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Permalink Reply by Linda on May 2, 2014 at 7:32pm

I use the Heartguard.  First thing I would do is have the vet test him to see what it is in the med that he is allergic to, it may not be the actual preventative but rather one of the fillers.  There are other preventatives available and you would need to know what it is before starting him on another one.  And yes, heartworm is bad...you don't want to not have him protected.

Do you keep him on it year round?  Do you live where there are cold winters?  Maybe it's a long time accumulation of it in his system and he could get by just taking it for the warm months when he would be most at risk.  You would have to have him tested each spring for heartworm before you started him on the med tho.

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Permalink Reply by Beca and Mishka on May 3, 2014 at 10:22am

My bosses' dog is super-allergic to food, and so her heart worm preventative is just a pill.  It gets special-ordered from the vet, but it's just the medication, none of the food-delivery-stuff.  You do want to get this stuff sorted out with your vet - heart worm is NOT something to leave to chance.

I should add, though, that allergies are tricky to diagnose.  Mishka is having a bad allergy year so far in 2014, where last year he was pretty good January - July.  Exact same food, same treats, same meds, everything.  Who knows why he was better last year - if I had stopped a particular med I would be tempted to think that was the culprit, too.

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on May 3, 2014 at 10:56am

Good advice from Linda & Beca. I'm allergic (so it appears) to aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen (sp??). Allergy doc said a) there's a good chance it's not the drugs themselves (not all of which are in the same family of pharmaceuticals) but something in the pills' filler; b) the reaction may not be caused by the drug per se but by a chemical that the drug metamorphizes into as it is digested and absorbed by the body. He said it can be extremely difficult, sometimes even impossible, to figure out what specifically causes an allergic reaction to a medication, because of the number of ingredients and because the ingredients change as they pass into and through the body.

You may be able to find a compounding pharmacy in your parts, where they whip up prescriptions to order. Possibly they could prepare the active ingredient as a plain pill without the chewy "doggy treat" goop, or even as a liquid.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on May 4, 2014 at 9:47pm

I posted a discussion on this topic recently:

http://mycorgi.com/forum/topics/guidelines-heartworm-preventive

I would try the daily preventive.

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Permalink Reply by Suzanne on May 5, 2014 at 3:30pm

Thanks for all of the replies. I might try the Sentinel. It contains different active ingredients as well as all different fillers. I suspect the beef is the problem in the heartguard. I am not sure though.  We live in kansas city area, so I think we could probably be fine with only the warmer months, but will talk to the vet to  make sure. I will refer back to the replies as we go forward with all of your ideas. I appreciate them greatly. :)

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on May 5, 2014 at 4:28pm

He is likely allergic to the beef flavoring in Heartgard. You can get capsules compounded that contain no flavoring, they are hard to find but tell your vet and they can get it for you. Almost all the preventatives on the market except the topicals are beef flavored and the topical ones don't absorb well so its better to give an oral medication. Your vet can get you what you need.

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