Jul
19
2010

Heartworms In Dogs – Handy Tips And Lessons Learned

There is an old saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin which says, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This statement by him was originally meant as fire-fighting advice nevertheless it has now become good advice in a good number of areas. One example is definitely the health of your pets. Heartworms in dogs is really a perfect example where this refers to other areas. Prevention is notably cheaper compared to the cure and here’s what you might want to know.

Only the bite of an infected mosquito will transmit this parasite in your dog. All 50 states in the usa and most countries around the globe have had reported cases. Your veterinarian might convince you as you have a home in a dry area your pet is not really vulnerable to catching this disease but the fact is that if you have even seen one mosquito in the area, your canine friend could catch heartworms.

About seven months after your canine has been infected, the larvae will grow into a full adult worm. And here, they get dangerous and start to relocate. The worm will take up residence inside the heart, lungs and surrounding blood vessels of your dog. After they did this, they will reproduce in large numbers. Some reported cases have had up to two hundred and fifty worms living inside of of just one animal.

Humans don’t really need to worry that much about becoming infected with heartworms because actual cases where a person has been in fact bitten by an infected mosquito, the infection was transmitted are uncommon. Even in cases where a person has got this parasite inside of them, the worms cannot fully mature in humans so they won’t go through the stage where they reproduce. What may happen is the development of a small lesion inside the lungs of the individual infected. This may resemble a tumor but it’s not.

Finding information about heartworms in dogs online

Your first question may very well be; can one dog within my household infect my other pets? The simple answer is no, this will not occur. Infected mosquitoes are the only method an animal could get heartworms. It’s true even in the event a mosquito bites a dog that is carrying the parasite after which flies over and bites another pet. Heartworms in dogs aren’t going to be transmitted to that other pet. Your second pet is not really in danger as the newly infected mosquito won’t be a carrier of the disease until after an incubation period in the parasite.

Heartworms in dogs is just not something that you should ignore. If you do not treat your pet which has been infected, that animal can die. Prevention is really much cheaper when compared to a cure. For only 35 to 80 dollars, based on the size of your animal, you can buy enough medicine to prevent heartworms in dogs for an entire year. A really economical solution to what is actually a extremely expensive situation to handle.

Curing heartworms in cats is not simple

The treatment of heartworms in dogs is crazy. It will cost a bunch of money eliminating the parasite when by spending just a little in the way of prevention could save all of that hassle. Tapeworms, whipworms and roundworms can also be prevented as current medicines include the treatment for these infestations at the same time. A little price to pay for a healthy dog.

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