Heartgard and Nuheart (generic Heartgard) use the same amount of ivermectin to control heartworms. Ivermectin has been proven to interfere with the development of the heartworm larvae, which take 6 to 7 months to develop inside your pet. It is recommended to start heartworm treatment before your dog is 6 months of age.
Give your pet heartworm preventative year round or during the mosquito season. Keep an eye on the temperature; the heartworm larva requires approximatly 2 weeks of daily temperatures at or above 80 degrees Fahrenheit to develop inside the mosquito before your pet can become infected. The larvae stop developing when temperatures fall below 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure you don’t have any mosquitoes in the house, where temperatures are usually higher year-round.
Signs & Symptoms of Heartworm Disease; coughing (with or without blood), weight loss, fainting, congested heart failure.
CAUTION – Dogs and cats, older than 6 months of age, should be tested for an existing heartworm infection prior to administering any heartworm preventative. While some microfilariae may be killed by ivermectin, the safe amount found in heartworm preventatives, is not effective in eliminating all microfilariae found in your dog or cat’s system. These products are not effective against adult heartworms.
CAUTION – Although side-effects are rare, caution should be taken when giving ivermectin to the following breeds; Collies, Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, Shetland Sheepdogs, Old English Sheepdogs. These breeds have a “mutant” gene (MDR1) that prevents the complete metabolization of ivermectin. This can lead to this drug reaching toxic levels in the brain.
Collies and Collie mixed breeds tolerate a dose 10 times greater than the recommended amount of ivermectin (generated by streptomyces avermitilis) used in the following heartworm prevention medications; Heartgard, Tri-heart, and Iverhart. Care must be taken to avoid the accidental ingestion of multiple oral heartworm preventative chewables.
CAUTION – Avoid using this product in debilitated, sick or underweight pets. Always read the package insert before applying any parasite preventative or consult with your veterinarian.
Nuheart is one of the leading Australian heartworm preventatives and is approved by the regulating body in Australia, the APVMA, which is the Australian FDA. They can be found at www.apvma.gov.au
Generic Heartgard (Monthly) – Nuheart Blue for dogs up to 25 lb 6.00
Generic Heartgard (Monthly) – Nuheart Green for dogs 26-50 lb 6.00
Generic Heartgard (Monthly) – Nuheart Red for dogs 51-100 lb 6.00
Heartgard Plus Chewables Blue Small Dog under 25Ibs 6.00
Heartgard Plus Chewables Green Medium Dog 26-50Ibs 6.00
Heartgard Plus Chewables Brown Large Dog 51-100Ibs 6.00
Heartgard Chews Cat 6PK Red 1-5 lbs.
(Rx)
Heartgard Chews Cat 6PK Purple 5-15 lbs. (Rx)