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Dog Heartworm
Heartworm disease affects pets and is brought on by foot-long worms (heartworms) that reside in the heart, lungs, and blood arteries nearby. These worms cause heart failure, severe lung disease, and harm to other body parts.
Dog Heartworm
Let’s talk! HEARTWORM PREVENTION!
Ah, when spring has finally sprung, our thoughts turn to spring cleaning, digging in your garden and nightly walks after a long winter! Before you embark on outdoor activities, take inventory of your furry friends preventatives. Unfortunately for our pets, fleas, ticks, and the mosquitos that carry heartworm larvae also love springtime.
The Pets I Love has made heartworm prevention for dogs an important part of our approach to preventive care to help reduce the number of cases seen in the U.S. annually.
Even though your pet needs heartworm prevention—along with flea and tick prevention—all year long, these pests thrive in warmer weather. Before the summer months, it is an ideal time to get back in the habit of giving your pet their monthly prevention. Fleas cause major skin irritation for your pet and often invade your home. Heartworms are parasitic organisms that can reach 10–12 inches in length. These worms live within the chambers of the heart, as well as within the adjacent blood vessels. An individual worm can survive 5–7 years. Heartworms reproduce within the host animal, and a single dog can host up to 250 worms. Over time, the worms impair heart and lung function, and in severe cases, can result in death.
If this all sounds pretty scary, it is. Heartworm is a serious condition. Annual testing is necessary, even when dogs are on heartworm prevention year-round, to ensure that the prevention program is working. Heartworm medications are highly effective, but dogs can still become infected. If you miss just one dose of a monthly medication—or give it late—it can leave your dog unprotected. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to help prevent and heartworm in your dog.
There are two main ways to provide parasite control – oral chews/pills or topical applications. We highly recommend Simparica Trio, it is a once-a-month chewable that protects your dog against heartworm disease, ticks & fleas, roundworms & hookworms.
We also recognize that remembering to give monthly preventative can be a challenge for even for us, the seasoned professionals. Forgetting to document the date can cause confusion and uncertainty about when the last preventative was given. However, there is a solution to this problem!
The Pets I Love is happy to offer ProHeart® 6 and ProHeart® 12, an injectable heartworm prevention administered every six or twelve months.
- ProHeart® 6 is an injectable parasiticide that is used in dogs six months of age and older to prevent heartworm disease continuously for six months
- ProHeart® 12 is an injectable parasiticide that is used in dogs 1 year old and older to prevent heartworm disease continuously for one year.
The best part, you can earn Zoetis Pet Care Rewards while protecting your pet!
https://www.zoetispetcare.com/
As always, please consult with your dog’s veterinarian to determine the best prevention for your individual pet! If you have questions or would like to schedule your canine ProHeart injection call (845) 395-9200!