We recently received word that Immiticide, the product to treat Heartworm Disease, is no longer available in the United States and it is unsure when or if it will become available again.  Because of this, it is more important than ever to keep your dog on heartworm prevention such has Heartgard or Iverhart.  The preventative should be given once a month (every 30 days) year round!

Testing is still very important to make sure your pet is free from this disease or to detect the disease early.  If your pet happens to have heartworm disease there are some measures we can start immediately to lessen the effects of heartworm disease on your pet’s heart and other organs. 

What is Heartworm Disease?

Heartworms are long, slender parasites that can reach up to 12 inches in length. Our airborne enemy, the mosquito, transmits a larval stage of this spaghetti-like worm. Young forms of the worm circulate in the blood of infected animals and are picked up by the mosquitoes that bite them. Mosquitoes then pass the infection to other animals they bite. Dogs of ALL ages and ALL breeds are susceptible to heartworms. Although it is more of an issue with dogs, cats also can become infected with heartworm disease.

What happens when a pet gets Heartworm Disease?

The heartworms enter and live in the heart and adjoining blood vessels and are capable of causing damage to the heart and lungs even before the animal shows any signs of disease. Signs of heartworm include coughing, difficulty breathing, lethargy, and weight loss. The disease is easier to detect in dogs than in cats.

With dogs, the disease slowly compromises the blood flow and decreases the amount of blood pumped from the heart. Your pet could have over 100 worms in its heart and could live with this burden and spread infections to more mosquitoes and other dogs and cats for as long as the dog can live with the burden … sometimes up to 7 years.

In cats, detection is more difficult. Cats usually have only two or three worms and live only two years after infection. The infection could imitate other diseases or cause no signs at all. Cats may appear healthy, and then suddenly die from heartworm infection.

An ounce of prevention……           

Treatment of the disease is a long, difficult, risky process, and is almost always unsuccessful in cats, so prevention is key to keeping your mosquito-bitten pet healthy and alive. Prevention is easily administered in a chewable tablet given each month.

Testing for Heartworm Disease

 The American Heartworm Society recommends a yearly heartworm test. This is done by drawing a small amount of blood from a front leg vein of your pet. The blood sample is tested in our hospital to detect a substance produced by adult heartworms. Results are available in approximately 10 minutes after the blood is drawn. We do this to see if your pet may already be infected. When tests show your pet is not infected, preventive medication is given to kill the undetectable stage of heartworm in the blood, before it infests the heart.

We would be happy to answer any questions you might have about this serious disease. Give us a call!

You may also get more information from the American Heartworm Society