So if you have a dog, cat or ferret, then you may have already heard about heartworm. And even the name can strike fear into pet owners. Heartworm is a really serious disease, and it typically results in severe lung disease, heart failure, other organ damage and death. Which is terrible to think about for your obedient and loving pet.
Heartworm is caused by a parasitic worm called Dirofilaria immitis. The worms spread through the bite of a mosquito. They prefer to use a dog as a host. The worms mature into adults, mate, and reproduce while living in a dog’s body.
The mosquito is the host in between.
Which means the worm lives inside the mosquito for a really short period of time, and this is where they are able to cause heartworm disease.
The worms are referred to as heartworms because they live in the heart, lungs and relaxing blood vessels of the infected animal.
There are some areas where heartworm is more prevalent than others.
Heartworm Life Cycle
The heartworm disease can spread around the body of the dog pretty quickly. In an infected adult dog, the heartworms will release their offspring into a dogs bloodstream. The dog may then be bitten by a mosquito – who will then become infected. They will then find another dog to feed on, and infect them with their bite. It takes 10 to 14 days for the microfilariae (heartworm offspring) to become infective larvae while inside the mosquito.
Once a dog is infected by the bite of the mosquito, it takes around 6 or 7 months for the larvae to grow and mature into adult heartworms.
Once they are matured, the cycle starts again, and the heartworms release offspring into the bloodstream.
However, heartworm is not contagious. A dog that is infected with heartworm does not risk passing it on to other dogs or animals that it lives with.
The life span of heartworm is quite long. It can live anywhere between 5 and 7 years. They look like strands of cooked spaghetti. The females can reach around 12 inches, and the males 6. By the time they are discovered the average dog will have approximately 15 heartworms, but there can be anything from 1 to 250 worms.
Testing
Typically a vet will do a blood test to confirm if the proteins that are released by an adult female are present in the bloodstream of the dog. This can be detected around 5 months after the dog has been bitten by an infected mosquito.
Treatment
Prevention is better than cure when it comes to your pets. You can protect against a range of parasites, check this website for more options. Treatment for heartworm, if you decide against prevention, is an injection that goes deep into the back muscles of the dog. The treatment also contains arsenic, which can be tough on the dog and potentially cause other complications.
If you find that you are living in an area where heartworm is more prevalent then the sooner you take action, the better.