HEARTGARD® Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel) is well tolerated. The heartworm preventive in HEARTGARD Plus chews has been trusted over 2 billion times. HEARTGARD Plus is the #1 vet-recommended heartworm preventive.

While Heartgard Plus and Heartgard for dogs may sound similar, there is a fundamental difference between the two. While Heartgard offers protection against heartworm disease alone, Heartgard Plus tablets are effective against three types of worms, including heartworm, roundworm, and hookworm.

monthly intervals HEARTGARD Plus should be given at monthly intervals during the period of the year when mosquitoes (vectors), potentially carrying infective heartworm larvae, are active. The initial dose must be given within a month (30 days) after the dog's first exposure to mosquitoes.

HEARTGARD Plus chews attack heartworm larvae that have infected your dog in the previous 30 days. This prevents the larvae from growing into adult heartworms and causing harm. By administering monthly heartworm prevention, your dog will stay protected all year long.

The monthly heartworm preventative we prescribe only lasts in a dog's or cat's body for one to two days, not 30 days, due to the lifestyle of the heartworm, it is only necessary for the pet to take the heartworm preventative every 30 days.

Once your puppy is on a heartworm disease preventive, continue to give your dog the delicious real-beef HEARTGARD Plus chew each month, all year long, to ensure full protection from the risk of heartworm disease.

Heartworm treatment is expensive due to several factors: Heartworm medications are relatively new, and their high price is attributed to research and development costs. Moreover, the medication is often imported, making it more expensive to obtain.

This resulted in similar percentage efficacy of only 37.7% and 34.9% for Heartgard Plus and Interceptor Plus, respectively. The geometric mean worm count for the ProHeart 12-treated dogs was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than those for the control group and for both Heartgard Plus and Interceptor Plus.

The monthly heartworm preventative we prescribe only lasts in a dog's or cat's body for one to two days, not 30 days, due to the lifestyle of the heartworm, it is only necessary for the pet to take the heartworm preventative every 30 days.

Heartworms cause zoonotic disease in people. Heartworm disease can be prevented in dogs and cats by giving them medication once a month that also controls various internal and external parasites. Heartworm infections are diagnosed in about 250,000 dogs each year.

If you forget a month of preventative, make sure to give the next 2 doses on time to "catch up" for that missed month. If you miss several months in a row, you should give your vet a call for advice on when to plan for the next heartworm test and how to get started back on preventatives.

A: Give the dose you missed immediately, then continue giving the medication on the day you've always given it. If the missed dose is more than 2 weeks late, your dog should be tested for heartworm again in six months (click here to learn why).