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Specializing in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery
Heartworm prevention for Dogs:
Heartworm prevention for Cats:
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Heartworms are a Threat Year-Round! When you think of mosquitoes, the words brought to mind are typically biting, blood-sucking, itching, and even malaria or west nile virus. While mosquitoes are definitely a source of irritation for humans, they are also bothersome to pets. They can transmit a deadly parasite called heartworms, which leads to heartworm disease.
There are two basic steps to the transmission of heartworms. It begins with a mosquito biting an infected dog and ingesting some of the immature heartworm larvae circulating in the blood. The mosquito then bites a healthy dog and transmits the heartworm larvae. As heartworm larvae mature, they move to the heart and lungs where they can cause severe problems and death if left untreated.
Common signs of heartworm disease in dogs include coughing, difficulty breathing, and sluggishness. Cats can also be affected by heartworms and symptoms would include coughing, vomitting, wheezing, and respiratory distress. While cats are not as often affected by heartworms, 25% of confirmed cases occur in cats living entirely indoors and a single heartworm can be fatal. All pet can be infected by heartworms, especially if there is an infected animal in the area, including foxes, ferrets, coyotes, and raccoons.
Because the damage to the heart and lungs is permanent, the best option is to keep pets on a monthly preventative. The preventatives, purchased in 6 or 12 month supplies, are given every 30 days and kills any immature heartworms introduced to the pet in the previous 30 days. It does not protect against those introduced after it was given-- that's the responsibility of the next preventative, given 30 days later. See the chart below for a diagram showing the importance of monthly dosing.
 There are a couple of things you can do to help reduce the risk of heartworm disease for your pet: ensure there is no standing water in your areas for mosquitoes to breed in, use Vectra 3D on dogs to repel mosquitoes, and use a monthly preventative to kill the heartworm larvae after your pet is bitten by an infected mosquito.
We offer heartworm preventatives for dogs and cats that also treat other intestinal parasites (listed to the left). A negative heartworm test must be performed before preventative can be purchased. It is important to speak with a veterinarian if your pet has heartworms because the wrong medication given at the wrong time can be lethal. To get a heartworm test, preventative, or ask questions about heartworms, call us at (770) 537-6705.
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