A Matter of the Heart

While walking to class today, I over-heard a conversation going on between two girls. One of the girls was telling her friend how her dog had fleas & how much of a mess her house was from her having to spray to get rid of them. (Not a big deal, right? Everyone who has had a dog or a cat has probably seen a flea or two crawling on their furry friend. Well, that's not what this post is about...)

The other girl one-upped her by saying that her dog had heartworms... & was COMPLAINING about the price of the treatment needed to save her dog & what an inconvenience it was.

An inconvenience? Like her dog had chosen to have this happen.
An inconvenience? Like she was not where the blame should have been placed.
An inconvenience.

This made me SO mad...


Time for me to get up on my little soap-box for a moment...


A heartworm infection can be debilitating to a dog... but is TOTALLY preventable.


What exactly is a heartworm, you may ask?
Heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) are a parasitic nematode. They get into your dog's bloodstream after they are bitten by a mosquito that has fed on an infected dog. Once inside your dogs blood stream, the "baby" worms mature & travel to your dog's pulmonary arteries & right ventricle of the heart... where they take up residence as adult worms & start cranking out more "baby" worms.

What do heartworms do?
If your dog becomes infected, it puts a major strain on their heart. It can't pump blood like it would normally be able to, especially in dogs with especially high worm counts. The worms also cause harmful changes in the walls of the pulmonary arteries which leads to hypertension & enlargement of the ventricle.
Infected dogs can show signs of weakness, shortness of breath, chronic coughing, weight loss, & eventually congestive heart failure.

Is it treatable?
Yes... but it is very expensive & very dangerous for your dog. The drugs that they use to treat heartworm positive dogs contain arsenic... & we all know how bad-news that stuff is. It is also stressful for your dog. After staying at the vet for treatment for several days, they have to be kept inactive for WEEKS to prevent the dying worms from being pushed out of the heart & into their lungs. (By inactive, I mean no playing, no running, leashed-walks, & a LOT of crate time.)
Sadly, not all dogs survive treatment. Dogs in poor health or with high infections sometimes die.

How can I prevent my dog from getting heartworms?
Give them a heartworm preventative (like Heartgard) once a month! It's THAT easy. (If we can remember all of the stuff we need to do every month, then we should be able to remember something like this once a month.) The ingredients in the tablet kill off any "baby" worms before they have a chance to grow into adults & get to your dogs heart. All you have to do is take your dog to the vet for a heartworm test (to be sure they aren't already infected) & they will prescribe you the preventative.

Do I have to give them the preventative every month?
YES. It isn't a miracle drug. It isn't like a vaccine. It is a preventative. The odds that your dog has been bitten by an infected mosquito are very high. The ingredients inside each tablet will kill the immature worms that your dog has been exposed to since his/her tablet the month before (~30 days).
To sum it up, you have to give your dog the tablet at the same time EVERY month.

Take home message:
If you live somewhere where mosquitoes are prevalent... your dog CAN & probably WILL get heartworms without a preventative given every month. A lot of people complain about the cost of heartworm preventatives.... come on, people! It is SO much cheaper (& safer) than the alternative of waiting until it has already happened... & how can you put a price on your furry friend? When you choose to adopt an animal, you choose to take on the responsibilities of caring for that animal. They can't open the fridge when they're hungry, turn on the sink when they're thirsty, or open their Heartgard & take it. They need us to care for them. Please, be a responsible pet owner... your animals deserve it.