There is an nugget of advice 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 however it has now become advice in loads of areas. Such an example is definitely the health of one’s pets. When the topic is heartworms in dogs, this tip is critical. Prevention is significantly cheaper compared to the cure and here is what you’ll want to know.
It is very important to be aware that heartworms are only transmitted from the bite of an infected mosquitoes. All 50 states in the usa and a lot countries around the world experienced reported cases. Your veterinarian might tell you that because you live in a dry area that your pet isn’t at risk for catching this disease but the truth is that if you have even seen one mosquito in the area, your dog could catch heartworms.
Once a pet is infected it will take about seven months for the larvae to develop into mature adults. The worm will take up residence inside the heart, lungs and surrounding blood vessels of your dog. The true danger at this point from the infestation would be the parasites will reproduce in very large numbers. Would you believe that there can be as much as 250 worms alive in a single dog? It’s true. While this is a serious case, it’s not so rare. Besides, it will not take this many to become fatal in your dog.
Humans shouldn’t worry that much about becoming infected with heartworms because the actual cases where a person has been in fact bitten by an infected mosquito, the illness was transmitted are rare. Heartworms can’t reach the mature stage of the lifecycle on the inside of people. This is why they just don’t reproduce. The only real malady is usually a small lesion which resembles a tumor and form inside the lungs.
Finding information about heartworms online
Also of note is the fact one dog are unable to infect other pets in your home. Heartworms in dogs is passed via the bite of infected mosquitoes. Should your dog is infected and is bitten by the mosquito which in turn bites another animal, the animal is safe. The 2nd animal won’t be infected from the now heartworm carrying insect. Your second pet is not really at risk because the newly infected mosquito will not be a carrier of the disease until after an incubation period in the parasite.
Your beloved pet can die from heartworms. This is simply not something that is forgotten about and never taken care of. And prevention is very economical with a years supply of medicine costing around 35 to 80 dollars based on the size of your pet dog.
Curing heartworms in cats is not easy
For a pet’s long and healthy life, your spending only a bit of money in the prevention of heartworms in dogs will be best in the long run. Getting rid of the worms after infestation can run into the hundreds of dollars. Save the grief and buy the meds. Another advantage from prevention is that present day medicines also assist in preventing whipworms, roundworms, and/or tapeworms. All this prevention from one treatment. A little price to pay for a healthy dog.
