The good news is heartworm disease is very preventable with monthly medication . These are medications which kill the larval worms which are initially injected into the dog and cat’s skin by the mosquito. The heartworms never have the chance to mature to adult heartworms. At that point, they are resistant to the effects of the heartworm prevention medications. All dogs should be tested for surveillance yearly as some heartworm preventions can be harmful to the dog if mature heartworm disease is present. There is no effective test in cats but the heartworm products for cats are safe regardless of the cat’s heartworm status. Once a dog has mature heartworms, the dog must be treated with a series of injections over a couple of months of an arsenic-related drug to kill the worms. The treatment is expensive and many dogs have treatment complications. There is no treatment in cats and infections often are eventually fatal. Heartworm disease is endemic in all 50 states. Because a dog or cat is indoors does not make it safe. Mosquitoes can easily enter homes and bite at night or bite the pet when it is outdoors to eliminate. Therefore it is recommended that all dogs and cats should be on monthly heartworm prevention as a part of wellness care.
- Dr. LaRoche