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I personally don’t give heartguard to my dog, since I have never come across a dog in our region that has contracted it. Working as a vet tech the only dogs I ever saw that were positive either came from the South or would travel to the Southern States with their families. If I lived down there I would surely use it.
The other good thing about heartguard is that it can prevent other intestinal parasites from getting a stronghold. Again, this is a personal choice. You can always monitor by submitting a stool sample to your vet every few months or use other meds such as panacur on the schedule of your choice.
Overall though I never saw a dog have a bad reaction to heartguard, so if cost not a big factor I would say low risk.
