverhart Plus are
oral heartworm preventatives for dogs.
Both topical and
oral heartworm preventatives are available (Advantage Multi and Interceptor are good examples) and should be given year round.
Even if you faithfully give the heartworm preventative every month as recommended, your pet may spit out or vomit
an oral heartworm preventative resulting in one or more missed doses.
Phase 2 of McCall's study further supports using a topical parasiticide to repel and kill mosquitoes, rather than relying solely on
an oral heartworm preventive.
Dr. McCall presented his groundbreaking study showing success in heartworm prevention when
an oral heartworm preventative is used alongside a topical parasiticide to kill and repel vectors.
And it is important to note that, in addition to
oral heartworm preventatives, there are topical heartworm preventatives that are applied to the skin on the back of the neck.
Rather than rely solely on
an oral heartworm preventive, the studies support also using a topical parasiticide to repel and kill mosquitoes.