Unfortunately having a furry family member also means you have to take into consideration what to do about Heartworm, fleas and ticks. Depending on your location, your answer will be slightly different. This may also vary year to year depending on the intensity of the mosquitos, fleas and ticks. Here are a few things we think you may want to consider while making a decisions about how to handle these nasty little pests.
Three is no simple answer. These pests are complicated and the right answer for each family will be different based on where you life, your lifestyle, your climate, if you live in the city or country and your personal beliefs about all natural treatments vs chemical treatments. We personally are minimalists and do not like to put chemicals in our dogs bodies or our own. However, there is a time and a place. We use them as a last resort for flea/tick treatment, not as a standard course of action 12 months a year. Personally we think all dogs systems deserve a break from these chemicals. In most regions fleas/ticks are seasonal so your dog can take a break on the off season. This is also true for Heartworm season in most areas. There are always risks, we each have to weigh and measure where our comfort zone is and how we are going to address these issues. The answer isn’t as black and white as you may think.
Many vets will just put your dog on 12 months of Heartworm/flea/tick treatments. We suppose this is the easy way, but is it the most healthy if you don’t have any risk months of the year? We think not. We personally believe in only using harsh chemicals on our dogs if absolutely necessary. We know people who use them year around and people who will never touch them. Do the research and make your own informed decisions. These are our preferences.
Heartworm: Heartworm is carried by mosquitos, who then bite your pet and transmit it to your pet. Without mosquitoes there is not Heartworm. Keeping your area as mosquito free as possible is step one. Mosquitoes breed in standing water, so removing as much standing water as possible helps. Sadly bird baths are mosquito breeding grounds. We ended up filling ours with flowers. Otherwise you will need to replace the water daily to keep it fresh. Depending on your location your area may be at high risk for Heartworm, or very low risk. There are maps online which pinpoint the Heartworm activity in your area. Not all mosquitos carry Heartworm, but likely all of us can agree, we simply don’t like mosquitos, the bites are not comfortable for us or our pets.
We have used vitamin B-1 for ourselves and our dogs and this actually does seem to help keep the mosquitos away. We don’t get near as many bites as we used to. But it’s not the total solution. In order to rid Heartworm in your dog, you are going to have to treat for it. There are many options, some are stand alone treatments and some are combined with flea/tick treatments. Notice I say treatments and not preventatives. This is because all of the above treat they don’t actually prevent in the sense of the word. Each month when you give your dog the tab or topical, it treats your dog as if it has Heartworm, and if they did come into contact with it, it kills it. It will however in the other sense of the word prevent your dog from getting severe Heartworm disease because it treats it at the early stage. Heartworm treatment is not a fun thing, it can be quite painful, so treating early is essential.
The products we like best: Heartgard and Interceptor are stand alone Heartworm treatments. They are both very well tolerated. Giving this during the warmer months if you are in the northern states where you have cold winters. Heartworm cannot live if it is consistently below about 50 degrees. So if you have winters below this, you don’t need to worry about year around treatment. We personally only give it about 6 months out of the year. If your dog is always indoors, then your risk is almost zero. The more you are outdoors, the greater your risk is.
Revolution is a combination topical product. It has been well tolerated by many dogs, including Havanese. You put it along the spine once a month and it covers Heartworm and fleas. We are not certain just how effective it is against ticks. If you need a product covering ticks, you may want to consider using a stand alone Heartworm product, either Heartgard or Interceptor, along with a spot on flea/tick like Frontline.
All three of these products also have an intestinal dewormer included, so you will not need to use another dewormer for your pet while using these. They do not however cover coccidia and Giardia, but most adult dogs develop natural immunity to these due to constant exposure in the soil.
We recommend you get these products from your veterinarian, Chewy, or a pharmacy. We do not recommend you get them on Amazon. We love Amazon for many things, however, there are many counterfeits and you don’t want to risk your dogs health. It is worth paying for the real thing.
For those who prefer all natural, there are products like Wondercide to help repel fleas/ticks/mosquitos. With this option you may also want to consider having a Heartworm test every 6 months to make sure you catch it early if your pet does contract it.
