Gracie is now 13 years old!

For nine years she's eaten REAL, HOMEMADE FOOD, NOT commercial dog food. This blog shows how easy it is to be a DOGGIE CHEF and how healthy a home-fed dog can be.

August 31, 2010

Heartgard Plus --- Are So Many Doses Necessary?

Last week I was supposed to give Gracie her last (fourth) Heartgard Plus chewable for the spring-summer season (Click here to read my June 1, 2010 post about Gracie's heartworm prevention regimen this year). I didn't give it to her.

I don't like the idea of over medicating my 11-year-old dog. Right now mosquito activity around here isn't as bad as it was earlier this summer. I think and hope that three Heartgard Plus chewables this season are enough protection for Gracie from heartworm. If the chewables had been plain Heartgard I probably would have given her the fourth chewable. Yet this year my vet gave me Heartgard Plus. The additional chemicals in Heartgard Plus (to treat ascarid and hookworm infections) make me more hesitant to use it.

Do dogs really need all the vaccinations and preventive medications veterinarians suggest? I doubt it. Yet it's scary to take matters into your own hands and risk your pets safety based on doubt. If I decide to give Gracie heartworm preventive next year,  I'll be sure to get plain Heartgard for her; the kind just for heartworm prevention.

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