Heartworms: Prevention and signs that pet owners need to know

Now that summer is approaching, the mosquitoes are coming out. They are most annoying when they bite us humans but what we don’t know is it can be life threatening to our pets. Whether you live in the city or you live in the country, mosquito’s are everywhere. Mosquito’s that have contracted heartworms from an infected animal can then bite your pet. “It only takes one infected mosquito to pass this devastating parasite onto your pet,” says Dr. Louise Murray, Director of Medicine at the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital.

Dogs and cats can be infected by heartworms. This disease can be treatable providing the pet did not already have heartworms. Your pet could have heartworms and not actually show any signs of the illness right away. If left untreated it could eventually lead to lung, heart and possibly organ damage. It could also lead to death. If you should see any of the following symptoms in your pet, you should consider taking your pet to your local veterinarian for a heartworm exam:

• Coughing
• Distended abdomen
• Labored breathing
• Weight loss
• Vomiting
• Fatigue after moderate exercise

One thing you can do for your pet is to get with your local veterinarian and put your pet on heartworm prevention. These range from $6-$9 per month for prevention like HeartGuard*. There are several FDA-approved medications available to help prevent heartworms. These provide a tasty treat for your pet companion as well as protect them. The veterinarian must test your pet first to make sure they do not have heartworms and then provide you with a variety of preventive medications for your pet. You, as a pet parent, should take concern about heartworms. They can easily be avoided.

If your pet does have heartworms there are two methods to killing them and these methods should be fully discussed with your veterinarian. Depending on the severity of the heartworms your pet may have to undergo antibiotics and steroids before the heartworm treatment can start. This could last from a week to longer depending. Then the pet must undergo a fast kill method or the slow kill method. Fast kill methods could cost anywhere from $800 – $1000 and sometimes if a dog is bad enough the process has to be repeated.

Fast kill method is usually done on dogs to where the veterinarian administers a shot into the bloodstream to start killing the heartworms. The dog will have to stay over night for close monitoring and will be released the next day providing everything is good through the night. The dog will then have to be under strict monitoring of crate rest for 8 weeks. If the dog gets hyper, starts running or gets excited the heartworms could get killed to fast leaving huge holes within the heart causing the dog to die. After 8 weeks, the dog will have to be re-tested for heartworms before prevention can be administered.

The slow kill method is where the dog or cat is administered heartworm prevention in different doses based upon the manufacturer recommended dosage and usually about every two weeks. This method may also require antibiotics and steroids during the course of the treatment. This method can take anywhere from 6 months to over a year and a half or longer depending upon the severity of the heartworms. For a dog over 50lbs, at $9 per pill twice a month would cost $18 per month and at 18 months could cost a pet owner $324. This does not include the steroids or antibiotics throughout.

The heartworm test is about $30, which is a one time test if the dog is negative and remains on heartworm prevention. For a dog between 26-50lbs it would cost roughly $90 per year for heartworm prevention. This is much more cost effective compared to having to put your pet through heartworm treatments. Especially since dogs have been know to not make it through the treatments and die due to the stress on the heart.

*Pricing quoted is from 1-800-Pet-Meds as of the date of publish.