Heartworm Medication: Preventing Overdose

While getting infected is definitely more risky to your pet than the preventative medicines given for preventing the spread of these parasites, you still need to be aware of some of the dangers of administering them.
Administering preventative medicine without first having your pet tested by a veterinarian can make them very sick. There is a big difference between heartworm prevention and treatment. The former will give you a false sense of insecurity which may unintentionally result to you ignoring the manifestations of a real infestation.
Second, if you are not careful with giving preventative medicine, your dog can be prone to overdose. Dosages are designed to be administered daily or monthly and it can be easy for you to forget that you have already administered the regular dosage and give it again. Likewise, a member of your family may unintentionally give the dosage again.
The manifestations of heartworm medication overdose may include vomiting, lack of coordination, and diarrhea. If you think that your dog is suffering from overdose, consult your veterinarian and bring along the package to the clinic. This will help your vet determine the active ingredients that led to the overdose. Here are some pointers on how you can prevent your pet from getting an overdose of heartworm medication.
While you might opt to purchase the preventative medicine straight from your vet after the completion of your pet’s heartworm check, some owners choose to buy them from a discount company. Although this is completely alright, it migh become confusing regarding the correct dosage.
The correct dosage depends on the pet of your weight and unless you know how to determine the right weight of your pet, you are gambling on the correct dosage. It can be worthwhile to check with your veterinarian to check on your pet’s weight. You can also verify the right dosage with your veterinarian.
Another way of preventing an overdose of heartworm medication is to mark your calendar whenever you give a dose. This will also help remind family members that medication has already been administered. However, you still need to have an agreement with everyone to check with the principal caretaker to ensure that no one will forget to record the dose after administering it.
Using a pill case will also remind you that your dog is on a daily preventative if that is the kind of medication they are on. It consists of compartments designed for daily administration for each week. Just make sure to load ne pill to each compartment and avoid reloading until the whole box is consumed.
Finally, another way of preventing overdose is by covering each day with a sticker. Like the pill case, make sure that you will not reload the case until the current month is completed.
Follow these simple tips and you can have a guarantee that your dog will not suffer from heartworm medication overdose.