I will be taking my dog to the vet this coming Friday for a routine yearly checkup and to update his DHPP and rabies shots. I was also told that I will have to get a blood test done to check for heartworm/lyme/ehrlichia, which is necessary so that he will be able to continue with his Heartgard meds.

Now the thing is that he has been on Heartgard year round, and there has been no break in the administration of the pill. With our last dog, the vet (a different one than the one I have now) did not require a heartworm bloodtest if the dog had been on the meds continuously. But with the new vet that I have, they said that they require a bloodtest regardless, which is part of the contractual agreement for them to be able to sell Heartgard. What are other peoples' experiences with this? Does your vet require a bloodtest every year for heartworm?