Does your pet dog
suffer from
heartworms?
Dog heartworm is a
common disease among
canines in the United
States. Discovered in 1856,
the worms mainly live in
your dog's heart and major
blood vessels.
The worms, especially on
worst cases, seriously
impair the heart's
operations. Worse, they
could also clog your dog's
blood vessels. These
infections result to body
weight losses, chronic
cough, dropsy, breath
shortness, chronic heart
failure, vision
disturbances, and
ultimately, death.
Since the symptoms of
heartworm disease vary
among dogs, it would be
best that a veterinarian
check your dog to evaluate
a final analysis. Most dogs
show visible symptoms only
when the disease has
reached the point where it
would be almost improbable
to be cured by treatment.
To help you see early
symptoms and to hopefully
save your dog, look out for
these signs:
- Dogs that have been
quite active usually tend
to be tired easily.
- Dogs that would have
been otherwise healthy
usually gasp for
breath.
- Coughing of your dog
has suddenly become a
common occurrence.
- Dogs bred for hunting
could no longer keep up
with rapid chases and
usually fall from
exhaustion.
- In some rare
instances, the dog
experiences convulsions,
jaundice, and problems in
the vision.
- Before it dies, the
dog experiences emaciation.
often precedes death.
Who gets infected by the
heartworm infection?
Previously, it was
thought that only
dogs that were
long-haired were
more resistant to
heartworms because
of the high
difficulty of
mosquitoes (which
bring the worms) to
penetrate through
the dogs' hair.
Since then, it has
been proven that
this was not true.
Mosquitoes even
have a hard time
penetrating through
short-haired dogs.
Actually,
mosquitoes feed on
the abdominal
region of the dog.
That is why both
long-haired and
short-haired dogs
are susceptible to
an infection, since
both types have
little hair on this
region. Some
mosquitoes also
feed on the muzzle
area or the ears
where the dog's
hair is quite
matted down.
Can heartworm infection
be treated?
Heartworm infection can
be treated through chemical
therapy if diagnosed early.
Most of the chemical
treatments kill the worms
over some period of time.
Killing all the worms in
one swoop is no better: If
all the heartworms were
killed in just one
treatment, the dead bodies
would deposit in the lungs
and kill the dog.
Remember also that the
chemicals used in treating
the worms are also as
dangerous to your dog as
the worms. That is why
treating the disease using
chemical therapy should be
used with utmost care and
should be handled by a
veterinarian.
There also cases when
surgery is needed. In most
cases, this could be a
feasible option. Consult
with the veterinarian if
surgical correction or any
other method that can cure
the infection.
There are also drugs
that cold prevent your dog
from getting heartworms.
These drugs attack the
parasite in its early
stages and stop the worms
from being full-blown
adults later. This doesn't
mean that your dog would be
free from infection. This
only means that dogs can
still get infected during
the season of mosquitoes
and yet remain unscathed of
heartworms.
Preventative medication
using drugs, on the other
hand, can cause serious
complications if your dog
has already heartworm
infections in a higher
level. That is why the use
of drugs should be under
the supervision of
veterinarians. Taking drugs
are also combined with
regular blood texts. This
has shown to be quite
effective in saving many
dogs with heartworm
infection.
In order for your dog to
avoid heartworm infection,
protect your pet from
mosquito bites especially
if there is a high mosquito
population in your area or
if it is mosquito season.
You might want to screen
the sleeping quarters of
your dogs to avoid repeated
bites. Repellent sprays can
also be used, but these
only have limited
effects.
You might also want to
consult your vet fro
preventive medication. In
addition, you might want
regular blood tests on your
dog to assess early
symptoms of infection. This
is quite tricky, especially
that the symptoms of
heartworm infection could
not be seen
immediately.
In short, your pet dog
which looked healthy may be
having early symptoms of
heartworm infection. It
would be best that you
checked. There's nothing
wrong in doing that,
especially if that is for
your pet dog.
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