Real life example of heartworm parasites.

Heartworm disease is preventable

One of the most common questions we get asked is, “If I give my dog heartworm prevention, why do I need to have them tested?” This is an excellent question, and we would like to answer this by explaining the heartworm life cycle, and how prevention works, and hopefully answer any other questions you may have regarding protecting your pet from these deadly parasites.

Heartworms are transmitted from one dog to another by a mosquito. When a mosquito bites a dog infected with heartworms, then bites your dog, it transmits the heartworm larva into your dog’s bloodstream (it only takes one bite!)

“More than a million pets in the U.S. have heartworms. But heartworm disease is preventable.”

— American Heartworm Society

Over a six-month period, the larva matures into an adult worm

Adult worms can live an average of six to seven years inside your dog, causing permanent damage to the heart and lungs.

When we test your dog for heartworms, we draw a small amount of blood and perform what’s called an occult test, which detects the presence of adult female worms.

We also look at a blood sample under a microscope to screen for microfilaria, which are immature heartworms.

Adult dogs over 7 months of age and previously not on a preventive need to be tested prior to starting heartworm prevention, and retested 6 months later and annually after that.

Also, if there has been any lapse in prevention, your dog should be retested 6 months after starting back on prevention.

Giving preventatives to a heartworm-positive dog can lead to rare but possibly severe reactions that could be harmful or even fatal.

While it is possible for cats to be infected with heartworms, they are not a primary host and typically only have one to three worms (while dogs can have hundreds!).

Heartworms and Cats

Since a heartworm test only detects female worms, this makes diagnosing heartworms in a cat difficult as they may not have a female heartworm for the test to detect.

While cats may not be the primary host, it is still extremely important to give prevention because there is no heartworm treatment available for cats.

Symptoms of heartworms in dogs may include coughing, lethargy, and weight loss, then ultimately it leads to heart failure and death. Many people assume that because their pet isn’t showing any signs of illness, their pet does not have heartworms.

Unfortunately, dogs can be infected with heartworms long before showing any kind of symptoms. With cats, often the first and only symptom is sudden death.

Prevention

Heartworm prevention works by killing the larval stages (immature heartworms) before they mature into adults. Once the larvae reach the juvenile stage, which takes less than two months, they are no longer affected by the heartworm preventative.

This is why oral and topical heartworm prevention must be given monthly. Heartworm prevention is very effective, but if even one dose is missed or your pet vomits the heartworm prevention without you knowing, they are at risk.

There have also been reports of larvae becoming resistant to the active ingredient in heartworm prevention. Because of these reasons, annual heartworm testing is recommended even if a pet is on prevention year-round.

There are numerous different heartworm preventatives available and with various combinations of other intestinal parasite preventatives and some with flea and tick control.

What we recommend

At Zebulon Animal Hospital we recommend Interceptor Plus for dogs, which is a flavored chew that protects against heartworms, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms.

If your dog is difficult to medicate orally, or if you are unsure if you are able to remember to give it monthly, we also offer the Proheart 6 injection which is administered here at our hospital and protects against heartworms and hookworms.

For cats, we recommend Revolution Plus, which is a topical monthly preventative that protects against heartworms, roundworms, hookworms, ear mites, fleas, and ticks.

These are prescription products and are available in our hospital or at our online pharmacy here: MyVetStoreOnline

Protecting your pet from heartworms is one of the simplest, yet most important things you can do to help give your pet a long and healthy life.

Please visit the American Heartworm Society’s website for more information: https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources

Serving Zebulon, Griffin, Barnesville, Thomaston, Meansville, Concord, Molena, Williamson, and the surrounding areas.

Featured

Angel Denn, Practice Manager

Angel has been in the veterinary industry since 2005. She worked alongside Dr. Kelly for several years in Jackson and was very excited about the opportunity to join him at Zebulon Animal Hospital.

She has experience in all areas of a veterinary hospital and is passionate about making sure everything runs smoothly and every pet and pet parent are treated with the highest level of care and compassion.

Outside of work, she enjoys reading, yoga, and spending time outdoors with her husband, 2 kids, and 2 dogs Daisy and Everest.