What Are the Symptoms of Heartworms? By Jeff Nenadic At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Heartworms are prevalent in nearly all countries while the countries with tropical and warm climates which includes most of USA. These tiny worms cause a variety of infections in smaller animals such as coyotes, wolves, foxes and even our pets like cats and dogs. It is due to widespread infections that makes Heartworm treatment difficult.

Life Cycle of Heartworms

The life of a heartworm begins as a larva inside a mosquito, which acts as a host and also as a carrier to this parasitic worm. The larva is deposited in the animal when the mosquito bites it and these parasitic worms go deep inside the healthy animals blood stream. After entering a blood vessel they head straight to the right portion of the heart and anchor themselves. They start growing and are known to grow to be about 12 inches long. These worms look like spaghetti and cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems in these animals.

The Heartworm takes 6 to 8 months to completely mature and on maturation, inside the heart it produces eggs that transform into thousands of larvae per day. These are again released into the blood vessels and come below the skin. These larvae are usually dormant and can stay in this form for nearly 3 years. As soon as a mosquito bites, these larvae are drawn into its body and are ready to infect another host animal.

The sheer magnitude of this infestation through mosquitoes cannot be controlled and wild animals and pets are equally at risk while it is hard to control the spread.

How to Treat Your Pet

With research, there are many topical applications and monthly doses of anti Heartworm pills that can be administered to dogs to prevent the parasitic infestation. These medicines are known to be effective even if the dog happens to be bitten by a mosquito hosting a Heartworm larva. Such medicines are also used to cure mild heartworm infections in dogs, if the dog is not sickly but is healthy otherwise. To begin treatment, the vet carries out some blood tests to verify the presence of heartworm larvae in blood, these infestations may be dormant. While some dogs show mild infestations with very serious complications.

Symptoms of Active Heartworm Infestations

You will find that your pet dog is unable to exercise without retching, coughing and wheezing is noticeable. The dog will emit abnormal lung sounds and intense cough while severe infestations include loss of consciousness. However, if you are living in an area where heartworm infections are prominent, it is best to put your pet on anti heartworm medications from the age of 6-7 months for its whole life. If you are not in an area where these infestations persist but plan to move there in the near future, put your pet on this medication at least 2 months prior to the move, with the advice of your vet.

It is bets to be safe than sorry as sever infestations can often turn fatal for the dogs.

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