Common Questions About Heart Worm

Heartworm disease is a dangerous, but completely preventable infection where parasitic worms grow inside the chambers of your dog’s heart and large blood vessels. Left undetected, heartworm disease can become serious and even result in death as worms eventually block blood flow to the heart and lungs. That’s why heartworm prevention and early detection are so important! Protect your dog against the dangers of heartworm.

Common questions about heart worm are often related to dogs but there are other species affected by heart worm in addition to dogs. One should know that in addition to dogs, cats, foxes, wolfs, horses, sea lions and more are also affected.

Here are some of the most common questions asked about heart worms.

Can heart worm be cured or not?

Yes, in dogs, heartworm disease can be treated, but treatment can result in complications, sometimes fatal ones. The adult worms are killed by injections of arsenic-containing compounds. The treatment must be done carefully to avoid drug toxicity or complications resulting from the dead or dying worms.

What is the drug used most often for the prevention of heart worm in dogs?

Ivermectin is the drug used most often for preventive action for heart worms.

What are the symptoms of heartworm infestations in dogs?

Initially, there are no symptoms. But as more and more worms crowd the heart and lungs, most dogs will develop a cough. As it progresses, they won’t be able to exercise as much as before; they’ll become winded easier. Dogs affected reveal a constant coughing, panting and dullness in many occasions. With severe heartworm disease, we can hear abnormal lung sounds, dogs can pass out from the loss of blood to the brain, and they can retain fluids. Eventually, most dogs will die if the worms are not treated.

What are the size of the worms?

In the case of the females, it is about twenty-seven centimeters and in the case of males, it is about seventeen centimeters in length.

Is there a carrier involved in the transmission of the disease?

Yes. Mosquitoes are often associated as carriers since the early development of larvae of heart worms occur in them.

Is the preventative drug meant only for heart worms or others also?

The preventative drug is meant not only for heart worms but also for hook worms, whip worms, and round worms.

What is the infective type of larvae that is associated with the transmission of heart worms?

Third stage larva that is transmitted by mosquito bites. This occurs through out the world. In some areas, the incidences are less in colder months in which mosquito breeding doesn’t happen and will be dormant during these periods.

Once my dog has heartworms, what’s the treatment? How much will it cost?

The main drug that you treat heartworm with is called Immiticide. It’s an injectable, arsenic-based product. The dog is given two or three injections that will kill the adult heartworms in the blood vessels of the heart. Additionally, there are forms of external applications also available. With all the prep work, the cost can run up to $1,000. But just the treatment can be done for about $300 in some areas.

What is the frequency of drug used for preventative drug?

You should start at least one month before mosquito season and up to two months after the mosquito season ends, ivermectin or milbemycin oxime may be given once monthly for prevention. Diethylcarbamazine may be used for therapy purposes. There are monthly pills, monthly topicals that you put on the skin, and there’s also a six-month injectable product. The damage that’s done to the dog and the cost of the treatment is way more than the cost to prevent heartworm disease. A year’s supply of heartworm preventative will cost about $35 to $80, depending on a dog’s weight.

Heartworm prevention is safe, easy and inexpensive compared to treating a dog after worms have matured into adults. While treatment for heartworm disease is possible in dogs, it is a complicated and expensive process, taking months for infected animals to recover and there is often permanent damage to the heart. For cats, there is no effective treatment to kill the worms. By investing in a preventive medication, you will spare your pet from this deadly disease and its complicated treatment. Talk to your veterinarian today to start a prevention program for your pets.

