heartworm meds in the mountain west

dturm wrote:

ReneeG wrote:
Our dogs are not on heartworm meds and never have been. They get annual checkups and more if needed, have never had a problem.

You have been lucky.

American Heartworm Society wrote:
KEY POINTS:
EPIDEMIOLOGY
• Heartworm infection has been diagnosed
in all 50 states and around the globe.
• Environmental and climatic changes,
both natural and those created by
humans, relocation of microfilaremic
dogs, and expansion of the territories of
microfilaremic wild canids continue to be
important factors contributing to further
spread of the parasite.
• A pivotal prerequisite for heartworm
transmission is a climate that provides
adequate temperature and humidity to
support a viable mosquito population, and
can also sustain sufficient heat to allow
maturation of ingested microfilariae into
infective, third-stage larvae (L3) within the
intermediate host.
• The length of the heartworm transmission
season in the temperate latitudes also
depends on factors such as the influence
of microclimates, unique biological habits
and adaptations of the mosquito vector,
variations in time of larval development,
mosquito life expectancy, and temperature
fluctuations.
• Heartworm transmission does decrease
in winter months, but the presence
of microenvironments in urban areas
suggests that the risk of heartworm
transmission never reaches zero.

American Heartworm Society Guidelines

Maybe, but when I say "our dogs", I meant 7 total acquired between 1997 to the present.

ReneeG wrote:
Our dogs are not on heartworm meds and never have been. They get annual checkups and more if needed, have never had a problem.

You have been lucky.

American Heartworm Society wrote:
KEY POINTS:
EPIDEMIOLOGY
• Heartworm infection has been diagnosed
in all 50 states and around the globe.
• Environmental and climatic changes,
both natural and those created by
humans, relocation of microfilaremic
dogs, and expansion of the territories of
microfilaremic wild canids continue to be
important factors contributing to further
spread of the parasite.
• A pivotal prerequisite for heartworm
transmission is a climate that provides
adequate temperature and humidity to
support a viable mosquito population, and
can also sustain sufficient heat to allow
maturation of ingested microfilariae into
infective, third-stage larvae (L3) within the
intermediate host.
• The length of the heartworm transmission
season in the temperate latitudes also
depends on factors such as the influence
of microclimates, unique biological habits
and adaptations of the mosquito vector,
variations in time of larval development,
mosquito life expectancy, and temperature
fluctuations.
• Heartworm transmission does decrease
in winter months, but the presence
of microenvironments in urban areas
suggests that the risk of heartworm
transmission never reaches zero.

American Heartworm Society Guidelines

Our dogs are not on heartworm meds and never have been. They get annual checkups and more if needed, have never had a problem.

The recommendation to only give heartworm medication for summer months is about 40 years out of date. All reputable sources recommend giving heartworm medications all year around in all of the US.

Doug, DVM

Our present boy Auggy hates taking pills or medicine of any kind. Vet suggested a 6 month shot for heartworm.

Our dogs are on them year round.

Even here is relatively dry, darn near mosquito free Nor NV our vet recommends heartworm preventative, especially if we are traveling.

Dog importation and changes in heartworm prevalence in Colorado 2013–2017

Veterinarians in Colorado should no longer base heartworm testing and prevention recommendations on only historic heartworm risks and prevalence. Heartworm prevalence in Colorado rose 67.5% from 2013–2017.

Importation of dogs from heartworm prevalent areas (dogs rescued during hurricane Katrina and adopted in CO) provided a reservoir for the disease that local mosquitoes can then transmit to other dogs.

Keep your dogs on heartworm preventative. Show local vets who question you the linked study and:

2019 Heartworm Incidence Maps

Wonder why? I am from FL also and my pup is on meds 12 months a year. I traveled out west last year and no vet suggested I take him off. Get to back to FL and if they have missed a month, my vet would do a blood test before giving me more.

The vets we go to recommend heartworm tablets and we give them to our dog year round. There is some disagreement between different vets as to whether they are needed all year or if they should just be given in the summer. Because of the warming climate, our vet recommends that they take them all year.