Giving Your Dog Heartgard: Vital Protection from Mosquito Bites

A mosquito bite used to seem a small thing before we became aware of dread diseases like West Nile virus. In the pet world, there's a different threat from mosquitoes, the threat of mosquito-borne heartworm. It is not something you want to mess around with or take a chance of your pet contracting.

You may not be able to see any mosquito bites on your dog, and you may not see him scratching them the way a child might, but if there are mosquitoes where you live (and where oh where are there not?), your dog is a target for biting. Oh, he won't tell you, and he won't even tell you when the first symptoms of heartworm start affecting him, but it won't take long until the symptoms are clear, and at that point the disease is serious. Give your pet Heartgard if he or she is ever outside in warm weather.

Before you try to buy Heartgard, know that your pet will need a prescription for it, even if you buy it from a discount company online. The prescription is a veterinarian's testament that the dog has been examined and does not yet have the disease. Giving Heartgard to an infected pet can cause death more suddenly than heartworm itself.

So the next time you're at the vet's ask about getting a prescription for the dog you want as your lifetime faithful companion. Then start giving your lucky dog Heartgard. He'll love you even more because the drug tastes like a treat.