Keeping Pets Heartworm Free

Something as simple as a mosquito bite can leave pets susceptible to Heartworm Disease. That’s why it’s so important to know how to protect your pets from this disease and insure that they stay healthy.

How it Happens

Mosquitoes become infected with the disease by biting another infected animal. At this point, the mosquito takes in heartworm larvae, microfilariae, which grow into adulthood. Therefore, when the mosquito bites another animal, the microfilariae are released into that animal’s blood stream. The disease attacks your animals’ heart and lungs.

Heartworm in Dogs

About six months after the original bite, the larvae have reached the dog’s heart and blood vessels and start to mature. There are three classes of the disease, Class I being the least severe and showing very few symptoms. At Class III, signs that your dog may be infected include:

• coughing
• fatigue
• reduced appetite
• weight loss

Once your pet has been diagnosed by monitoring the heart or other specific tests, the treatment can begin.  An adulticide (a medication that kills the adult worm) is administered during a short hospital stay to kill off the organisms in the dog’s body. Surgery to remove the worms may be necessary in the most severe cases.

Dogs are particularly vulnerable to heartworm and nearly all dogs exposed to the disease (that are not protected by prevention medication) become infected.

Heartworm in Cats

The infecting organisms in cats generally have a shorter lifespan and a spontaneous cure is much more likely. Cats who spend time outdoors have a higher risk of being infected. Detecting heartworm in cats is a little more difficult because the symptoms are similar to other feline diseases. You should contact your veterinarian if your cat is:

• vomiting
• gagging
• coughing
• lethargic

For cats, there is no specific diagnostic test or adulticide treatment. A series of tests, including urine samples and an electrocardiograph can confirm heart disease and symptoms of heartworm. Removing heartworms in cats is highly complex and there is not currently a recognized treatment method. However, as stated earlier, heartworm cases do spontaneously cure themselves due to the short lifespan of the worm.

Preventing Heartworm in Pets

Pond Point Animal Hospital can provide you with numerous heartworm prevention methods that work with your schedule. Puppies starting at 6-8 weeks old should begin heartworm prevention. Methods range from daily tablets to injections twice a year. Applying these preventative measures on schedule will intercept the heartworm larvae before they can affect your pet. While cats are less susceptible to the disease than dogs, it is important that pet owners of both animals research heartworm prevention. Dogs should also be checked for heartworm at least once a year.

Contact Pond Point

For more information about heartworm or for professional veterinary services, contact Pond Point Animal Hospital via the website or call 1-800-671-7885.