Heartworm Awareness Month
Heartworm disease is very serious and can cause life-threatening health problems. With a little help from us here at Penn-Ohio, we will help you to keep your pet safe from heartworm disease.
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How Does Heartworm Affect Your Pet? Well, just how it sounds, the worm actually lives in the heart, but also the blood vessels, and lungs. They can cause blood clots in the lungs, weaken the heart, and interfere with blood flow. This can all lead to serious and often times fatal complications with your pet. |
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How Common is Heartworm? Heartworm has been found in all 50 states and more than million pets in the US have heartworm disease. All it takes it is one bite from an infected mosquito for your pet to get heartworm. How is Heartworm Obtained? The mosquito is the major player in the role of the heartworm life cycle. The adult female heartworm lives in an infected dog, fox, coyote or wolf and produces what is know as microscopic baby worms called microfilaria. These microfilaria circulate in the bloodstream. The mosquito takes a blood meal from an infected animal and picks up the microfilaria, which they develop into larvae over a time frame of 10 to 14 days. The infected mosquito then bites another dog and the infective larvae are deposited onto the surface of the animal's skin and enter the new host through the bite wound. Once the larvae are in a new host it takes approximately 6 months for them to mature into adult heartworms. Once the heartworm is mature, it can live for 5 to 7 years in dogs and up to 2 to 3 years in cats. |
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Will You Ever See the Worm?
Answer is NO, they live in the heart and stay there. What Are Some Signs of Heartworm Disease? In the early stages of the disease, your pet may show few symptoms or none at all. The longer the infection continues the more likely the symptoms will develop. Some signs are a mild persistent cough, reluctance to exercise, fatiguing after moderate activity, a decreased appetite, and weight loss. As the disease continues untreated, your pet may develop heart failure and their abdomen may appear swollen. Dogs with a large number of heartworm can develop sudden blockages which leads to a life-threatening form of cardiovascular collapse. |
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Is There a Heartworm season?
We recommend giving preventatives monthly all year long because it works retroactively, but also because there is no real season for heartworm disease. Yes, mosquitoes are seen more in the summer when it is warm, but with unpredictable weather patterns and how hardy mosquitoes can be, it is hard to predict when the heartworms aren't in season. It also takes approximately 6 month for the heartworm to mature so your could tested positive in the winter months.
How Do Preventatives Work?
Heartworm preventatives such as HeartGard and Interceptor, which we carry here in the office work retroactively. This means that if your pet acquires an infection one month, then your pet needs the heartworm preventive in the months that follow to be fully protected. This is why the product is recommended once a month all year long.
What Can We Do to Help?
We can help you in getting you the appropriate preventives and testing done for your pets. The preventives for dogs for heartworm are HeartGard and Interceptor and for cats we recommend Revolution. All three products last 1 month and should be given all year long. We are here for any questions you may have, so just give the office a call and will direct in the right path for your pet.
We recommend giving preventatives monthly all year long because it works retroactively, but also because there is no real season for heartworm disease. Yes, mosquitoes are seen more in the summer when it is warm, but with unpredictable weather patterns and how hardy mosquitoes can be, it is hard to predict when the heartworms aren't in season. It also takes approximately 6 month for the heartworm to mature so your could tested positive in the winter months.
How Do Preventatives Work?
Heartworm preventatives such as HeartGard and Interceptor, which we carry here in the office work retroactively. This means that if your pet acquires an infection one month, then your pet needs the heartworm preventive in the months that follow to be fully protected. This is why the product is recommended once a month all year long.
What Can We Do to Help?
We can help you in getting you the appropriate preventives and testing done for your pets. The preventives for dogs for heartworm are HeartGard and Interceptor and for cats we recommend Revolution. All three products last 1 month and should be given all year long. We are here for any questions you may have, so just give the office a call and will direct in the right path for your pet.