Heartworm Question?

I adopted a new Chihuahua about a month ago. I have another one I previously adopted. My first takes his heartworm pill on the 12th of every month. Can I go ahead and start my second on today as well? Do I need to take him to the Vet first to get checked out? I have all his papers, he was negative on everything and up to date on his shots. I just want to make sure it is safe I start him as well. Thank you!
Answers:
It's a good idea to check with your vet, first. Take your new dog's records into your vet and they can check for you. They'll need copies of those records, anyway. If he's had a heartworm test, in the past month or so, it should be ok to start him on prevention. Any longer than that might not be safe.

---

Hello..NO Heartworms meds can be used without a VET check - it's the only way to know if they have heartworms or the meds can kill !!! Take Care :)

---

You need to take him to the vet first, they will test him for heartworms if he is positive they must kill the heartworms before you can give preventable meds, if it is negative then GREAT and they will set him up for once a month meds.

---

You need to take him to the vet first and have a snap test done to make sure that he doesn't have it. Once it comes back negative you can go ahead and start prevention treatment. Good Luck

---

he tested negative for heartworms already?
if so yes u can go ahead and start him..
if he has not been tested.. then he needs to be tested before starting the heartworm pills.

---

HE MUST HAVE A RECENT HEARTWORM TEST TO MAKE SURE HE IS NOT INFECTED OR ELSE THE PILLS TO PREVENT IT CAN MAKE IT WORSE.

---

The only safe way to ensure your dogs stays well - take him to the vet and they will give a bloodtest to ensure the dog hasn 't already been infected with heartworm. If he does have heartworm and you aren't aware, and give him the heartworm pills, it could cause more harm. Getting rid of heartworms is a long process and very costly and doesn't have the greatest success. You could ask the previous owner if the dog has been faithfully on the program for prevention with the meds. I start my dogs on April 1st and continue until November 1st - I live a southeastern Canada. I can buy another set of the meds one more time without a blood test, but I would have to sign a waiver. So year 1 - blood test - year 2 - no blood test - year 3 blood test again. If your dog has been outside a lot and you live in a target heartworm carrier area, go get the test. Better safe than sorry.

---

If your new pup is young (a few months old) you should start the heartworm preventative now, yes. If your dog has already been tested for heartworm that's all well and good, but the test is retroactive (will not show a positive result until 6 monthsof the life cycle has passed). If your dog has never been on heartworm preventative, start it now, and at the end of the first six months, have another heartworm test done to make certain that he did not become infected during the time that he was not yet on the preventative.

At that point, if he is negative, give him the heartworm pill every month year round, and you will never have to test again (it is 100% effective).