How to Treat and Prevent Heartworm Disease

A simple blood test easily determines if a dog is infected with heartworm disease.  If the test is positive, treatment is an expensive, extensive, and precarious process.  In order to begin treatment, the veterinarian must determine what stage of infection the affected dog is in.  Stage one is simply a positive test with no clinical symptoms or radiographic signs of infection.  Stage two is a positive test with radiographic signs but no clinical symptoms of infection.  Stage three is a positive test plus radiographic signs and clinical symptoms of infection.  If an infected dog is diagnosed with stage one or two heartworm disease, it is hospitalized for a minimum of three days.  The patient is given an injection of Immitricide, a powerful drug that destroys adult heartworms, once a day for the first two days.  The patient is observed for 24 more hours after the second injection before being released on orders of 30 days restricted activity.  If an infected dog is diagnosed with stage three heartworm disease, the treatment process is longer and requires more injections.  All told, the cost to treat heartworm disease can cost as much as $1,100, not to mention the cost of heartworm prevention medicine for the remainder of the dog’s life.

The good news is heartworm disease is 100 percent preventable.  It is highly recommend preventative treatment begin when a puppy is six to eight weeks of age and continue throughout the dog’s life.  Even one skipped dose can leave a dog highly susceptible to heartworms and other parasites.  Prevention, in contrast to therapy, is safe, easy, effective, and significantly less expensive.  We conveniently sell two types of preventative medicine, Interceptor and Heartgard, for a suitably low price.

Heartgard and Interceptor don’t just prevent heartworm disease; they also prevent many other parasites, including roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms.  Roundworms are the most common worms found in dogs and cats, infecting most puppies and kittens through their mother’s milk.  Roundworms cause liver, lung, and brain damage, and the presence of adult worms in the intestinal system leads to colic, anemia, rachitic symptoms, and poor growth.  Hookworms, like roundworms, are also intestinal parasites and infect puppies and kittens through their mother’s milk.  Hookworms attach to the intestinal wall and feed on blood and tissue, causing malaise, bloody diarrhea, and anemia.  Whipworms are also intestinal parasites, but are mainly present in dogs.  They slash and puncture intestinal walls and feed on the released blood and tissue fluids.  Heartgard prevents roundworms and hookworms, and Interceptor prevents whipworms in addition to roundworms and hookworms.  Interceptor is also compatible for use in cats.

Preventative medicine doesn’t just protect your dogs and cats; it protects you as well.  Roundworms and hookworms are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted from animals to humans.  Over 10,000 people contract roundworm a year, and of those cases, more than 700 suffer permanent or partial loss of vision from roundworm infection.  Hookworms infect humans by penetrating the skin.  They migrate just under the skin, causing unsightly and horribly painful rashes, eruptions, and lesions as they go.  Hookworms may also migrate deeper into the body, causing damage to organs and the intestinal system.  If your dog or cat is on preventative medicine, the chance of you or your children contracting a harmful parasite is vastly decreased.

To schedule your dog for a heartworm test today, and for additional information on heartworm disease, zoonotic parasites, or preventative medicine, please contact us.