It’s that time of year again. The time when you begin to find ticks on your dog and start worrying about fleas. I’ve received numerous questions about preventing fleas, ticks & worms, so I decided to address them in a post!
I’ll start by saying that no matter the brand of heartworm preventative you choose for your furry friend, you will undoubtedly find it cheaper to purchase through 1-800-PetMeds than purchasing it at your vet’s office.In this article, I’ll walk you through how to order from 1-800-PetMeds, compare and contrast the different heartworm preventatives on the market, and touch on tick prevention.
Where To Purchase
All heartworm medications require a veterinarian prescription but that doesn’t mean you have to buy them from your vet. I have found that 1-800-PetMeds has the best prices. They’re usually running a sale, which lowers their already lower price. And, to sweeten the deal, they offer free shipping on orders of $49 or more. I purchase both heartworm preventative and the Seresto flea & tick collar for my dogs from 1-800-PetMeds. For one dog, I save approximately $30 in 6 months by buying heartworm preventative from 1-800-PetMeds.
If heartworm preventative requires a veterinarian prescription, how do I order it from 1-800-PetMeds?
It’s actually really easy. Create an account with 1-800-PetMeds. Make a profile for your dog and type in the name of your dog’s vet. Select the heartworm preventative of your choice and check out. 1-800-PetMeds will take care of the rest! 1-800-PetMeds will obtain a prescription and mail your ordered medications to your door. They’ll even email you with updates if your vet is being slow to respond to their request or if it’s time to order your pet’s medications again. I have ordered medications from 1-800-PetMeds on a number of occasions and have been very pleased with how easy it is to do. Plus I have saved a significant amount of money ordering heartworm preventative through them rather than from my vet.
Heartworm Preventatives
We’ll start with worms. Heartworms are a dangerous parasite that attempt to infest your dog’s heart. If left unchecked, heartworms can eventually kill your dog. Since Heartworms are carried by mosquitoes, your dog is at danger even if she never leaves your yard. Mosquitoes don’t know property lines. Dogs are also susceptible to a variety of intestinal worms including: whipworms, tapeworms, hookworms, and round worms (hookworms & roundworms can also infect people). Because of this, your dog should use a monthly parasite preventative that covers a range of worms. All heartworm medications require a prescription from a veterinarian, and all of them kill heartworm larvae, not adult heartworms (if your dog has an infestation of adult heartworms, consult your veterinarian for treatment options). Heartworm medications should be administered with a meal, as they can be hard on your dog’s stomach. If you notice that your young puppy vomits shortly after receiving the medication, ask your vet about using a topical preventative (such as Revolution or Advantage Multi). Occasionally a puppy may need to use a topical heartworm preventative for a few months. Once older, she likely will tolerate the ingested medication.
There are a number of products on the market. Let’s compare the different heartworm preventatives:
| Trifexis | Sentinel | Interceptor Plus | Iverhart Max | Heartgard Plus | Sentinel Spectrum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Ingredients | Spinosad & Milbemycin Oxime | Lufenuron & Milbemycin Oxime | Praziquantel & Milbemycin Oxime | Praziquantel, Pyrantel Pamoate & Ivermectin | Pyrantel Pamoate & Ivermectin | Lufenuron, Praziquantel & Milbemycin Oxime |
| Cost For 6 Months* | $108 | $54 | $50 | $41 | $45 | $66 |
| Parasites Covered | Heartworm, Hookworm Roundworm, Whipworm, Flea (Adults & Eggs) | Heartworm, Hookworm, Roundworm, Whipworm, Flea Eggs | Heartworm, Hookworm, Roundworm, Whipworm, Tapeworm | Heartworm, Hookworm, Roundworm, Tapeworm | Heartworm, Hookworm, Roundworm | Heartworm, Hookworm, Roundworm, Whipworm, Tapeworm, Flea Eggs |
| Administration Route | Oral | Oral | Oral | Oral | Oral | Oral |
| Flavor | Beef | Beef | Chicken | Beef | Beef | Beef |
| Caution Advised With | Dogs With Epilepsy; Dogs Taking Other Medications | Dogs Taking Other Medications | Dogs Taking Other Medications | Herding Breeds; Dogs Taking Other Medications | Herding Breeds; Dogs Taking Other Medications | Dogs Taking Other Medications |
| Manufacturer | Elanco | Virbac | Elanco | Virbac | Merial | Virbac |
*price based on 1-800-PetMeds‘ non-sale price for a 25lb dog
All dogs are at risk for heartworms, and every dog should be on a monthly preventative to avoid being infested by these nasty guys. There is no right or wrong heartworm preventative, and the best choice varies from dog to dog. If you have a collie or shepherd breed, you may benefit from avoiding Heartgard Plus or Iverhart, both of which contain Ivermectin. If remembering to give your dog one pill each month is plenty and you don’t want to worry about a different medication for flea prevention, Trifexis might be a good option. If you want to cover as many parasites as possible, you might choose Sentinel Spectrum. Or if your dog detests artificial beef flavor, maybe she’ll find the chicken flavor of Interceptor delightful to her pallet. Use the above table to help educate yourself and discuss your options with your vet so you can choose the preventative that is best for your dog. 1-800-PetMeds has more in depth details about each product on their website such as the drug class, how to store, and how it works. I used information from 1-800-PetMeds‘ product descriptions to compile the above table.
Flea & Tick Prevention
As you can see, different heartworm preventatives contain different medications and consequently differ in the additional intestinal worms they prevent. You’ll also notice that Triflexis & Sentinel are the only two options that simultaneously fight fleas and that Triflexis is the sole product that kills adult fleas (while Sentinel inhibits the development of any flea eggs, it does not kill the adult fleas). None of the options protect against ticks. Many wild animals such as mice, rabbits, raccoons, and deer can carry fleas or ticks into your yard, so your dog may need a flea & tick preventative in addition to her monthly parasite prevention. Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lymes Disease are just two nasty illnesses carried by deer ticks. Needless to say, you don’t want ticks on your dog! There are topical, oral, and slow release collar options for flea and tick prevention.
We prefer the convenience of the Seresto Collar by Bayer for evading fleas and ticks. The collar slowly releases Flumethrin & Imidacloprid (both insecticides affecting nervous system of insects) providing a reported 8 months of protection against flea, ticks, mange & lice. Research indicates that the time release of these medications very effective. The Seresto collar has no greasy residue or odor. It’s more economical than many monthly options, and there’s no need to remember to give it to your dog monthly, which is a huge plus in my opinion. See our review of the Seresto collar
References:
Stanneck et al. (2012). Efficacy of an imidacloprid/flumethrin collar against fleas, ticks, mites and lice on dogs. Parasites & Vectors, (5)102. Retrieved from: https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1756-3305-5-102