Heartworm Prevention

A pet owner’s most important job is keeping their four-legged friends healthy. One of the ways they can do that is by having them checked yearly for heartworms and providing preventative medications monthly to keep their pets free of this parasite.

Here in Oklahoma, heartworm disease is common and occurs year-round. The best way to avoid your pet suffering from heartworms is to prevent infection in the first place through consistent use of preventatives. The benefits are numerous. For example, not only will heartworm medication prevent heartworm disease, but it is much cheaper to prevent your pet from getting heartworms than to treat them if they become infected. In fact, seven years of some types of prevention medication costs the same as treating one episode of the disease.

Heartworm disease can be deadly and all pets not on preventative medications are susceptible to it. Usually, a dog does not show signs of being heartworm positive until they start coughing at which point, it may be too late to save them. If you suspect your dog may have heartworms, it is important to have them tested as soon as possible.

The Tulsa SPCA can assist with heartworm detection and prevention. We offer the following services:

• Heartworm Preventative: Milbeguard – $7 for a monthly dose for dogs up to 100 lbs. $14 for a monthly dose for dogs over 100 lbs. Yearly options may be available with prior arrangements.

• Heartworm test – $10 at both the Tulsa SPCA vaccine and preventative care clinic. We recommend annual testing. For more information visit our website at https://www.tulsaspca.org/clinic-services/.

• Heartworm treatment is $500-$600 depending on the size of the dog. It is expensive which is why it is much less expensive to keep your pets on preventative medications.

Pet owners have a lot of responsibility for keeping their pets healthy and happy. Let the Tulsa SPCA assist you by offering low-cost services and treatment.

All prices are accurate as of August 2021.