Ivermectin is a heartorm preventative that has been on the market for many years. Get a couple tubes of horsewormer, and keep them for monthly use. Use a small "glob", less than the size of a pea once a month for med dogs. Larger dogs kike GP get a glob the size of a "fat" pea, or a very small marble. For a chihuahua give them the size of a grain of rice once a month. They will not get heartworms if you do this every month. The horsewormer tube of ivermectin costs ten dollars from any farm store.
Some people get the liquid ivermectin that is injected for horses. It runs about $50 a bottle. Use it orally a drop for every 10lbs of dog weight. The dog will not get heartworms if you use this faithfully every month. It will also control most parasites.
There has been a lot of "scare" tactics about how giving ivermectin to a dog that might "possibly" already be infected will kill them. If you are concerned about that, then be sure to start the dog on the preventative (ivermectin) as a puppy. If the dog is older then you might want to have it tested before starting the product, but there are different thoughts on that subject. Honestly, it won't kill the dog to take the ivermectin even if it is heartworm +. It will not kill the adult worms though. It kills all the "new" infant ones that come up while the older ones just get old and die off on their own natural lifespan. Long story short, ivermectin can be your dogs best friend in preventative medicine.
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