Warmer weather and longer days arrive with the shift of the seasons. Pesky bugs, on the other hand, are inescapable. Critters are annoying to your dog and can also be incredibly harmful. Mosquitoes are the only means of transmitting the heartworm parasite.
What is Heartworm disease?
Dirofilaria immitis, a parasitic worm transmitted by mosquito bites, triggers heartworm illness, which can be fatal. The heartworm life process starts after a mosquito bite. Microscopic larvae (referred to as microfilariae) move through the circulation to get to the heart or lungs. There, they develop into grown-up heartworms.
They are called heartworms since they stay in an animal’s heart, lungs, and blood vessels. If your pet is infected, the parasite develops, mates, and reproduces within your pet, making it a definitive host.
Heartworm Prevention for Your Dog
Preventing heartworms is a year-round endeavor. If you’re looking into this potentially lethal condition, you should start there. When it involves safeguarding your dog against harmful parasites that can create lung ailments, heart failure, and other body organ damage, you are the only one who has the power to do it.
Thankfully, heartworm conditions can be avoided. Heartworm conditions can be avoided in a variety of ways.
Preventive Medication
Although it might appear uncomplicated, heartworm prevention in pets is often forgotten. Numerous different types of preventative products are offered for your dog’s use. Topically or orally, they can be used.
Preventative heartworm therapy is much less expensive than having a dog admitted to an emergency animal hospital after a heartworm diagnosis is made. Preventive medicine can have a significant effect on the life of your pet. You can read more here.
Repel Bugs in Your Home
Mosquitoes are one of the most common carriers of heartworm in your dogs, so it is necessary to keep them at bay whenever possible. Maintaining mosquitoes out of your residence and your pets’ environment might be difficult. Mosquitoes can be reduced around your home, but removing them is a near-impossible task.
Maintain your home and backyard free of any stagnant water. Pesticides can likewise be sprayed around your house if it is pet-friendly.
Regular Visits to the Veterinarian
It would be best to take your pets to a cat and dog cardiologist frequently. Around the age of 16 weeks, you need to bring your pet for vaccinations every three to four weeks; a yearly visit is advised. Heartworm tests need to be done consistently to keep your dog safe and healthy.
Heartworm testing can be done at any veterinary hospital, but therapy differs depending on whether the animal has been infected.
Keep the Routine Each Year
If your dog has heartworm disease, it could have long-term effects on their health and quality of life, so it is crucial to keep them on preventive medicine. In dogs, heartworms create in six months and can remain in the body for seven years, reproducing constantly. One year later, dogs can have hundreds of these parasites inside them, but the average is about fifteen.
If your dog takes heartworm preventative medication, a veterinarian in Stroudsburg, PA, suggests that you have it tested every year, even if your dog is already heartworm free.
Bottomline
Keeping your dogs heartworm-free is the obligation of a vet. You should give them prophylactic therapy, go to the veterinarian often, and keep the bugs out of the house. Heartworm prevention can be as straightforward as including garlic in your pet’s food.
