Heartworm Prevention:

Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal condition caused by parasitic worms living in the arteries of the lungs and sometimes in the right side of the heart of dogs and cats. Heartworm infection is treatable but more importantly is easily preventable. Heartworms are contracted when a dog or cat is bitten by an infected mosquito. The infected mosquito injects a small number of microscopic larvae into the bloodstream which eventually mature into adult heartworms. The incidence of heartworms is high throughout Texas but tends to be higher in areas with high mosquito populations such as the Gulf Coast area where infection rates in dogs not on prevention can be as high as 45%. The Dallas/Ft. Worth area is considered an endemic area for heartworms. Heartworm disease is seen primarily in dogs, but cats can be infected as well. A recent study in the Texas Gulf Coast region showed that 26% of examined cats had been infected with heartworms at some time and that 10% of cats had adult worms. The rate of heartworm infection in cats was significantly higher than that of feline leukemia or feline immunodefeciency virus.

The clinical signs of heartworm disease in a dog include coughing, lethargy, weight loss and exercise intolerance. The clinical signs of heartworm disease in the cat are somewhat different and include coughing, sudden death and difficulty breathing.

While treatment of heartworm disease in dogs is usually successful, prevention is much safer and more economical. In most cases the cost of heartworm treatment is as much as 8-10 years of preventative. Heartworms cannot be treated in cats and therefore prevention is even more critical.

Heartworm prevention is available in many forms including chewable tablets and topicals. Heartworm preventatives are given or applied monthly the year round and discontinuing preventatives during the winter months is not recommended. Dogs must be tested prior to starting heartworm preventative, whereas cat do not have to be tested and can be started on preventative at anytime. Annual heartworm testing for dogs is recommended by all the manufacturers of heartworm preventatives. The majority of heartworm preventatives come with a guarantee so that if your dog becomes infected with heartworms, while on their preventative, the manufacturer will pay for all, or a portion of the heartworm treatment costs. The guarantee requires that the dog be tested annually for heartworms and there must be proof that an adequate amount of preventative.