Understanding Heartworm and How to Prevent It

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Pets are a beloved part of the family, offering loyalty, love and devotion and hopefully getting the same in return. Also like the rest of the family, pets can get sick.

One of the more serious diseases pets can get is heartworm. Nearly every pet owner is aware of heartworm upon their first trip to the veterinarian’s office. That’s because one of the first things a vet will tell a pet owner is the pet needs its monthly heartworm pills. While it’s common knowledge a pet needs medicine to ward off heartworm, just what heartworm is might not be as widely known.

Explaining Heartworm

Potentially fatal, heartworm is caused by parasitic worms living in the arteries of the lungs of dogs, cats and other mammals. On occasion, these parasites can also inhabit the right side of a dog’s heart.

Animals indirectly get heartworm from other animals that are harboring the heartworm infection. When a mosquito bites an infected animal and takes that animal’s infected blood, the disease can then be transferred if that mosquito then bites another animal that is susceptible to infection.

After a dog is bitten by an infected mosquito, the larvae carrying the heartworm infection then take roughly two months to make their way to the animal’s bloodstream. From there, the infection is quickly carried to the lungs, where the larvae mature into adults and can actually live for up to seven years. During part of that period heartworms can reproduce.

What Happens to An Animal with Heartworm?

The signs of heartworm disease differ depending on the animal. Since cats and dogs are the most common type of pets susceptible to heartworm, this article will simply discuss the symptoms associated with those two types of animals. For owners of other pets that are also susceptible to heartworm, consult a veterinarian for any symptoms and other information regarding the disease.

For dogs, the disease is often difficult to detect for recently infected animals. That’s due in large part to the disease taking so long to make its way into a dog’s bloodstream. Dogs can be infected for months before actually showing any signs of infection. When the infection begins to advance, indicators of heartworm infection include reluctance to exercise, fatigue after moderate exercise, weight loss resulting from lack of appetite, and a mild but persistent cough.

In cats, the symptoms of heartworm can indicate a number of things, making it hard to diagnose if a feline has heartworm or something else. Like a dog, a cat with heartworm will exhibit symptoms of lethargy and difficulty breathing. In a cat, that difficulty breathing can manifest itself through rapid breaths. Felines may also experience weight loss, vomiting and gagging as a result of heartworm infection. It’s important for cat owners to know that a newly defined syndrome called Heartworm Associated Respiratory Disease is often mistaken as feline asthma or allergic bronchitis. Should a feline be diagnosed with either of those diseases, yet exhibit any of the above-mentioned symptoms of heartworm infection, ask a veterinarian to run more tests to see if the feline does, in fact, have heartworm.

How Is Heartworm Infection Prevented?

Fortunately, heartworm is entirely preventable — an inexpensive process. While there is treatment available for canines with heartworm, there is no such treatment for felines, making it even more important for cat owners to take heartworm prevention seriously.

The most popular form of heartworm prevention is a monthly tablet or chewable. Unlike some animal medications, dogs and cats alike typically eat the chewables right up, making it easy to administer the medication. Daily medication is also available, and both the daily and monthly medications are extremely effective if pet owners stick to the administration schedule. The medications actually interrupt the heartworm development before they leave the bloodstream and reach the lungs, essentially killing the disease before it starts.

While it’s not entirely necessary to feed an animal heartworm medication during winter months in colder regions of the country, no harm is done if the medication is administered, and the low cost of medication makes it a reasonable precaution to take.

To learn more about heartworm, consult a veterinarian or visit the American Heartworm Society Web site at www.heartwormsociety.org.