1. It is virtually impossible for veterinarians or owners to
know whether each pet in a family received and actually ingested
his/her heartworm medication on a regular basis during the previous
year.
2. Pets that miss one or more month's treatments are at risk of
becoming infested with adult heartworms, which puts their overall
health in serious jeopardy.
3. A small percentage of pets harboring adult worms and/or
heartworm larvae will suffer serious adverse reactions after receiving
routine heartworm preventative medications.
4. It is the manufacturer's recommendation.
For these reasons, the Animal Medical Center of Lehigh Acres has
established this policy: If your pet's initial heartworm prescription
was for less than one year and more than six weeks have passed since
the last heartworm preventative pill was administered, the blood test
needs to be repeated before the prescription can be refilled. If the
initial prescription was for one year, and all pills were administered
on schedule, prescriptions will be refilled only if your pet has had a
negative heartworm test within the month prior to such refill.
I decline this recommended blood test. I agree to hold the Animal
Medical Center of Lehigh Acres harmless in the event heartworm
medication is purchased and administered by me or my agents without
the recommended blood test and one or more of these animals
subsequently acquires heartworms or suffers an adverse reaction to the
medication.