Flea/Tick: Fleas and ticks are annoying to pets and humans. Not only do we not want our pets to have them, they can also bite us! Our first course of action against fleas and ticks is to treat our yard with Diatomaceous Eart feed grade. You can get this on amazon or your local farm store. DE is non-toxic to pets and humans and it is very effective in ridding fleas, ticks, ants and more. We spread it around the yard about 3 times per year, spring, summer and fall. If we have strong rains we spread it after that also. We place it around the base of our house to prevent ants. We spread it on the perimeter of the fenced yard and all over the open yard. Making sure you do not have any bunny nests in the yard is essential as they carry fleas. They are cute, but fleas are not. We allow the bunnies on the outside of our yard, but not the fenced area. Many other wildlife also carry fleas and ticks and if they are walking around your yard could be dropping them, but the biggest threat are bunnies because they make a nest and live there spreading fleas everywhere around their nest. Of course, dogs naturally love to chase bunnies and get into the nest creating a vicious cycle of fleas.
We personally do not treat for fleas or ticks unless we actually have them. Flea/tick treatments are neurotoxins and we do not want our pets exposed to these chemicals any more than absolutely necessary. We have actually gone 15 years without any treatments other than the DE. This year however, we are having a terrible tick problem. Every time it rains we get overwhelmed with ticks. DE simply isn’t enough. We will continue to rake and use DE, but, we need to protect our pets from the ticks. DE is a powder so it is important to let the dust settle before letting your pet back in the yard. It’s important neither you or your pet breath in the powder. It is however edible, and the dogs seem to think it taste delicious. Some people who are all natural use this as a natural intestinal dewormer. We have not done this personally. The rain will not harm the DE as it will dry back out and still work. However, if it really pours hard you may need to reapply.
It’s important to understand that these products are harsh neurotoxic chemicals. They affect the nervous system. They can also affect the digestive system (which actually is controlled by the nervous system). They can decrease immunity. They can cause sevear reactions from nausea/vomiting, allergies, skin issues, seizures to death. So we always use with caution and watch our pups carefully to make sure they are not having a reaction. These products work by killing the bug after it bites. You may still have bugs crawling around on the coat. We don’t think there is a perfect answer. But at least you won’t have them reproducing little bug nests on your dog.
There are so many products on the market now it’s hard to keep up. Many of these have an FDA warning about being linked to seizures. We will never use these on our pets. They are taken internally and thus it’s really hard to reverse a reaction. They build up in the stem and can cause reactions over time. We are not taking any chances with our pets.
The products we like best are Frontline or Revolution. Frontline is a flea/tick treatment given topically along the spine once a mont. This must be combined with Heartgard or Interceptor. We prefer to not give these on the same day but to stagger treatments. We just mark the calendar on what day is treatment day. This allows their system to only have to deal with one thing at a time. We prefer the topical as it is not ingested and if necessary can be washed off. After 24 hours it is waterproof so you can still bathe your pup. Revolution covers Heartworm and fleas and is also applied topically. These products are not on the FDA warning list, but of course you should still observe for reactions.
We personally buy name brand of these products as it is our precious baby we are treating. The Heartworm meds we are okay with using an off brand from Chewy or a pharmacy as those are very common medications that are pretty safe to use. Ivermectin is not safe for some hearding breeds unless they are tested to assure they do not carry the gene. For Havanese, they do not carry this so Ivermectin has not caused serious issues that we are aware of. Of course, these are still chemicals so caution should be taken.
Since Heartgard and Frontline are both used for up to 22/25 pounds, we use it off label and only give half to our dogs. We feel that we do not want to give them more than they need. If the tab or vial covers over twice their weight, then really they only need half or less. It may be safe to give the entire thing, but being minimalist when it comes to chemicals we only give them what they need for their weight. This is not medical advice, it is not veterinary recommendation, it is not according to label. This is simply how we choose to utilize the medication for treatment of our own dogs. You should do what is best for you and your dog. This is simply the line in the sand that we have been able to feel semi-comfortable with, despite the fact we truly hate using chemicals on our dogs. They are so tiny as it is and adding chemicals to their system just is very difficult for us. However, sometimes, we just can’t get past the problem of fleas or ticks and need some help so our dogs and house don’t become infested.
You must remember though that fleas and ticks must bite the dog to die, so they can still ride in on their coat or your pant leg and get transplanted into your house anyhow. These are not simple issues. There are just a number of ways we can try to deal with them, but none of them are foolproof. It’s a complicated answer to trying to deal with the years that are truly terrible.
Disclaimer: We are not veterinarians, please seek the advice of your veterinarian to determine what is best for you and your furry family member. These are the tings we have found work best for us. These are our personal opinions, not intended as professional medical advice.
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