Heartworm Facts Q & A
For a pet owner,a heartworm diagnosis is one of the scariest things to hear from a vet. This disease can devastate your pet’s health, but there’s also good news: it’s not hopeless and it’ s relatively easy to prevent. Here are some critical heartworm facts to help you keep your pets safe!
What Is Heartworm?
Unlike some other misnomer diseases (looking at you, ringworm), heartworm is, in fact, an actual worm. Specifically, it’s a parasitic roundworm of the Filaria family. These worms all infect vertebrates other than fish.
While many filarial worms affect birds, heartworms (or ) infect mammals, specifically canids. Originally indigenous to the Southern United States, they still reside here but have spread everywhere you can find mosquitos.
Who Can Get Heartworm?
Heartworms can spread to many mammals and reptiles but are most common in domestic dogs. They are also found in other canines, ferrets, cats, bears, seals, sea lions, and even humans.
Heartworm Facts About Spread
Heartworms need mosquitos to complete their lifecycle, and mosquitoes are the vectors for their spread. They develop best at temperatures at or above 80 degrees and can’t mature below 57 degrees, so the spread of heartworm is typically a warm weather problem.
Dogs get heartburn when bitten by a mosquito carrying the warm. After a couple of weeks, they move toward the chest muscles and later spread through the blood to the heart and lungs.
What Are Heartworm Symptoms?
Heartworm is difficult to detect in the early stages. At first there are little to no signs. The earliest symptoms are an occasional cough and tiredness.
Later, dogs may begin to appear sick, tire easily, and get a more persistent cough, and in the most severe stages, they require surgery.
Since heartworm is such a dangerous disease that it is difficult to detect, heartworm testing is vital to catching it early before your dog’s life is in danger.
Is Heartworm Deadly?
Left untreated, heartworm is deadly. Eventually, the worms reproduce to the extent that they hinder the dog’s ability to breathe and move blood. Luckily, in healthy dogs, the prognosis with treatment is generally favorable, especially when you catch it early!
Heartworm Facts About Prevention and Treatment
The primary heartworm treatment for dogs is arsenic-based medicine to kill the worms. It’s not easy on a dog’s body. Dogs must rest after treatment both to recover and to prevent activity from moving the dead worms to the lungs, which can be deadly.
In the latest stages of heartworm, surgery may be necessary to remove the worms physically.
By far, the ideal is to prevent heartworm from occurring in the first place. Preventative medicine is effective in over 99% of cases. Most medicines are administered orally every 3 to 6 months.
What’s the Likelihood of Heartworm in Roanoke?
Virginia is in the primary heartworm danger zone, with a relatively warm climate that allows mosquitos to thrive. So, heartworm in Roanoke is a genuine concern. Luckily, with preventative treatment and regular heartworm testing, you can protect your dog from heartworm and give it a long, healthy life!
Heartworm tests and prevention are part of Old Dominion’s Pet Wellness plan. Ask about it and other heartworm facts today!