Animal Hospital of Casper - On Line

Heartworm Disease in Dogs and Cats

Signs and Cause: Heartworm disease is an insidious, very often fatal disease of both dogs and cats caused by a parasite called Dirofilaria immitis. Heartworm lifecycle is as unusual as it is amazing! The adult heartworms live in the right side of the heart and the major vessels leading from the heart to the lungs. The adult heartworms cause signs of congestive heart failure in late stages in dogs. These signs can include coughing, reduced exercise tolerance, listlessness and other associated organ failures. Heartworm disease may cause sudden unexplained death in pets without any secondary signs. Cats may exhibit less severe upper respiratory symptoms or vomiting, but may more often suffer sudden death from adult heartworm disease.

Diagnosis: Diagnosis of heartworm infection in dogs has been made easier in recent years due to a quick accurate blood test. The 1998 Heartworm symposium has made recommendations to blood test dogs on heartworm medication every two years. We emphasise that your pets must be on heartworm preventive (monthly) to have the benefit of every other year testing.

The canine heartworm blood test takes less than 10 minutes.

Diagnosis of heartworm infection in cats is quite another story! It appears that there is not likely a good screening blood test for heartworm disease in cats at this time. Infection in cats appears to many times a very small number of heartworms in a cats heart. Diagnosis can be aided by chest radiographs, ultrasound of the heart and specific blood test (antibody). In spite of this amount of effort, diagnosis may still be unrewarding!

Treatment: Treatment has become safer for infected dogs, but is still, by no means, an easy procedure. Realize that the heartworm treatment effectively kills the adult heartworms go through re-absorption in the pet's lungs (these parasites range in size of 4 to 8 inches - up to over a foot long!). Treatment for heartworms in cats has not yet been safely worked out.

Prevention: Yes, Prevention is the BEST!! Heartworm preventive for both dogs and cats is safe and effective. Once-a- month pour on medication is easy to give to your pets and takes away all the concern about this dreaded disease. The medication actually kills the migrating heartworm larva and effectively prevents heartworm infection for the prior thirty days of each topical application in dogs and cats. This medication (Click on below) controls external parasites, such as fleas and ticks, in both dogs and cat, as well!!

Newest Heartworm prevention (aid to prevent many other parasites, as well!)

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