As a busy pet owner myself, I know how difficult it can be to remember to give monthly medications to my furry family members. The websites of many pet manufacturers have monthly reminder services, but many pet owners I have spoken with are reluctant to sign up for fear of receiving a lot of junk mail or their information being sold. With this in mind, I’ve created a simple mailing list called HeartMyPet to help keep us all on track. When you sign up, you’ll receive a confirmation e-mail, then just two e-mails a month. One will remind on the 1st of the month, and another will follow-up on the 14th of the month. That’s it! And you are free to unsubscribe at any time.
A few other tips for keeping those monthly medications on time:
- Keep more than one dose at home at a time. Owners that tend to pick up one or two doses at a time may have a harder time giving them on time. If you have the dose ready and waiting at home, it will be handy to give it right when you are reminded to do it. Most medications come in a box of 6.
- Mark off the dose you gave on the box. Most pet medications have a chart of the calendar months where you can check off the dose you gave. That way, later in the month you can know for sure that you gave the dose and avoid double dosing your pet. This also helps communicate to other family members that the job has been done.
- Use the reminder stickers in the medication box on your paper calendar and/or add a reminder to the calendar in your smartphone. More than one reminder never hurt anything.
- Try to get everyone on the same schedule. If you can dose all your pets at once, you’ll be more likely to keep things on time and organized.
- Give these medications once a month year round as prescribed by your vet. I know you’ve heard that song and dance before! Heartworm preventatives also deworm monthly for hookworms and roundworms which are “zoonotic” meaning people can get them. Flea preventatives work best when they are given BEFORE a problem starts, often in the spring. Unless you enjoy battling an infestation all summer, get those fleas before they get you! Lastly, ticks can be out and about all winter, becoming more active on those unseasonably warm days we seem to have so frequently. These medications are designed as prevention, but they can only prevent if they are given as directed.
Making these medications a priority, will save you time, money, and heartache in the end. Prevention is always the best medicine, especially when it comes to heartworms, fleas, ticks, and intestinal parasites. Click here to sign up for reminders!
