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Heartworm Disease

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About Heartworm Diesease

When Mom & Dad first brought me home, somebody told them that I needed some kind of pill or something once a month to keep me safe from heartworm and that it was very important. Mom & Dad gave me a chewable tablet once a month. It tasted yummy and I frequently got it as a fun treat! They said they didn't know why I needed it - just that I absolutely had to have it.

After a while, Mom and Dad told me the pill was to keep me safe from a serious and sometimes fatal disease called heartworm disease. It turns out I, or any other dog, could get the disease from a mosquito! One bite is enough! Who knew?!

Over 30 types of mosquitoes are able to transmit this awful disease. The mosquito just acts as a carrier of the parasite Dirofilaria immitis commonly referred to as Heartworm. The mosquito gets "baby heartworms" by biting a dog who is already infected. The mosquito ingests these microfilariae which take 10 days-6 weeks (depending on the climate) to develop inside the mosquito. After that time is up, the mosquito then transmits them into the next dog it bites. Once the larvae enter the dogs bloodstream, they move all around the blood until they reach adulthood. After 2-4 months, they move to the right side of the heart and vessels of the dog where there could be 1-250 worms growing up to 12 inches in length! This entire cycle takes 6-7 months in dogs.

Some of the symptoms of heartworm disease include coughing, shortness of breath, intolerance to exercise, weakness, weight loss, abnormal heart and lung sounds, swelling of abdomen and legs, anemia and fainting.

Your vet can diagnose heartworm by a blood test. The success of the treatment largely depends on how advanced the heartworm disease is. If caught in the early stages, most infected dogs can be treated with success.

Treatments are expensive and intense. They require 2 doses each for 2 days of an arsenical injection into the spine/muscle area. The treatment must be followed by a time of rest and low physical activity to allow the dogs body to absorb the dead worms. Excitement could cause the worms to dislodge and get into the lungs causing farther complications.

Sounds scary to me and I am so thankful Mom & Dad have always given me that pill! It is only $5-$7 dollars a month. There are several types of preventatives out there that your vet can discuss with you. Mom & Dad use Interceptor for me and all of the dogs in the rescue because it also helps to control roundworms, hookworms and whipworms. (Interceptor is a registered trademark of Novartis Animal Health). Talk to your vet about starting heartworm prevention. Your dog will need to get a bloodtest for heartworm disease before starting on the prevention.

--By Chase

References:
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/hartworm.html
http://www.heartwormsociety.org/CanineHeartwormInfo.htm