VET WINDSOR PRESENTS HEARTWORM DISEASE IN PETS

HEARTWORM DISEASE or INFECTION IN PETS Heartworm is a large worm infection that is worldwide in distribution and can infect a wide variety of species including dogs and cats. Mature worms lives in heart and vessels that supply blood to the lungs. Mosquitoes spread the disease from infected to healthy pets. When infected mosquito bites, it can transfer baby worms to a healthy pet where they start further development. When mosquito bites, nobody knows either that mosquito was infected or not and even a single bite of mosquito is sufficient to transfer the infection. If the heartworm goes undetected or proper remedy is not done to control baby form of worms, they will grow and develop into adults, then reproduce causing a very serious disease. Baby worms can survive in body up to 3 years. Adult worms may range from 16 to 28 cm (6 ½ to 11 inches) in length and can survive up to 5 years. WHAT SYMPTOMS WILL BE SEEN IN HEARTWORM DISEASE? Due to lengthy life cycle it may take months to show any illness signs from the date when pet was bitten by mosquito. Mild cases may go unnoticed or may not show any symptoms. Signs are seen when the disease is well advanced. Severity of illness depends upon number of worms or severity of infection, stage of life cycle, host resistance to infection, stress of high blood flow associated with exercise and size of pet. Smaller pets with few worms can show serious illness. Problems can be severe in athletic or energetic pets even with low worm burden. Advanced symptoms include coughing, lethargy, difficulty breathing, weight loss, loss of appetite and fluid accumulation in abdominal cavity. In cats respiratory failure can occur with a single mature worm. Cats can show sporadic vomiting not associated with eating and asthma like symptoms. In some cases pet may not show any signs but sub clinical problem can decrease their quality of life. WHY DO I NEED HEARTWORM TESTING? At early stage you may not notice any visible symptoms. Without testing you will not know that your pet was already infected with heartworm until disease has progressed significantly causing serious damage to heart and lungs. Symptoms are only seen when disease is at advanced stage. At early stage of infection, only blood test can detect if pet was already infected with heartworm. Even if your pets is indoor still they can come in contact with mosquito when going outside only for a short period of time. In addition mosquito can easily slip inside your house or basements through small cracks, during opening of doors, windows or screens. IS HEARTWORM TREATABLE? Although treatment is possible but it might be expensive and lengthy. Same time some serious risk factors are associated with treatment due to dead bodies of the worms that cause injury to the lung tissues. Treatment may include 1) Blood work to rule out sub clinical problems especially of liver and kidney. 2) Medication to kill adult worms followed by rest period of 4-6 weeks to allow your pet to recover from lung injuries associated with worm dead bodies. 3) Therapy to kill baby worms 4) Follow up testing 5) Some preventive medication to control shock and infection associated with worm dead bodies. HOW CAN I PREVENT MY PET FROM HEARTWORM? Prevention is better than cure. The best approach to avoid serious complications arising from heartworm disease can be achieved by testing blood sample to make sure that pet was not already infected, then to put on some heartworm preventive medication once a month. There after annual retesting for heartworm is recommended. Preventive medication can not be given to pets that test positive for heartworm. So it is very important to determine that pet does not have heartworm before starting any preventive because it can cause serious complications if pet was actually already infected with heartworm. There are a number of different preventive medications available. Some of them just control the heartworm, some can control heartworm and fleas both. If you have any questions about heartworm, please feel free to call at our clinic number. We will feel pleasure to assist you with all your pets health care needs. ==================================================================== RIVARD ANIMAL HOSPITAL 5635 Tecumseh Road, East Windsor, ON N8T 1C8 Ph: 519-974-PETS (7387) www.rivardanimalhospital.com