30/12/2024
Good Monday Morning!
We hope your weekend was spectacular and you're upcoming New Year week is even better!
Today, we'd like to touch on a "touchy" subject.
Heartworms!
What are heartworms, and what do they do to dogs who have them?
Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in dogs.
They are foot-long worms (heartworms) that live in the heart, lungs and associated blood vessels of affected pets, causing severe lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs in the body. Heartworm disease affects dogs, cats and ferrets, but heartworms also live in other mammal species, including wolves, coyotes, foxes, sea lions and—in rare instances—humans.
Dogs are natural host for heartworms, which means that heartworms that live inside the dog mature into adults, mate and produce offspring. If untreated, their numbers can increase, and dogs have been known to harbor several hundred worms in their bodies. Heartworm disease causes lasting damage to the heart, lungs and arteries, and can affect the dog’s health and quality of life long after the parasites are gone.
The mosquito plays an essential role in the heartworm life cycle. When a mosquito bites and takes a blood meal from an infected animal, it picks up these baby worms, which develop and mature into “infective stage” larvae over a period of 10 to 14 days. Then, when the infected mosquito bites another dog. Once inside a dog, the worms mature, heartworms can live for 5 to 7 years in dogs.
Signs of heartworms are mild persistent cough, reluctance to exercise, fatigue after moderate activity, decreased appetite, and weight loss. As heartworm disease progresses, pets may develop heart failure and the appearance of a swollen belly due to excess fluid in the abdomen. Dogs with large numbers of heartworms can develop a sudden blockages of blood flow within the heart leading to a life-threatening form of cardiovascular collapse.
The good news is that most infected dogs can be successfully treated. The goal is to first stabilize your dog if he is showing signs of disease, then kill all adult and immature worms while keeping the side effects of treatment to a minimum.
There are several different treatment methods, the "slow kill" often being the less invasive choice. It takes about a year (depending on the severity) for a dog to test heartworm negative.
Heartworm prevention is available at all vets, and it's strongly recommended, particularly here in the south, that every dog receive a dosage each month.
Howdy (pictured) is one of our heartworm positive dogs on site. He will be receiving treatment soon, and he should have a wonderful life ahead of him!
Meet the fabulous Howdy at➡ 5327 Old Lorena Rd, in Lorena, TX
You can contact us here! 📱+1 254-420-8407
📬[email protected]
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