Dog Heartworm - Why Heartworm Prevention Is So Important For The Health Of Your Dog

Name: Veterinary Services
Brand: Haywood Road Animal Hospital

What is heartworm disease, and how can it affect my dog?

Heartworms are a parasite that travels through your dog's bloodstream, and they kind of set up shop in the lungs and the vessels between the heart and the lungs. They can be fatal if not treated, and they can put your dog into heart failure. So it's really important that we prevent these heartworms and know when they occur.

Dr. Amanda Shoemake
Haywood Road Animal Hospital

How would my dog catch heartworms?

Heartworms are spread by mosquitoes. A mosquito that is infected with heartworm bites your dog and essentially injects the little baby heartworm into your dog's bloodstream. They then thrive inside the dog, multiply, and continue to live for a number of years.

Can dog heartworm be prevented?

Dog heartworms can be prevented, and it's fairly easy to prevent them. We have a number of different preventions and methods, so if your dog doesn't chew a treat like oral heartworm prevention, we have other avenues, such as injectable prevention.

What are the signs in my dog that will indicate they may have heartworms?

Sometimes it is something that you wouldn't even notice at home. Dogs can be fairly asymptomatic for a long time while those heartworms are reproducing and multiplying in your dog. When they start to become symptomatic, it might be something as minor as they're a little tired, not eating as well, and losing weight. Coughing is another big sign of heartworm disease in dogs.

What are some middle to late-stage symptoms of heartworms?

The middle to late stage is when they are in congestive heart failure, secondary to those heartworms. So they may pant more, cough frequently, have trouble breathing, and things like that. They're usually respiratory signs. Unfortunately, sometimes the first sign we see is death. That can happen as well.

What can be done to stabilize my dog's heartworm disease?

There are medications that we can give to begin their heartworm treatment, and we slowly, over a matter of a few months, get rid of those heartworms. The whole time your dog will be under our care, and we will closely monitor your dog so that they are safe as we are treating them.

How soon should I bring my dog in to see a veterinarian for heartworm prevention?

Puppies get started on heartworm prevention from eight weeks onward. If a puppy is older than six months, we need to do a heartworm test before starting that prevention. If your dog has never been on prevention before, or if you've missed some prevention, we also need to do a heartworm test.

How will a veterinarian diagnose if my dog has heartworms?

We do a simple blood test here in the office. It takes about 10 minutes, and it will tell us if your dog has heartworms or not.

Why is early detection and diagnosis of heartworm so important?

The earlier we know, the quicker we can get your dog treated. The longer heartworms are inside your dog, the more damage they will do and the more long-term effects your dog will have. So the faster we get that diagnosis made, the quicker we can get your dog healthy.

If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (864) 288-7472, or you can email us at [email protected]. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can. Don't forget to follow us on social media https://www.facebook.com/animalhospitalgreenville, https://www.instagram.com/haywoodroadvet/

Dog Heartworm - FAQs

Dr. Amanda Shoemake
Haywood Road Animal Hospital

What causes dog heartworm?

Dog heartworms are spread by mosquitoes. Here in this area, we've seen mosquitoes 12 months out of the year. We don't have a cold enough winter to eradicate those mosquitoes. A mosquito that is infected with heartworms bites your dog and spreads those little microfilariae or those baby heartworms into your dog's bloodstream, where they then go and set up shop in the lung and heart area. They reproduce and multiply and cause problems with your dog.

How does my dog's lifestyle affect their risk for heartworm?

Depending on how often your dog is outdoors and how often you're near standing water, those factors will increase your dog's risk. It's not to say that if your dog is not very active or doesn't go outside very often, he is not at risk. He still most likely goes outside to go potty, and you have to remember mosquitoes can get into your house. So even indoor cats can be susceptible to heartworms. All dogs need to be on prevention, but especially those outside dogs that go to the lake, they're in the woods and things like that. They are definitely at a higher risk of developing heartworm disease.

How significant is my dog's risk for heartworms?

Again, it just depends on their lifestyle and what they do. There are also areas of the country that have a much higher mosquito burden than we do. Think of the deep south, Louisiana, places like that have a lot of heartworms. That being said, we have heartworms here, so it is important, and it is something that we see quite a bit of.