Heartworms live in the heart and associated blood vessels. They are spread by the bite of a mosquito. Mosquitos spread heartworm larvae from the bloodstream of infected dogs, cats, foxes, wolves, raccoons to our dogs. The Niagara region reports more cases of Heartworm disease each year than most other places in Canada. Last year alone over 100 cases were diagnosed in our area. This is likely an underestimation as many dogs are not tested to identify it. These dogs can carry the worms for years, acting as a source of infection for all dogs in the area. One of these dogs could live next door to you.
Heartworm infections can be fatal. As the worms grow to their adult size of 12 inches in length they obstruct the blood flow through the heart, leading to congestive heart failure and death. Unfortunately, there may not be any initial symptoms. Affected dogs may not appear sick until they enter heart failure, at which point treatment is often unsuccessful. For these reasons prevention and early identification of an infection are essential.
Preventive medications are extremely effective at killing the heartworm larvae before they develop into adults. Once the worms reach adult hood treatment is very different, it is costly and can be dangerous. Every dog should receive monthly heartworm prevention from May to November, if not all year round. We have topical or oral formulations, and some of these medications also protect against fleas, intestinal parasites, and ticks. Revolution, Advantage Multi, Trifexis, Heartgard and Sentinel are all products that we carry. They are prescription and only available through a veterinarian.
Each year we will do a blood test for heartworm infection. This test is important to do yearly, even when on monthly prevention, for a few reasons;
- No product is 100%, there are drug resistant strains developing in the southern U.S that may make their way up here
- People miss doses or neglect to continue through the colder months
If a dog does have heartworm disease and has a lot of heartworm larvae in the blood stream, certain prevention products can cause a life-threatening reaction, sometimes death, due to the dying larvae.
If you would like further information on heartworm disease and testing, call a member of our team at Martindale Animal Clinic. We will be happy to answer your questions.
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