FROM TH HUMANE SOCIETY OF ELMORE COUNTY
April has many animal related awareness events and we will get started with Heartworm awareness month. Bottom line – ALL dogs in Alabama and the south should be on heartworm prevention from your Veterinarian twelve months/year. Heartworms are transferred through mosquito bites and result in actual worms living in the heart of an affected dog or cat. Heartworms cause damage to the heart and other organs so affected pets often die far too young from complications such as congestive heart failure, pulmonary inflammation, kidney issues, etc. All it takes is one bite from an infected mosquito for your unprotected pet to get heartworms.
PREVENTING heartworms is so easy and cheap compared to the danger and cost of trying to clear them after your dog has become infected. You cannot look at your dog and know if they are or are not infected with heartworms which is why your dog must go to your Veterinarian for an easy, annual blood test. Once your Veterinarian determines your dog does not have adult heartworms, they can then prescribe prevention to protect your pet. The drugs to prevent heartworms are completely different than the drug necessary to treat a dog with heartworms so it is very important to never give your pet heartworm medicine until it has been tested by your veterinarian.
The good news is heartworm prevention is safe, easy and relatively inexpensive. There are a variety of options for preventing heartworm infection in both dogs and cats, including monthly tablets and chewables, monthly topicals and a six-month or twelve-month injectable product (available only for dogs), all available from your veterinarian. These products are NOT available for you to purchase at a pet supply store, your local feed store or on-line without a prescription – you must get these from a licensed Veterinarian! Please do NOT purchase heartworm prevention from on-line sites that do not require a prescription from your Veterinarian as you may be purchasing potentially low-quality, poorly stored/shipped products or, worse, fake products. These preventatives are extremely effective, and when administered properly will prevent heartworm infection by interrupting the life cycle so they cannot become adult heartworms. An added benefit from keeping your pet on heartworm preventative is that many of them also prevent other parasites like roundworms, whipworms and hookworms (a few also prevent tapeworms), AND some products also prevent fleas and ticks.
Most of us only think about dogs when we think heartworm prevention, but more and more studies are finding that our cats are also at great risk and there are preventives (oral & topical) for cats too. So please talk to your Veterinarian about heartworm prevention for your dogs AND cats (and, FYI, Ferrets too).
In the long run keeping your dog (and cat) on monthly heartworm prevention will not only keep your pet healthy it will save you a LOT of money and heartache for a very expensive, lengthy and risky adult heartworm treatment. Face it, here in the south, mosquitos can be year-round, so please, please, please keep your pets current on heartworm prevention all twelve months.
