🗣️🗣️❗️❗️Educational Post Alert!!!!❗️❗️🗣️🗣️
Let’s talk about heart worm disease in dogs.❤️🐾
Heart worm is caused by Dirofilaria Immitis (D. Immitis) and is transmitted to a canine by bites from infected mosquitos, the larvae then grows into an adult heartworm in a dogs bloodstream, heart, and lungs. One heartworm can grow up to a foot long.
In the early stages of the disease, pets likely will have no symptoms, which is why we like to draw a small blood sample yearly to check for the disease. When symptoms do occur, they can include the following: mild but persistent cough, decreased appetite, reluctance to exercise, fatigue after mild-moderate exercise, difficulty breathing, weight loss, and a swollen abdomen. Dogs that may be infected with a large number of heartworms may develop cardiovascular collapse, which is a sudden blockage of blood flow within the heart. Symptoms of this may include pale gums, sudden labored breathing, and dark, bloody urine. This can result in death.
Treatment for heartworm may cost anywhere from $500-$2000 and it is hard on a dogs body. It includes multiple injections and the dog has to stay calm while being treated.
❗️❗️❗️YOU CAN PREVENT HEARTWORMS❗️❗️❗️
We recommend yearly testing, and year- round preventatives.
Some preventatives we offer at the clinic are Simparica Trio, Heartgard, Interceptor Plus, and Proheart 12.
🐾In the video, you can see a “baby heartworm”, a positive heartworm test, and the lifecycle of heartworms.
