May is Heartworm Prevention Month

May 2014 is Heartworm Prevention Month

"My pet is not at risk for heartworms?"

"He or she is not around other pets, so I don't have to worry about heartworms, right?"

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ.  Do you hear that?  It is a pesky old mosquito.  

Ouch, did you just get bit by a mosquito taking out the garbage or while camping with your pet?

Fortunately, you are not at risk of contracting heartworm disease, but any one of those nasty mosquitoes could be carrying Heartworm Disease.  Mosquitoes are the only way that pets get heartworms.  An infected mosquito carries the larvae.  When that infected mosquito bites your pet, the heartworm larvae is then transferred to the blood of the pet.

Heartworm prevention is one of the most important thing that you can use to protect your pet's health.  It is considered a common prevention, as important as annual vaccinations.   It's not just dogs; cats can get heartworms, too.  Using Heartworm preventative does not stop the mosquitoes from biting your pet, but prevents the Heartworm larvae from growing into mature adults.  The mature adults travel to the pulmonary artery, causing increased stress on the heart.  Once at this level, the heartworms eventually lead to congestive heart failure.  Some common signs of heartworm disease are coughing and exercise intolerance.

The best way to protect your pet from Heartworm Disease is to keep him/ her on prevention all year long. Since most preventative medications have risk of breakthrough, we also recommend testing for heartworm disease annually or biannually. We have a few different options for protecting your pet here at Seville Wadsworth Veterinary Clinic;

For dogs, there are a number of options that we recommend:
1)   Trifexis  – a chewable tablet that prevents Heartworms, fleas, roundworms,  whipworms  and hookworms.
2)  Interceptor Plus– a chewable tablet that prevents Heartworms, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms  and tapeworms.
3)   Proheart 6 and Proheart 12 – a 6 month or 12 month injection for heartworm and hookworms.  

For cats, we recommend:
Revolution Plus– a topical medication that prevents Heartworms, fleas, ticks, roundworms and hookworms.

If you have questions about Heartworm Disease, please contact our team and we would be glad to assist you in protecting your family pet against this potentially serious threat of heartworm disease. 

Edited by Dr Jeff Fink.  Original content written by Robin Evans.