Everything you need to know about heartworms and how to treat them
What are heartworms?
Heartworm disease is very serious in pets, and if it goes untreated, it can potentially be fatal. Heartworms are foot-long worms that live in your pet’s heart, lungs, and other blood vessels in your pet. If your pet’s heartworms go untreated it can cause severe lung disease, heart failure, and damage to other bodily organs, and it has the potential to kill your pet.
What causes heartworms?
Heartworms are caused by a parasitic worm called Dirofilariaimmitis and these worms spread through the bite of a mosquito. If your dog gets bit by a mosquito carrying heartworms, they most likely will get it. Heartworms go through different stages in their lives, and they can form and grow inside of your dog. The problem with heartworms is that they can grow in your dog over several months, and you won’t notice symptoms right away.
Symptoms of heartworms can look different in all different kinds of animals, and no two animals have the same symptoms. While some of the symptoms are similar, there are some different symptoms. Today, we are going to discuss the common symptoms in dogs and cats.
The symptoms of heartworms are different in every type of animal. Symptoms of heartworms in dogs can look like:
· A persistent cough
· Lethargic behavior
· Fatigue after moderate activity
· Loss of appetite
· Weight loss
· Difficulty breathing
· Fainting or collapsing
Symptoms of heartworms in cats can look like:
· Coughing
· Asthma-like attacks
· Vomiting
· Loss of appetite
· Weight loss
If you notice your pet is experiencing any of these symptoms, please bring them to the vet immediately and ask them to test your pet for heartworms.
How do you treat heartworms?
If your pet does test positive for heartworms, don’t worry! It is curable and you can prevent your pet from having it again. Your vet will most likely give you an antibiotic to treat the heartworms and this antibiotic will also kill the microfilariae, which is the heartworm larvae. Your dog may need to stay with your vet depending on how bad their heartworms are, but that is different for each situation.
Your vet may also prescribe a pain relief medication to relieve any pain your pet may experience as they recover. Other than treatment, there are things you can do to prevent heartworms from happening in the first place, and you can prevent them from happening again. If you have a new pet, you can give them HeartGuard to prevent heartworms. This is a chewable pill that you’ll give to your pet once a month as prevention to heartworms.
Our Final Thoughts
Heartworms are not something to take lightly – whether you got a new puppy or rescued a pet, you should get them tested for heartworms just to give yourself peace of mind. If your pet has never experienced heartworms, we still recommend getting them tested for it at the yearly visitto prevent any issues or illnesses in the future.
