Generic Heart Worm Prevention
Heart worms are transmitted to dogs by the bite of an infected mosquito, grow to the size of pieces of spaghetti and live in the dog's heart. They reproduce to the point that they can eventually cause the dog to die by blocking the flow of blood through the heart.
The only way to prevent your dog from getting heart worms is by administering a heart worm preventative. These preventatives were once cost prohibitive to many pet owners. However, several generic versions of heart worm prevention are now on the market. Some of the more common generic preventatives are described below.
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Generic
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Generic products are those that contain the same active ingredients as the brand product, but cost less. The reason they cost less is because they do not have the cost of research and development associated with them. A brand product carries a patent and generics of the product cannot be sold until the patent expires. There are several types of generic heart worm preventative now on the market. While the branded Heartgard is a chewable "treat" type tablet, most preventatives are not.
Iverhart Plus
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Iverhart Plus is a flavored chewable heart worm preventative, a generic version of Heartgard. Using the active medication Ivermectin, Iverhart is made by Virbac (Iverhart Max Plus is also available). In addition to protecting against heart worms, roundworms and hookworms as Iverhart Plus does, Iverhart Max also protects against tapeworms.
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Tri-Heart Plus
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Tri-Heart Plus also uses Ivermectin as its active medication. Tri-Heart Plus kills immature heart worms and basically de-worms the dog of any heart worm infection each month before the parasite grows or reproduces. Tri-Heart Plus also controls hookworms. Tri-Heart Plus is made by Schering-Plough
Valuheart
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Valuheart contains Ivermectin, the active medication in many heart worm preventatives. This product prevents heart worm disease by de-worming the dog of any heart worm larvae that have infected it. Valuheart does not contain a de-wormer for intestinal worms so an additional product must be used for those parasites. Valuheart is made in Australia.
Nuheart
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Nuheart is also made in Australia. According to its manufacturer, it is made with a meat-flavored base so that dogs like the taste and easily swallow it. Nuheart too contains the medication Ivermectin as its active ingredient to de-worm the dog each month against immature heart worms.
Purchasing
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Many of the generic heart worm preventatives require a prescription from your veterinarian. Some veterinarians will not provide a prescription without doing a heart worm test on your dog first and getting a negative result. Some veterinarians also sell the generic heart worm preventatives in their clinics.
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References
- Photo Credit sxc.hu
