Is there anything I can give my dog for heart worm protection besides getting it from the Veterinarian?

I don't recommend it and it may be irresponsible to even tell you, but you can buy medicine meant for horses that contains Ivermectin. It is the active ingredient in many Heartworm remedies. You can look at the active ingredient amount on what you have and calculate the dose, but you need to be very careful to get it right. You can buy it in farm oriented stores such as TSC, or order it on line from Dog & Pet Supplies - Vet Vax, Inc Pet Supply Store for dogs, cats, horses. or elsewhere. An ad may even appear with my answer.

It is illegal to give heartworm medicine to a dog that hasn't had a blood test. If you give a dog heartworm medicine and it has mature heart worms, it can die.

Year round heart worm and flea remedy in the summer from my vet runs me $240 or less for my 2 dogs. I am just not going to take a chance on DIY stuff.

I agree completely with Labman. I would like to add something from my own experience that might help.

Personally, I would not recommend buying the Ivermectin as Labman states he does not recommend it. A couple of years back I did buy it for the same reason -- to save money.

Ivermectin is in liquid form. It is sold as a hearworm medication for horses, cattle, and pigs. The dosage directions are for those animals so you have to be EXTREMELY careful when calculating the dosage for your dog. If you give too little, he can contract heartworm. If you give too much, you can make your dog ill. I have a friend who is a vet tech and is the one who suggested I do this in the first place. She knew the correct dosage for my dog, so that was not my issue. The liquid is a bit oily and evidently, from my dog's reaction, pretty vile tasting. My dog will eat anything I give to her. She is not unlike a vacuum when she is around food! She refused this stuff and acted like I was killing her. I put it on her food, she picked around it. I tried hiding it a number of different ways, no luck. So, I donated the remainder to the local Humane Society and returned to buying the old product from the vet. In the end, that year heartworm meds cost me a great deal more money. It is not worth your going through the same thing.

If you are trying to cut costs, I would suggest that you buy the heartworm medication from your vet and buy the tick/flea stuff from another source, such as the website Labman has provided. I buy a lot of the things I need from Jeffers Pets to save money. Regarding flea/tick meds, I have tried Advantix and Frontline Plus. Two top brands that are not cheap when purchasing from the vet. I live in a very wooded area and I am vigilant in keeping my dog protected. What I found is that a product called BioSpot worked just as well for her and is much cheaper. Here is the link if you are interested:

Bio SPOT® Topical for Dogs - Topical Spot-Ons

Hope this helps in your decision.

When I took my 3 1/2 yr old Shih-Tzu to the vet Monday, she went through a gamut of tests including Parvo, Heartworms, and anything else you can think of. She received her booster shots and was given Heartgard Plus to be administered once a month. She received her first dose of HG+ around lunch time Monday. I noticed that something long and skinny (kind of like spaghetti came out in her feces), but she tested negative for any kind of worms when he did the fecal exam the day before. I also noticed there was just a small amount of blood in her feces. I called the Dr and he said that the spaghetti like substances was probably a round worm and that a little blood in her feces is not alarming because sometimes that happens when a dog is wormed. This morning I noticed (again) that there was a small amount of blood when she went to the bathroom. Okay... I realize that I am paranoid because we just lost our puppy, but is this normal? She still will not eat "Dog" food, but will eat a treat and boiled chicken breast. There is no vomiting or diarrhea, however, her feces is mushy(but still very formed)! Any ideas as to what is going on Labman or anyone else?

Heart worms will not pass in a dog's stool. I am disappointed the vet didn't find the round worms or whatever. The Heartgard+ kills several other kinds of worms. Perhaps she is expelling something it killed. If you want to learn more about worms, I would suggest the AVMA site at AVMA Brochures Unlike a site you may Google up, you can trust it.

I would be quick to get back with the vet if anything changes. Sometimes blood in the stool can be a bad sign.