The hot and humid weather in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL means that we get an extreme mosquito season during the summer. Unfortunately, mosquitoes are the main carriers of the blood parasite that causes heartworm in dogs, cats, and ferrets. If you have mosquitoes in your area, it means you have the potential for heartworm disease in pets. At Sea Oats Animal Hospital, one of the routine treatments that we provide is heartworm prevention for pets.
How Pets Get Heartworm Disease
When a mosquito bites your pet, it can inject the heartworm parasite directly into the bloodstream. This worm then lives its life, reproduces, and propagates in your pet’s lungs, heart, and blood vessels. If left untreated, it can be catastrophic for your pet.
Unfortunately, most of the symptoms of heartworm disease don’t become noticeable until the condition is advanced. Symptoms include:
- Trouble breathing
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Coughing
- Abdominal swelling
Heartworms can be detected in your pet’s system when we do a comprehensive blood test. The test can spot antigens or heartworm proteins that are present in the blood.
Preventing Heartworm Disease in Pets
Preventing heartworm in the first place is a much safer and more affordable option than waiting to have to treat the disease. Preventive medicines can include a monthly chewable medication or a topical, as well as 6- or 12-month injectable medication. Some of the medications also protect against additional types of parasites.
Heartworm prevention should be an ongoing thing for pets here in Florida since we have such a robust mosquito season. Monthly prevention is important because it can take up to five months after your pet is bitten by a mosquito for heartworm antigens to show up in their blood work.
And here’s a really important thing to keep in mind: even if your pet is on monthly heartworm prevention medication, they can still contract heartworms. The problem may not advance as seriously, but they can still get the condition. This is why an annual checkup with comprehensive blood work is so important.
If your pet does become seriously infected, it can be an expensive and lengthy process for it to recover. Treatment will involve multiple trips to the vet’s office, as well as severely restricting your pet’s exercise and physical activity levels for several months.
