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Is it safe to stop heartworm preventative during dog's treatment?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | neutered | 9 years and 7 months old | 11 lbs

My dog has been on the heartworm treatment and in two weeks he will go in for the final visit and be tested for worms again, I was told by the nurse to stop the heartworm preventative and continue it again once the treatment is over. Is that true?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on April 27th, 2018

Yes, that is true! While under heartworm treatment, Charlie should not be on a heartwood preventative. Once he is cleared of heartworms, it will be safe to start him on a preventative again to prevent him from getting heartworms again. Best of luck.

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2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Questions

Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Once a dog is finished with the heartworm treatment, if they are still heartworm positive after what happens? Do they need to go through the treatment again?
In this case, the heartworm treatment would need to be continued, but it's not like the entire process needs to be started again. In most cases, this would call for an additional injection or two of the medication that kills the adult heartworm and continuing the heartworm preventative. The treatment may vary depending on the dog's case and the doing the treatment. I reccomend consulting with the vet doing the treatment for more information. I hope that helps and all is well with Charlie.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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After going through the first round of heartworm treatment a week later my dog did get a bit excited and now his slightly coughing and sounds like he is blowing his nose, he was also shivering a bit but I don’t know if it is because something is wron
Treatment for heartworm is difficult, because the worms are dying and dissolving slowly in the heart. The first place the dead worms and/or pieces of worms go is to the lungs. Depending on the size of the piece that goes to the lungs, they can have varying degrees of lung problems. A cough could indicate a problem, but as long as he's breathing OK, this would not be an emergency. In this case I'd recommend you contact Charlie's vet sometime in the next 24 hours. They can give medication for the cough and help determine how serious this is. If Charlie is having trouble breathing, then this is an emergency, because it can indicate a severe thromboembolism in the lung. I hope that helps and Charlie gets better soon.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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When is it safe for a dog to resume aerobic activity (i.e. Dog park) after he's completed heartworm treatment?
Captain should be fine to go back to his regular activities (dog park, etc.) four weeks after completing his heartworm treatment protocol. Until then, he should be cage-rested to minimize the risk of complications.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My dog tested positive for heartworm today. However her microfilaria test was negative. In the plan of study my vet gave me it said to administer a heartworm preventative day one, however my prescription cannot be filled until tuesday. Is this an iss
I am so sorry to hear about that. I think it will be fine to wait until Tuesday. A few days likely won't make a difference. I would talk to your vet though and let them to know to ensure they don't want to change their treatment plan any. Every vet clinic does heartworm treatment a little differently. I hope this helps.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My dog had a strong positive stage 1 heartworm test in January this year. She has been on the preventative, completed the doxycycline, and now the 3 shots for the adult worms. I caught her spitting up some of the doxycycline pills though. She is due
It sounds like you have gone through the appropriate steps and I suspect the parasites are now cleared. Of course you still need to go through the testing to be sure but this protocol generally works very effectively. Congrats! The hardest part is over! Remember though to continue her on strict rest until your veterinarian clears her for normal activity again. I hope this helps.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Health & Wellbeing
I recently adopted a 3 year old german sherpherd that has heartworms, how much exercise should he be doing?
Activity restriction is paramount during treatment as worm death is occurring. I have attached a website link that can provide much more in depth information than can be written here. There is a pet owner information link there. I hope this helps and thank you for using Boop by Petco! https://www.heartwormsociety.org
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Health & Wellbeing
My dog has been coughing trying to release phlegm but I haven’t seen any come out and he also sniffles and sneezes a bit I was wondering if that’s normal for him since it has been a week since his first round of heartworm treatment shots. He doesn’t
This can be normal after the first round of heart worm treatment. As the adult heartworms die, they cause an inflammatory reaction in the lungs. It is VITAL to keep Charlie under strict confinement during this time. This means he needs to stay in a confined area or crate and then only to be taken outside on a least to go to the bathroom a few days per day. If they are too active the cough will only get worse. You can try to give him some Benadryl twice a day to help with the sniffles/sneezes. See link below. I would also contact your vet just to tell them what is going on to make sure they don't want to add any meds or change any meds for him. Of course, if he stops eating, the cough gets worse, you notice labored breathing, or he is coughing up blood then I would have your vet take a look at him immediately. I hope this helps! https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/#!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Health & Wellbeing
Due to financial reasons, I had missed a couple months of heartworm prevention for Phoenix. He has been on it since he was 11 weeks old. I've had him tested a few times due to switching vets, and this last time I had just switched. Then Covid-19 hit
If he has always been on it and hasn't missed any doses, then he should be fine to continue with the prevention. Now, that being said, no prevention is 100% effective so the reason we test every year is to check and make sure there was no break-though issues with the product. If a dog has heartworm disease there is a chance the prevention could cause a medical problem. In this case, I think the benefit of him taking the heartworm prevention outweighs the very tiny risk that he could be positive and have a reaction to the medication. Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
I asked about heartworm treatment that won’t harm any of my breeding females. What’s best heartworm treatment that can be used year round that won’t affect mom or unborn pups? I’m a breeder and don’t wont meds that could possibly harm mom or babies.
Hi and thanks for posting on Boop by Petco! HeartGard would be my recommendation. It is approved for use in breeding females, females that are pregnant, or nursing. A yearly heartworm test from Lucy's veterinarian is typically needed in order to receive heartworm prevention. I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Duke has tested positive for heartworm and was set on a treatment plan by my vet to take heartworm preventative medication. Was my primary vet correct in perscribing him trifexis even though he has heartworms?
Some veterinarians treat heart worms with a slow kill method by giving heartworm prevention monthly which will kill the adult worms over time and prevent new ones. The more common treatment is with injections to kill the worms quickly. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Doing it with a slow kill method is much less expensive. The shots are expensive, can be painful and you would need to keep your dog very quiet for six weeks. Thanks for using Boop by Petco to help you care for Duke.
Updated on September 24th, 2025

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