For me, my dog is my very best friend. He's always there, waiting, and he's so happy to see me. Our relationship is one of the most rewarding in my life. That's why I want to make sure I take care of his health, especially when it comes to easily prevented and highly dangerous conditions like heartworm disease.
Heartworm disease is a parasitic disease that attacks the heart, lungs, and neighboring blood vessels. This results in lung disease, organ damage, and even heart failure. The parasites responsible, the heartworms, can reach up to a foot in length. If left untreated, dogs can play host to several hundred worms.
Dogs are not the only household pet or wild animal susceptible to heartworms. Cats, ferrets, wolves, foxes, coyotes, and even sea lions can play host to these worms. However, these are not optimal hosts, especially cats; in a cat, the worms rarely reach their final mature form.
The damage that mature heartworms do to your dog is irreversible. It remains even after the parasites are removed. The damage can affect your dog's quality of life and shorten his lifespan.
It's therefore very important to prevent heartworms before they can take hold. And even if you are using heartworm prevention, you should still have your pet screened regularly. The sooner an infected animal gets treatment, the better his prognosis will be.
Heartworms are transmitted using mosquitoes as a vector. Once the parasites take root, they reproduce by releasing microscopic immature worms into the host's bloodstream. When a mosquito feeds on an infected animal, it sucks up some of these tiny worms. Once inside the mosquito, heartworms mature into their infectious larval form in about 2 weeks. Then it moves on to another potential host. When that new host is bitten, some of these infectious larvae make their way into the body.
What this means is that heartworm is not directly contagious; other pets living in a home with an infected animal are not at a higher risk simply due to proximity. Heartworm isn't generally a danger to people either, even for people who have weaker immune systems. If your dog does get heartworm, there's no need to separate him from other pets or quarantine him away from your family.
You cannot simply wait out a heartworm infestation. First of all, as mentioned before, heartworms cause lasting damage to vital organs. And the parasites will not simply die off over time. Mature heartworms using a dog as a host have a nearly 7 year lifespan, approaching the lifespan of the canine host.
I love my dog more then I like most people. I want him to stay with me as long as possible, which means avoiding heartworm disease. Preventative treatment is simple and quick; there's no good reason not to do it, and lots of consequences if you don't do it.
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