Paws and Claws
Take a bite out of heartworm with prevention measures
by Cindy Anderson, DVM
Michigan is a popular vacation destination for mosquitoes, which transmit heartworm disease. Prevention measures can lower your pet’s risk. Photo credit: Tyler Rutherford, Unsplash.com
Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in pets throughout the world. It is caused by foot-long worms (heartworms) that live in the heart, lungs and associated blood vessels of affected pets. Heartworm disease can cause severe lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs in the body and can affect both wild and domesticated animals.
Heartworm disease is transmitted by mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites an infected animal, it picks up the baby worms that circulate in the bloodstream, and in ten to fourteen days, the worms develop and mature into the infective stage. When the infected mosquito then bites another animal, the infected larvae are transmitted to that new animal. Once inside the animal, it takes approximately six months for the larvae to mature into adult heartworms, but once mature, can live in the body for five to seven years.
To prevent our pets from getting heartworm, they are tested once a year. This test requires a small amount of blood, and a veterinarian tests that blood right in their clinic with a test that detects the presence of heartworm proteins. Once the test is negative, the pet is then given heartworm preventative once per month.
If the heartworm test is positive, a treatment regimen will be started. During the treatment, exercise must be restricted as physical exertion increases the rate at which the heartworms cause damage to the heart and lungs. The more severe the infection, the less active your pet should be.
Pets with no (or mild) signs of heartworm disease, such as a cough or exercise intolerance, have a high success rate with treatment. More severe cases can also be treated, but the possibility of complications is greater. The severity of heartworm disease does not always correlate with the severity of symptoms.
After about six months of treatment have been completed, another heartworm test will be administered by your veterinarian to confirm all the heartworms have been eliminated. To avoid the possibility of your pet becoming infected with heartworm again, you will need to administer heartworm prevention year-round for the rest of his or her life.
Join me and my staff at Lakelands Trail Veterinary Clinic, 4525 S. M-52, in Stockbridge, as we will be holding special Saturday hours on April 2 (9 a.m. to noon) and April 16 (noon to 3 p.m.). During this time, we will be testing dogs for heartworm and will have preventative medications ready for purchase! Please call 517-655-5551 with any questions you may have.
Cindy Anderson, DVM
