My dog's heartworm meds are excreted fast. How do they work monthly?

Question

Hello, I v got information that milbemicine oxime gets excreted from body with full time of about 5 days used as nexgard spectra pill. Tell me please then how it protects against dirofilaria heartworms whole month as instruction says? By residual micro dose? And if dog got for example toxocara canis? How it works against that worm whole month ? And maybe micro residual doses used against both worms same time if both are presented is not effective? And if we take revolution or other spot on? Pet's info: Dog | Alaskan Malamute | Male | unneutered

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Hi there. Most heartworm preventatives, including milbemycin oxime (Sentinel), do not work by staying in the dog's body the entire month. Instead, they are active for a few days, and kill any heartworm larvae and/or intestinal parasites that are present at that time. As long as you give the product monthly, it will prevent heartworm disease from developing because any larvae that the dog is exposed to will never have a chance to develop beyond one month of age. For intestinal parasites, you can think of it as doing a routine deworming once monthly. Revolution (selamectin) and Advantage Multi (moxidectin) are the exceptions to this rule. They do stay active in the body for the entire month, and kill larvae continuously as the pet becomes exposed. However, in practice this difference really doesn't matter one way or the other - all of these products are effective at preventing heartworm disease and keeping dogs from picking up intestinal parasite infestations.

My dog's heartworm meds are excreted fast. How do they work monthly?

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