What is it?
Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in dogs. Adult worms known as Dirofilaria Immitis are the cause, and they can reach up to 14 inches in length. They live in the right side of the heart and in adjacent blood vessels. A dog which is the natural host may have as few as one or two worms, or as many as several hundred.
What does it do?
Large numbers of Adult worms impair blood circulation, which can result in damage to heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. Many times a lot of damage is done prior to diagnosis or even the appearance of clinical signs. Your infected dog may tire easily, have difficulty breathing, cough, lose weight, or even faint. Undetected, this disease may lead to congestive heart failure and even death.
How does a dog get Heartworms?
Heartworm infection is spread by mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites an infected dog, it acquires blood which contains the juvenile forms of heartworm, called microfilaria. These babies incubate in the mosquito for roughly two weeks and become infectious larvae, which are then passed to your uninfected dog or cat through a mosquito bite, where they mature into adult heartworms.
How is Heartworm Disease detected?
Heartworm disease can be detected through a simple blood test. Currently we need only three drops of blood to ensure that your dog is okay. The test we currently use from Idexx also tests your dog for Lymes disease and Ehrlichia disease with the same three drops of blood. In addition to positive heartworm tests, we do also get five or six positive Lymes results each year and last fall we had our first positive result for Ehrlichia, which is still rare in Central Iowa.
Can infected pets be treated?
Most pets can be successfully treated for Heartworm disease if it is detected early. The worms are killed with an organic arsenical called Immiticide; the arsenical is injected into your dog, and within a few days the worms die and are carried by the blood to the lungs where they eventually decompose and are absorbed by the dog’s body.
There is always risk involved in treatment, but if your dog is healthy, most do well. We try to maximize safety by doing a thorough blood work-up and radiographs prior to treatment. Your dog will usually be hospitalized for three or four days. Following treatment, we recommend complete rest for at least thirty days and then a gradual return to exercise. In a very few cases, a second round of the arsenical is needed to totally clear the worms from your dog.
How do we prevent it?
Heartworm disease can be prevented very easily. We at Eberle Animal Hospital use Heartgard— a tasty, chewy treat that contains ivermectin, and we recommend that you use it year-round. This treat also prevents round worms and hook worms. Because our feline friends are less inclined to eat what we want them to, we use a product called Revolution which is applied to the cat’s skin once a month. This product also kills fleas and ticks, as well as preventing hook- and round-worms. We also recommend Revolution for year-round usage, not just during flea-and-tick season.
Call our office at 727-5757 and schedule your appointment now, or email me at Dreberle@eberleanimalhospital.com.
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