Riverside-Animal-Hospital

Heartworm Disease In Dogs

By Dr. Wayne Crance

If you have a dog, you already know something about heartworm disease. Heartworms are carried by mosquitos from dog to dog which makes this a very serious threat in South Florida. To avoid these things to happen you can ask for help at Ruffgers Dog Boarding Facility in Naples.

If you want to know more information, you can contact Chico puppy training Ridgeside K9 NorCal.

To start with, it’s important to know the difference between heartworm infection and disease.

  1. Heartworm infected dogs are not clinically ill, do not act sick, and appear totally normal. Usually, a diagnosis of heartworm infection is made through the dog’s annual blood work. People are usually shocked to discover that their healthy dogs are infected with heartworms and are at risk of developing heartworm disease. Most dogs I see with “heartworm” have heartworm infection, not disease.
  1. Heartworm disease results when a dog infected with heartworms develops clinical signs. Fortunately, I very rarely see dogs with heartworm disease. Treatment requires much more aggressive and expensive therapies; dogs with heartworm disease are more likely to suffer side effects from the traditional medication used in treatment than those with heartworm infection.

Clinical signs as mentioned in this contact form, especially early in the disease, involve coughing, most often when the dog is active. With time, the disease may progress and cause more severe signs of lung and/ or heart infection and inflammation, such as weakness, more serious and constant coughing, weight loss, decreased appetite, and fluid accumulation in the chest and abdomen. You can get cbd for dogs as a treatment for inflammation, cardiac problems, nausea, lack of appetite, and anxiety.

Annual testing is the best way to have peace of mind that your dog is heartworm free. Get More Info about this from the experts found in this link. Testing should start when your dog goes to the veterinarian for their one year wellness exam. Any adopted adult dog should be tested right away. Even if your dog is on heartworm prevention every month, it still needs to be tested at least every other year. Testing is also important because giving heartworm preventives to dogs having heartworms can lead to severe reactions that could be harmful or even fatal to the dog. Heartworm preventatives are extremely safe and very affective with only one dose per mouth or an injection every six months.

Riverside Animal Hospital, 8008 Wiles Rd. Coral Springs

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