While heartworms are one of the most damaging parasites in dogs, they are nearly percent preventable. Dogs and cats throughout the United States can be infected with heartworms. Transmitted by mosquitoes, mature heartworms live in the heart and large blood vessels of the lungs pulmonary arteries.
Adult heartworms can measure over one foot in length! How can heartworms affect your dog? Once in the pulmonary arteries, the worms can affect oxygenation of blood and make it more difficult for the heart to pump blood throughout the body.
This can result in damage to the heart itself, the lungs, kidneys and liver, in addition to simply sapping energy from your beloved pet. Symptoms might include shortness of breath or coughing, although other signs can be present.
Untreated, heartworm infection can be fatal. Fortunately, with medication, heartworm infection is almost always preventable. Ask your veterinarian about heartworm prevention and mosquito repellence. Hookworms :. Hookworms are intestinal parasites that live in the digestive system of your dog or cat. Signs of infection might be diarrhea and weight loss. If you think your dog or cat is infected with hookworms, call your veterinarian to schedule an appointment for evaluation, diagnosis, and safe, effective treatment.
Roundworms :. Preventive treatment should begin at 6 or 8 weeks of age in puppies and after tests have been conducted in older dogs to determine if your dog has already been infected. An annual blood test should be run to confirm the dog continues to be negative for heartworms. If your dog does have heartworms, your veterinarian can advise you about treatment options. Isolated and rare cases of human infection have been reported, however, the heartworm is generally not considered a risk to human health and direct transmission of heartworm from dogs to humans is not possible.
How will heartworms affect my dog? Testing for heartworm infection Blood tests are most commonly used to diagnose heartworm infection in dogs. How do I prevent my dog from getting heartworms? Can humans contract heartworm disease?
Did you know? If left untreated, heartworm disease can result in your dog's death. Heartworms can grow to 16 inches in length and there can be as many as heartworms in a dog's vital organs. To prevent Taenia and Dipylidium tapeworm infections in dogs, administer a monthly heartworm preventive that contains a drug specific for tapeworm infections.
For more information about human infections, please visit www. Certain tapeworms found in dogs or cats may cause serious disease in humans. Fortunately, these tapeworms Echinococcus species are uncommon in the United States and are readily treated by prescriptions available from your veterinarian. There are rare reports of Dipylidium a common tapeworm in pets infections in children, but these infections are not associated with significant disease. Dogs most frequently get tapeworms from fleas, so keeping your pet free of these is a big help.
Keeping your dog from eating prey animals is also important. If you think your dog may have tapeworms, your veterinarian can test for them, and will have safe and effective treatment options.
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