Lalaloopsie
New member
Dear friends, I need your expert advice. As I know, all dogs in the USA get heartworm prevention once a month. And you probably know a lot about it. I know nothing, as I come from the north Of Europe and it is not very common thing there.
At the moment we stay in China, region is with moderate climate by the sea, winters well below zero, this area is not really heartworm prone, but in general, there are some regions in China, where you can get it. And a week ago I made a blood test, which showed that Tank is heartworm free. Test I needed, because if the dog is heartworm positive, Chinese quarantine bureau wouldn't give us exit permit. So, everything looks good at the moment. But in Beijing clinic where we made the test, they gave us Heartguard tablets and said that we should start prophylactic treatment once a month now, they say just in case.
So, my question is : heartworm is mosquito transmitted disease, I can say for sure, that at the moment there are no mosquitos around, temperature is around 0 Celsius and will drop soon to minus. Is it necessary to start prophylaxis right now, in winter, or could I wait till warmer months? TAnk is just recovering his fur after severe allergy, so if there is no real probability to get heartworm in winter, I wouldn't like to give him tablets right now. Because if he loses fur and doesn't look healthy, freaking Chinese won't grant him exit permit.
At the moment we stay in China, region is with moderate climate by the sea, winters well below zero, this area is not really heartworm prone, but in general, there are some regions in China, where you can get it. And a week ago I made a blood test, which showed that Tank is heartworm free. Test I needed, because if the dog is heartworm positive, Chinese quarantine bureau wouldn't give us exit permit. So, everything looks good at the moment. But in Beijing clinic where we made the test, they gave us Heartguard tablets and said that we should start prophylactic treatment once a month now, they say just in case.
So, my question is : heartworm is mosquito transmitted disease, I can say for sure, that at the moment there are no mosquitos around, temperature is around 0 Celsius and will drop soon to minus. Is it necessary to start prophylaxis right now, in winter, or could I wait till warmer months? TAnk is just recovering his fur after severe allergy, so if there is no real probability to get heartworm in winter, I wouldn't like to give him tablets right now. Because if he loses fur and doesn't look healthy, freaking Chinese won't grant him exit permit.