04/16/2024
It's Heartworm Awareness Month! Here's a note from Dr. Adkins about the disease:
Dog owners are likely familiar with hearing us ask about heartworm tests and prevention but often don’t realize why it is so important. Heartworms are a prevalent parasite in the area spread by mosquitoes. That means, even inside pets are at risk, because who hasn’t seen a mosquito in their house from time to time? All it takes is one bite from one of those pesky guys and your dog, cat or ferret can be infected.
Heartworms are unique parasites in that they do not impact the GI system, but rather the circulatory system. This poses a much more serious risk to our furry friends than the average parasite. These worms live in the heart and blood vessels. The reason this disease is so deadly, is that they damage all organs throughout the body as the worms pass through them. The longer it goes untreated, the more worms there are, the more damage is caused. If left untreated, it is fatal.
Treatment is a long process and often thousands of dollars in total. Not to mention, it is often painful for your pet and comes with risks. Although, the risk of not treating is often higher than the risk of treatment. If your pet is positive for heartworm, we can walk you through the specifics of what treatment looks like and the risks.
Thankfully, there are many prevention options available that are far cheaper than treatment and very safe! Personal favorites of mine are Simparica Trio as it prevents heartworms, flea, ticks, and some intestinal worms all in one monthly pill. Interceptor Plus is also a great option and can be paired with any of our flea and tick preventatives. Revolution Plus is good for cats, and Revolution is helpful for those picky dogs who don’t like the oral preventatives. However, missing a single dose of any monthly heartworm preventative puts your dog at risk for heartworms. For this reason, for my personal dogs, I use ProHeart12 injections and it prevents heartworms for the next 12 months. I prefer this, because as a busy mom of 2, I even forget to give my dogs their monthly preventative from time to time. ProHeart12 is often given at a dog’s annual exam with their vaccines and then the only prevention you need to worry about is their flea and tick prevention! With so many options, please talk with our staff about your personal pet’s needs to find the best preventative strategy for you!
If you are interested in learning more about heartworms, the American Heartworm Society is a great resource! https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources"
