Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me anything about heart worm prevention medication? Like how it works, pros and cons of it, side effects, how long it lasts, and anything else that might be important. I've been doing research on it but haven't had much luck, and I've been told different things about it by different people. Some say its good, some say it will kill your pet. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
This is an excellent question!! So thank you for asking.
First a little bit about the actual parasite: Heartworms are a microfilariae organism that is transmitted through mosquito bites. Mosquitos become infected after engorging themselves on an infected dog. The mosquito while ingesting blood it is also taking in microfilariae from the infected dog. After a period of time the microfilariae mature in the mosquito and are ready to infect another dog. Once inside the dog they make their way to the heart, lungs, and associated arteries where they mature into adults, this process takes about 6 months. Adult heartworms in dogs can survive for up to 7 years!
Heartworm prevention works by killing these microfilariae before they have the chance to mature into adult worms. Once they become adults the only current treatment for heartworms is only available for dogs and is it extremely painful, and expensive.
Heartworm prevention is key to protecting your pet from developing heartworm disease. The good news is prevention is available in a variety of forms for both cats and dogs. Many different companies have products that are either chewable treats, tablets, to topical treatments. These all act on the parasite the same way though by targeting the microfilariae. The great benefit of these products is they also commonly come combined with other parasite treatments such as intestinal parasite, fleas, ear mites, etc, so you are getting a good value for your dollar.These products are all given monthly and it is the owners responsibility to remember the pets schedule and to maintain it. The biggest failure in heartworm prevention is the client forgetting to give the prevention on a routine bases. There is also a six-month injectable form of heartworm prevention available for dogs only.
These products have an extremely high safety margin on them, and are commonly used in all veterinary practices. Good standard of care dictates before starting heartworm prevention your veterinarian will first test your pet for the presence of heartworms. After a negative test your vet will want your pet tested yearly.
What is the benefit of having yearly negative heartworm tests and proof that your pet is current on heartworm prevention? Well I am glad you asked. If for a chance there is a failure, and your pet becomes infected most companies will cover the cost of heartworm treatment. Now you are wondering why would a pet become infected with heartworms if it was on heartworm prevention? Well that’s another good questions, some heartworms seem to be developing a resistance to some products. This however does not mean that heartworm prevention is infective or waste of money. These cases are still rare, and prevention is key to preventing the disease.
What people may be getting confused about is heartworm treatment. Treating heartworm disease, once the parasites mature into actual adults becomes a little bit more risky, it’s painful to the pet, and it costs a lot more money. Treatment for heartworms though is relatively safe and successful if the owners comply with the veterinarians instructions. Complications can follow heartworm treatment if an owner does not strictly abide by the veterinarians instructions. There is no treatment available in cats, and infection that presents with clinical signs in cats often quickly progresses to death.
For more information the American Heartworm Society’s Website if phenomenal and you should check it out!
I hope this helps you out. Overall heartworm prevention is awesome, every dog and cat should be on some form of it.
