Dr. Robyn talks about heartworm disease....
Please note - the picture above is NOT of an actual patient of mine.
Last week, I had to euthanize 2 dogs due to advanced heartworm disease. The owners cried. I cried. My techs cried. It was horrible. Here's the issue - some dogs respond to medications and some dogs don't. If dogs get heartworms, they're at risk of death at any point from when they get the worms until after they're cured of it. And, even when they're cured of it, their heart and the associated vessels are damaged. So, it shortens their life spans.
Here's the science of heartworm disease: a mosquito bites a dog who has heartworms. The heartworms mature to an appropriate stage in the mosquito. That mosquito then bites another dog, infecting that dog with baby heartworms. It then takes 6-7 months from the bite of the mosquito until the heartworms are located in the blood vessel leading to the heart and mature enough for our tests to detect they're there. So, if your dog tests negative for heartworms but hasn't been on prevention, we actually don't know if he is truly negative because our tests aren't perfect. This is one of the reasons we require a yearly heartworm test. Another reason we require a yearly heartworm test is that we're starting to see some resistance in our deadly heartworm population, especially with the ivermectin-based preventions. So, even if your dog is on prevention every month, we still require a test once a year to make sure we catch the disease before it progresses. If the disease goes undetected, the worms mature. They build up in that blood vessel leading to the heart. It causes damage to the blood vessel. It causes damage to the heart. Eventually, the worm burden becomes so great that it literally blocks blood flow to the heart. It's like a dam. That's when you see a bloated belly. Fluid backs up due to the pressure. When we get to this stage, we try our best to stabilize. We try to get to a safe point to kill the worms. We hope desperately that we can save your dog. And we've been successful many times. But we've also been unsuccessful. Because sometimes, the drugs we have just don't work for a certain dog. And it's horrible.
So, long story short - get your dog tested yearly. I don't care where you go. Our tests are $12. If all you want is a heartworm test and no exam or other vaccines, you will be out $12. One month of prevention is $7-$12 depending on the size of your dog. You may be able to find it cheaper with online pharmacies. I truly don't care where you get the prevention. Just do it. Mosquitoes become active when the temperature is above 50 degrees. We have warm days in winter. And I know I have mosquitoes that come into my house. So please, be proactive. Heartworm disease is very prevalent in our area. And so are mosquitoes. Please protect your dog.
Please note - the picture above is NOT of an actual patient of mine.
Last week, I had to euthanize 2 dogs due to advanced heartworm disease. The owners cried. I cried. My techs cried. It was horrible. Here's the issue - some dogs respond to medications and some dogs don't. If dogs get heartworms, they're at risk of death at any point from when they get the worms until after they're cured of it. And, even when they're cured of it, their heart and the associated vessels are damaged. So, it shortens their life spans.
Here's the science of heartworm disease: a mosquito bites a dog who has heartworms. The heartworms mature to an appropriate stage in the mosquito. That mosquito then bites another dog, infecting that dog with baby heartworms. It then takes 6-7 months from the bite of the mosquito until the heartworms are located in the blood vessel leading to the heart and mature enough for our tests to detect they're there. So, if your dog tests negative for heartworms but hasn't been on prevention, we actually don't know if he is truly negative because our tests aren't perfect. This is one of the reasons we require a yearly heartworm test. Another reason we require a yearly heartworm test is that we're starting to see some resistance in our deadly heartworm population, especially with the ivermectin-based preventions. So, even if your dog is on prevention every month, we still require a test once a year to make sure we catch the disease before it progresses. If the disease goes undetected, the worms mature. They build up in that blood vessel leading to the heart. It causes damage to the blood vessel. It causes damage to the heart. Eventually, the worm burden becomes so great that it literally blocks blood flow to the heart. It's like a dam. That's when you see a bloated belly. Fluid backs up due to the pressure. When we get to this stage, we try our best to stabilize. We try to get to a safe point to kill the worms. We hope desperately that we can save your dog. And we've been successful many times. But we've also been unsuccessful. Because sometimes, the drugs we have just don't work for a certain dog. And it's horrible.
So, long story short - get your dog tested yearly. I don't care where you go. Our tests are $12. If all you want is a heartworm test and no exam or other vaccines, you will be out $12. One month of prevention is $7-$12 depending on the size of your dog. You may be able to find it cheaper with online pharmacies. I truly don't care where you get the prevention. Just do it. Mosquitoes become active when the temperature is above 50 degrees. We have warm days in winter. And I know I have mosquitoes that come into my house. So please, be proactive. Heartworm disease is very prevalent in our area. And so are mosquitoes. Please protect your dog.
