Heartworm Awareness: Understanding Their Harm to Pets
Heartworms are a serious and potentially fatal disease affecting dogs, cats and ferrets. April is recognized as Heartworm Awareness Month to educate pet owners about the importance of prevention and treatment. Here, we will discuss what they are, how pets get them, treatment options, preventatives, and the life expectancy of pets without treatment.
Heartworms are parasitic worms that can grow up to a foot long and live in the heart, lungs, and blood vessels of infected animals. They can cause severe lung disease, heart failure, and damage to other important internal organs.
Define Heartworm Disease
Heartworm disease is a serious and fatal disease when untreated. It can result in severe lung disease, heart failure and the destruction of other organs in the body. This disease is caused by worms as long as up to 14 inches that habitat a pets’ heart, lungs and blood vessels causing further internal damage.
Ways of Transmission
Short Answer: Mosquitos
Long Answer: The mosquito plays an essential role in the heartworm life cycle. Female worms produce baby worms that develop and mature over 10-14 days. Mosquitos become infected by biting an infected pet and host the larvae until biting another animal in which the larvae are deposited onto the skins surface and enter the new host through the mosquito’s bite wound.
- Dogs get heartworms through mosquito bites. When a mosquito bites an infected dog, it ingests microscopic larvae, which then mature into infective larvae within the mosquito. When the infected mosquito bites another dog, it transfers the larvae into the new host, where they migrate to the heart and lungs, mature, and reproduce.
- Cats are an atypical host and therefore most of the worms do not survive to the adult stage. Cats are not likely to transfer the infection to other mosquitos because a cat’s blood often does not have microfilariae circulating.
What Are Signs of the Disease?
The Drake Center defines the 4 stages of symptoms to help understand that some stages can overlap and mirror other progressions of the disease:
- Stage 1: Typically, symptom free. Heartworms are present and settling into the heart.
- Stage 2: Moderate symptoms including intolerance for exercise due to the body triggering an antibody response due to microfilariae production.
- Stage 3: Symptoms are very noticeable. Cough, fatigue after exercise and trouble breathing are present. Coughing up blood is probable, and worms are visible through x-ray.
- Stage 4: Very ill presentation. More severe Stage 3 symptoms. This stage is accompanied by higher risks of life-altering debilitation and possible death.
Preventatives
Prevention is the best approach to heartworm disease, and there are several options available. Monthly preventatives are available as tablets, topical solutions, and injections. These preventatives work by killing the larvae before they have a chance to mature and cause damage. Our Pin Paws Rx members have access to discounts on pet health medications and preventatives.
Treatment Options
The treatment for heartworm disease is expensive and complicated, and the earlier the disease is detected, the better the chances of a successful outcome. The treatment typically involves a series of injections to kill the adult worms, followed by a period of strict rest and limited activity to allow the body to absorb the dead worms.
The FDA has approved Melarsomine dihydrochloride as an arsenic-containing drug approved to kill adult heartworms in dogs.
Life Expectancy without Treatment
Without treatment, heartworm disease can be fatal. As mentioned, the disease progresses through four stages, with the final stage causing severe damage to the heart, lungs, and other organs. Dogs in the final stage of heartworm disease have a poor prognosis, and the longer the disease goes untreated, the worse the outcome.
In Conclusion
Heartworms are a serious and potentially fatal disease in dogs, and prevention is the best approach. Monthly heartworm preventatives are available, and regular testing is recommended to detect the disease early. If your dog is diagnosed with heartworm disease, treatment is available, but it is expensive and complicated, and the earlier the disease is detected, the better the outcome. Pin Paws Pet Care members receive insured benefits to assist with covering costs associated with caring for pets diagnosed with heartworm disease. Click this link to get your free pet insurance quote today: Pin Paws Pet Care.
