# Revolution vs. Heartguard



## msdker (Jan 18, 2007)

I am a long-time cat owner and use Revolution regularly on my cats. I love it because it takes care of all the critters that try and live on their skin and in their ears. I order it online from a reputable pharmacy.

I added a rescue doggie to our family this summer. She had heartworms and went through the harsh treatment and now has a clean bill of health. The rescue agency vets put her on Heartguard. She originally took Capstar (or some other name) for fleas and ticks. In addition, they put a flea collar on her and they dipped her. I have not treated her with any other flea medications since. 

I am getting ready to order the Revolution for my cats and started researching ordering flea stuff for my dog. (Makes sense that they all should be treated so the fleas don't jump from one to the other.) I was surprised to find that Revolution is listed as a treatment for heartworms. I called my vet but he is out. His vet tech basically told me the vet uses Heartguard and Frontline on his dogs so that is what they prescribe to all their clients. He would not comment on weather Revolution is a good option. 

It seems ridiculous to give my dog several treatments (like Heartguard & Frontline) when one would work and it would be more cost effective. (I know that vets get deals, kickbacks and such so this could be why he chooses the route he does.)

Anyone know if Revolution is just as good a treatment for heartworms? Any other thoughts/comments?


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## Lorina (Jul 1, 2006)

I use Revolution on my dog for fleas, ticks and heartworm (and the other creepy crawlies it treats). I've heard it's not the best for ticks, but so far, no problems. I've previously used Advantix (for fleas & ticks) and Interceptor (heartworm & intestinal parasites), but I got Revolution free as a perk for working for a vet, so I might as well try it. 

Products seem to be a personal choice for vets. My vet, for instance, recommends Interceptor or Sentinel over Heartguard, and doesn't like Frontline at all and won't sell it. My rescue dog was treated with Frontline when I got him, and picked up a tick within two weeks. I found a second tick in the house that may have been on him or me. So with that as my only experience, I'm not a big fan.  It may also be a regional thing. Some products seem to work better in different parts of the country.

You may need a prescription from your vet for Revolution for the dog, or have the pharamcy phone them to verify that he's negative for heartworm.


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## Dogged (Nov 19, 2006)

There are many options out there now for all those creepy crawlies, and it would not be cost efficient for the vet to carry every one of them. They of course make a profit on the mark up of the medication, but there are rarely kick backs or perks to selling one over another. The vet is just selling what he has had good experience with and what he thinks will work.

It sounds like it would be easier for you to stick with the Revolution, so that is what I would do. Heartguard has the extra perk of killing some intestinal parasites too, I'm not sure that Revolution does that.


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## Lorina (Jul 1, 2006)

I just checked my insert. For cats, it treats roundworm and hookworm, but it doesn't mention anything about intestinal parasites in dogs. Just fleas, ticks, heartworm, ear mites and sarcoptic mites, but no mention of worms.


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## Mermaid (Jan 16, 2007)

As Lorina points out, it's pretty much a regional thing, but if I were you, I'd use Advantage for fleas (or Frontline/k-9 Advantix for fleas and ticks), and Heartgard for heartworm prevention. 
I wouldn't depend on Revolution to protect my dog against heartworm.


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## lovemygreys (Jan 20, 2007)

I've heard good things about Revolution from other dog owners. Personally, it freaks me out too much to use something topical to prevent something as dangerous as heartworm. I prefer something orally so I *know* the dog ingests it. We use a liquid ivermectin, which is the active ingredient in Heartguard (Iverheart and others). We use frontline plus for fleas. Even with 15 dogs, it's not terribly time consuming or troublesome to do two steps.

If I had only one dog, I'd use Sentinal - no question. Just way to pricey with 15. For us, Ivermectin works fine and we just de-worm as needed.


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## Lorina (Jul 1, 2006)

I found out more about Revolution. While it's not labeled as protecting against whip-, hook-, and roundworms, Pfizer will guarantee the product for protecting against those parasites. In other words, if you're on Revolution and your pet tests positive for those parastites, the vet will be able to treat your pet for the parasites at no cost to you (either the vet will be reimbursed by the manufacturer, or you will). Same goes for heartworm. If your dog tests positive while on the product, the manufacturer will pay for treatment. 

Also, Revolution is safe to use on a heartworm positive dog (if you were using it just for fleas, ticks, mites and didn't want to test first), but if you want to use it as a heartworm protection, they'd need to be tested first.

That said, I still think I'm going back to Advantix and Interceptor or Sentinel once the weather breaks.


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## Captbob (Feb 2, 2007)

My vet says that he has seen dogs on Revolution coming down with Heartworms anyway. He recommends Heartgard. I like Advantix for fleas since it works on ticks and also mosquitoes too. Frontline wasn't able to keep the fleas off my dog.


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## Elijah (Dec 30, 2006)

From what I've read from some excellent sources and knowledgeable folks other that something I came up with myself, here's what I found. The biggest disadvantage of Frontline is that it can only be purchased at a vets or he writes a prescription for it. It's relatively new (maybe several years) and no one knows at this point, that down the road...say 5-10 years just what affect it may have. It still is not proven to be safe yet from what I've read. I also understand that shampoos, dips, foggers, and collars are out of date and toxic.

Fleas in your carpet? I read of a product called Fleabuster Rx for Fleas is great in that you put it on your carpet and spread in in with a broom. What it does is dehydrate the fleas and is very effective in eliminating them. One app last about 1-2 years.

As for the yard, use "nematodes" in the form of products such as Interrupt, Orcon and a few other brands that have nematodes in them. It actually gobbles up the flea larvae and is harmless to pets.

From what I've researched on Heartworms, Invermectin or milbemycin are both poisons but not as bad as Immiticide. Heartguard Regular contains ivermectin which will kill heartworm microfilaria-period. The Heartgard Plus, Sentinel, Revolution and Proheart include additional poisons for fleas, hookworms ticks, ear mites, roundworms, etc. This to me seems like an overkill and a constant source of poisons in a dogs body. If ear mites appear or other parasites, deal with that then instead of using something that's a constant source of poison for what your pet "might" get.

Anyway, my 2-cents just thought I'd pass it along after doing a bit of research.


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