Heartworm Disease

•  What do heartworms do? Dirofilaria immitis , or the heartworm, lives in the right side of the dog's heart and nearby blood vessels. The female worm produces large numbers of microscopic, immature heartworms (microfilaria), which circulate in the blood. The adult heartworm takes 3 months to produce microfilaria. These worms then infest all of the dog's heart and if not detected can cause heart failure, serious disease of the liver and kidneys and death.

•  How are they transmitted? When a mosquito bites a heartworm-infected dog, it takes up microfilaria with the blood. Then when the mosquito bites another dog, the microfilaria are transmitted through the mosquito bite wound. It takes 190 days from the time the dog is bitten to become a new source of infective microfilaria.

•  How do I tell if my dog is infected? A test involving just a few drops of blood can be done here at the veterinary clinic to test for heartworms. All dogs must be tested yearly for heartworms before they can be put on heartworm prevention.

•  What type of prevention is available? When a puppy makes his first visit to the veterinarian, he should be put on heartworm prevention. The heartworm prevention tablets available at the veterinary office also treat internal parasites such as hookworm, roundworm and whipworm. These tablets are given once a month and are available as heartworm and flea (along with internal parasite) prevention (Sentinel) or just as heartworm (and internal parasite) prevention (Interceptor).

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