Pet Sense (Archives)
All Creatures Animal Hospita
1894 Ohio Pike 797-(PETS)
APRIL IS HEARTWORM MONTH
Big year for heartworm – Start preventatives ASAP on your dogs and cats - yes, cats !
As the temperatures finally get warmer this spring, so does the risk of your dog or cat having an encounter with a heartworm-infected mosquito. Even indoor pets are at risk, since those pesky insects always manage to find a way inside the home. A heartworm is a fairly large worm (up to 14 inches long) that, in adulthood, lives in the heart and pulmonary arteries of an infected pet. Heartworm infection is acquired through mosquito bites as mosquitoes pick up larval heartworms from infected pets and carry them to pets not currently on heartworm preventative. In our area, approximately 25-40% of dogs are not currently taking heartworm preventative, making a large reservoir of carriers of the disease. The adult heartworm prefers to live in the pulmonary arteries. It swims into an artery, where the blood coursing past it nourishes it. The lining of the artery becomes damaged within days of the worm’s arrival. The worm’s presence generates a tendency for blood to clot within the pulmonary arteries. The arteries dilate and blood is shunted to other arteries that are not plugged up by worms, resulting in fluid accumulating in the lung. Coughing and exercise intolerance are some of the early signs of heartworm disease, however the dog may be infected for several years before showing signs. Cats, although heartworm is less common in the species, frequently don’t show signs and can acutely die without warning when harboring only a few adult heartworms. With adult male and female worms present, mating begins to occur. Heartworms do not lay eggs; instead they give birth and the baby worms are called Microfilariae. Microfilariae are released into the circulatory system to be picked up by a mosquito and carried to your dog or cat, wildlife, and rarely to people. Heartworm treatment is administered as a intramuscular injection with a painful substance. After treatment, the patient must be strictly confined for one month. This means no walks and no exercise – and good luck breaking that news to your ordinarily active pet! The good news is that you can avoid all of this by having a heartworm test done at your vet’s office, then administering a monthly preventative that is easy to use and also comes with additional benefits of parasite protection.
How can I prevent my pet from getting heartworms?
There obviously is NO WAY to keep your dog from being bitten by mosquitoes! However, a preventive medication can be given to dogs which destroys the “baby” heartworms injected into the dog by the mosquito, before they have time to migrate through the
body and grow up in the heart of your dog. There are a variety of monthly preventative medications
from chewable tablets to topical liquids. It is recommended that the medication be given year
round since our mosquito season is quite variable.
Here are some of the products we carry and recommend for you to use:
Heartguard: Heartworm, Roundworm & Hookworm preventative.
Intercepter: Heartworm, Roundworm, Hookworm & Whipworm preventative.
Heartworm/Flea Combos
Sentinel: Heartworm, Fleas, Roundworm, Hookworm & Whipworm.
Advantage Multi (Dogs): Heartworm, Fleas, Roundworm,
Hookworm, Whipworm & Mange.
There are many options for preventing this fatal infestation but ignoring the danger is not one of
them!
