News and Press

2007-05-01
HEARTWORM DISEASE IS SOMETHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT

HEARTWORMS

 SOMETHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT!

What do we know about it?
Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal condition caused by parasitic worms living in the arteries of the lungs and in the right side of the heart of dogs, cats and other species of mammals, including wolves, foxes, ferrets, sea lions and (in rare instances) humans.

Mosquitoes spread heartworms:

After ingesting blood from and infected dog, the MICROFILARIA  (“baby” heartworms) is transmitted to another dog or cat when the mosquito bites it.  Once the heartworms mature, they begin reproducing additional microfilaria. This MICROFILARIA IS NOT DANGEROUS TO THE INFECTED DOG. A mosquito must ingest the microfilaria before they can become infectious. The mosquito must then inject the heartworm larvae into the susceptible pet. It takes several months for adult Heartworms to develop in a dog after an infected mosquito bites it. Heartworms occur in all breeds of   dogs:  large and small, shorthaired and longhaired, inside-dogs and outside-dogs.  Heartworms also now are known to infect cats. Diagnosis of Heartworms is by a simple blood test that can be performed while you wait. Treatment is very SUCCESSFUL when the disease is detected early. The adult worms are killed with an injectable drug given in a specific series. The worms begin to die, and are carried by way of the bloodstream to the lungs where they lodge in small blood vessels. They slowly decompose and are absorbed by the body over a period of several months.    Other treatments are required to kill the microfilaria (baby heartworms) at a later time.

©    Adult Heartworms live in the right side of the heart.

©    Heartworms in dogs can be 6 – 14 inches long, with

      several hundred may be present.

©    Cats can have 1 -2 heartworms present

©    Heartworms impair blood circulation, resulting in damage to the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. Serious damage may occur, even before outward clinical signs are detected by the owner.

©    Advanced signs include difficult breathing, coughing, tiring easily, listlessness, and loss of weight, and fainting.

©    Heartworms are found throughout the United States and Canada

©    Heartworms are found throughout the entire year in South Florida

HEARTWORMS CAN BE PREVENTED!!!!

We strongly recommend once per month heartworm preventatives, which also aid in the prevention of other internal and external parasites.  The preventative should be given all year long with routine testing for Heartworms once each year is suggested for all dogs.