Heartworm Disease in Dogs

Heartworms are parasites that can be transmitted by mosquitoes. A mosquito will usually bite a dog and transfer the parasites into the bloodstream of the dog. Most often a dog will come into contact with mosquitoes during the warmer seasons. Typically April through September there are more cases of heartworms. When you live in moist climates your dog is generally more susceptible to the disease. When the dog is infected with heartworms they travel in the blood until they reach the heart cavity. There are several stages to heartworms and it is important to understand those stages.

First you have stage one with baby heartworms. They will grow to become adults through the second and third stage. Once they have reached adulthood they are now going to become an extreme problem for your dog. They are a tubular worm that will grow to be quite long. Usually the female heartworm is 30 cm in length and the males are 23 cm in length. This means that they can block the arteries in the heart and stop the blood from flowing properly. In most cases when heartworms are left untreated they will cause congestive heart failure. A dog is usually injected with more than one heartworm when they become infected. This means that it is not just one long tube cluttering up things, but actually several. They will also continue to reproduce.

Signs and symptoms of the infection will generally take six months to appear. This means the dog can be infected without you knowing it until they become really sick. There are certain tests that can be performed, but it usually takes time before the antigens will appear in the blood stream. Most often the heart worm must become an adult first. Some of the symptoms you will begin to see include issues with the eyes, brain, arteries in the legs, which can cause blindness, seizures, and lameness. You will find that the degree of infection will vary for each dog. In some dogs the lungs, kidneys, and liver can be affected by the worms. You will find that dogs that are more active will show signs earlier of the infection and they will begin to cough during exercise. In some cases with dogs you will find weight loss, fainting, coughing up blood, and then the heart failure.

Prevention of heartworms is fairly simple. In most cases there are medicines the vet will recommend for during the summer season or throughout the entire year depending on where you live. The medicine is usually a monthly pill that will kill any infection before it can mature. Some of the typical medicines are ivermectin or Heartgard, Interceptor, and Proheart. When you administer the drugs you will find that they are 99 percent effective in most dogs.

Treatment if an infection has been found will depend on the stage of the infection. It is usually highly effective. Most often the organ must be tested for any deficiencies that may have been caused prior to the infection or as a result of the infection. Once those have been treated properly treatment can then begin to kill the worms. An arsenic based compound is administered in safe doses to kill the worms. Because arsenic can be detrimental to any life the organs must first be functioning properly are they can kill the dog with the administration of the arsenic. The body will absorb the dead worms and then excrete them without any effects. It will usually take a few weeks of rest for the worms to be excreted.