heartworm links and info

  Heartworm disease can affect both dogs and cats. This insidious problem is transmitted to our pets by mosquitoes and even our indoor pets are at risk. When a mosquito bites your dog or cat, it can transmit a developing stage of the heartworm into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream in finds its way into the heart and lungs where it can grow to an adult worm up to 10 inches in length. If there are both male and female worms in the heart, new baby heartworms (L1 stage) may be produced and be found circulating in the blood. These baby heartworms are waiting for another mosquito to come along and bite our pet so they can infect the next mosquito and be spread again.

The adult and baby worms can cause heart, lung and liver problems depending on how many worms are in the pet. Annual testing can help us identify an infection in the earlier stage to minimize damage. Better yet is to test for a negative result annually and be sure to keep our pets on prevention year round. We now have either oral medications or topical medications to make that prevention easier. These medicines can also protect against fleas and intestinal nematodes at the same time. For maximum protection you should use your flea and heartworm protection YEAR ROUND!

Below are links to the American Heartworm Symposium and the Companion Animal Parasite Council. These groups are made up of veterinarians, epidemiologists, researchers and specialists in the fields of parisitology. They have established guidelines and recommendations to keep our pets as safe as possible from infections and disease. At the Animal Care Clinic we follow those guidelines when making recommendations for your pet’s health.

http://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/heartworm.html

http://www.capcvet.org/recommendations/guidelines.html