{"id":145,"date":"2015-09-24T12:23:28","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T12:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petvets.com\/blog\/?p=145"},"modified":"2022-08-09T13:40:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T13:40:24","slug":"heartworm-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petvets.com\/blog\/heartworm-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Preventing Heartworm Disease Can Save Your Pets Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div align=\"left\">\n<p>If you&#8217;re just moving down to this area, or are just now getting your first dog or cat, you need to know about heartworm disease and prevention. In South Florida all dogs and cats should be on preventative all year long (in your local area, please check with your veterinarian for instructions). Heartworms, a potentially deadly problem, are spread by the pesky mosquito, and you know we have plenty of those! You have a choice of either a monthly oral or topical\u00a0medication. There&#8217;re even products that combine monthly heartworm prevention with monthly flea prevention (Sentinel, a tablet; or Revolution, a topical). Ask us to test your pet today and then start on prevention right away. It&#8217;s the least you can do for a friend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Heartworm?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis or D. immitis) is a parasite and is transmitted by mosquitoes.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">It can be found in most areas of the country where mosquitoes breed.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">When a mosquito bites an infected animal, the heartworm larvae are ingested along with the blood.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">Larvae mature to the infective stage within the body of the mosquito then are transmitted to a dog or cat through another mosquito bite.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">Once inside the host animal, heartworms travel to the lungs and the right side of the heart, where they can grow and mate for several years.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">Adult heartworms reside in the pulmonary arteries, or right heart if large amount of worms are present and can grow to a length of 5-to-12 inches in dogs and 5-to-8 inches in cats.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Heartworm Disease in Dogs\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FKKU0CzDWWw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\"><strong>The early signs of heartworm disease in dogs:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Fatigue<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Nonproductive cough<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Difficulty breathing<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Exercise intolerance<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Weight loss<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\"><strong>The signs of heartworm disease in cats:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Difficulty breathing<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Coughing and chronic vomiting<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Occasional collapse<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Weight loss<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Lethargy<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Rapid heart rate<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Convulsions<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\">Sudden death<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Prevention is the key. They are oral prevention, topical preventions and there are ones that combine heartworm prevention with flea\/tick control, intestinal parasites and more. We would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Just give us a call at 561-746-5501 or email us fetch@petvets.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re just moving down to this area, or are just now getting your first dog or cat, you need to know about heartworm disease and prevention. In South Florida all dogs and cats should be on preventative all year long (in your local area, please check with your veterinarian for instructions). Heartworms, a potentially [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dog-cat-care","category-news-events"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Preventing Heartworm Disease Can Save Your Pets Life | Harmony Animal Hospital<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you&#039;re just moving down to this area, or are just now getting your first dog or cat, you need to know about heartworm disease and prevention. In South Florida all dogs and cats should be on preventative all year long (in your local area, please check with your veterinarian for instructions).\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.petvets.com\/blog\/heartworm-disease\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Preventing Heartworm Disease Can Save Your Pets Life | Harmony Animal Hospital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you&#039;re just moving down to this area, or are just now getting your first dog or cat, you need to know about heartworm disease and prevention. 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