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Heartworm is a disease that could take you by surprise. Before starting any treatment for heartworm you should first know how the disease acts. If your dog gets the disease it is in great danger as the worm is known to be fatal in most untreated cases. In dogs, it takes about six months before the heartworm turns into an adult worm that may threaten your pet’s heart. As these worms get inside the body of your pet, they could reproduce, situation you must avoid.
A couple of treatments have been developed to cure this deadly disease. The disease is not too well known among common pet owners. As the disease can infect humans too, people should be better informed about the disease and how it should be treated in case the pet is already infected.
Let’s start with an overview of the disease. The heartworm is a roundworm which is transferred from host to host with the help of mosquito. Mostly it infects dogs, but can also infect cats, foxes, wolves and humans as well. It is very important for your dog’s health that you know as many as you can about the heartworm disease. The disease gets its name from the fact that when the worm is an adult it establishes in the pulmonary artery of the host where it can survive for several years.
A good treatment it’s mandatory as the infection could cause a serious disease that could endanger the life of your pet, even death if untreated.
The worm gets through several life stages until it develops into an adult worm and lives on the heart of the pet. The worm then produces thousands of microfilariae each day, and then it would circulate in the dog’s bloodstream. When the dog is bitten again by a mosquito, even by an uninfected mosquito, it transmits the disease to the mosquito. Now the mosquito will transmit the disease to another host.
Diagnosis is the most important step in helping treat heartworm infection. Dogs infected with heartworm do not reveal any signs until the worms have reached maturity or at least after a 6 month period. You must pay attention to any mood change or other signs and symptoms. After this period, the animal will show a sedentary lifestyle. This is the most common symptom for the heartworm disease. Other symptoms like cough and exhaustion and in cases of advanced stages of infection weight loss, coughing up blood, fainting, and heart failure may occur.
Before starting a treatment for heartworm, your pet must go through an evaluation of organs like heart, kidney and liver function to see if any risks are involved. After this check up, adult worms are treated with an arsenic-based compound. There are several approved drugs on the market that help treat heartworm infection.
After and during the treatment the dog must then rest for a few weeks just enough time to enable it to recover from the treatment. The microfilariae are treated with a different and separate form of treatment.

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The diseases that affect dog health should be prevented not only to save the dog but also to save the public. So, whenever the health of your dog is in doubt please consult your veterinarian. To save dog health, keep a check on their diet. Just like humans unhealthy food causes obesity, diabetes, heart and digestive problems. If the dog is loosing hair, the shine of the skin is gone, and if it refuses to play, jump or walk then diet is the problem. If you are feeding your dog the normal dog foods then it will definitely develop some diseases because the dog foods are jam packed with chemicals like synthetics to improve taste, powders, additives and colorants. It is just like human, when we buy some packed food from the market which is packed with chemicals and accumulates in the system and undermines the body from inside. Sometimes, the dogs get infected so badly that their organs stop functioning. Generally dog suffers with joint diseases like arthritis, hip dysplasia, and other degenerative diseases with the shoulders and hocks. Genetic diseases also affect dogs. Other common diseases are:

Periodontitis-The main symptom is inflammation of gum tissue and periodontal ligament. It is caused by microbial infection. It is the leading cause of tooth loss in dogs. It can be seen in almost any age of dogs. So, watch for bad breath, tooth loss, loose teeth, and gum recession.

Canine Parvovirus– Causes gastro intestinal infection. It is spread through infected feces.

Heartworm Disease– Caused by microbial infections, main symptoms are coughing, intolerance to exercise, and anemia. Heartworms are caused by mosquitoes. When they bite the dog it takes around six months to reach their blood vessels and lungs. Affected dogs should be kept in cage to limit their activities.

Bordetella Bronchiceptica-It causes kennel cough.

Gastroenteretis– The main characters are vomiting and diarrhea. Can cause extreme fluid loss and electrolyte disturbance.

Ringworm-Infection of skin, hair or nails.

Eye diseases– These are common in dogs like cataract and entropion.

To keep your dog healthy proper nutrition and preventive care is required. Other important thing to do is whenever you see any change in behavior without any reason, try to find what is irritating it, check its mouth, examine it physically, look for any swelling, cuts, etc. Once you are done with all these things consult your veterinarian.

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