April: Heartworm Awareness
This month is Heartworm Awareness Month and we would like to take the opportunity to answer some of the most common questions we receive regarding heartworms.
How do dogs get heartworms?
Heartworms, Dirofilaria immitis, are a parasite that is transferred by mosquitoes during their feeding process.
How do you test for heartworms in dogs?
The test for heartworms only requires a small amount of whole blood and takes about 10 minutes to run. At Talley Veterinary Services, the test for heartworms is in combination with Lyme’s, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichia, all tick born diseases. We get a lot of information out of that small blood stick!!
At what age should my dog start heartworm prevention?
We recommend starting heartworm preventative at 9 weeks old.
At what age should I get my dog tested?
We recommend testing dogs for heartworms at six months old and repeat at one year. After that, we recommend yearly testing, as long as your pet has been on continuous preventative protection.
My dog was negative the first time you tested him/her and now a year later, he/she is positive. WHY?
The test only looks for the presence of adult female heartworm antigen. This means that a dog may test negative with an immature heartworm infection or male-only infection. Six months later, those immature heartworms are now adults and the antigen is present in the blood sample. Yearly heartworm testing allows us to find these early, when little to no damage has been done to the heart. Dogs also respond much better to treatment when the numbers of heartworms are low.
My dog is a long-haired dog. Mosquitoes can’t get through the hair to bite them, so he doesn’t need heartworm preventative, right??
Wrong. Even fuzzy dogs have short to no hair on their ears and noses. Mosquitoes don’t mind biting those areas at all.
My dog is an inside dog, why would I give them heartworm preventative?
Since mosquitoes are present in our climate year-round, veterinarians recommend continuous preventative medication. Let’s be honest, we have all seen mosquitoes in our homes!
Do cats get heartworms?
Absolutely! They are not considered a very receptive host, however. When cats get infected, their bodies attack most of the microfilaria, or immature heartworms, so the numbers that reach maturity are few. Cats actually have more severe reactions to heartworms and there is no approved treatment for adult heartworms in cats. This makes it important to place them on preventative as well.
Talley Veterinary Services Group now offers electronic messaging services for your convenience!
Talley Veterinary Services Group has teamed up with AllyDVM for a new service that will allow our clinic staff and doctors to communicate with clients via text message and email. We will be able to send and receive appointment reminders, medication refills, boarding updates, and in-house patient updates electronically instead of using regular mail. AllyDVM also offers a "patient portal" for all of our clients and their pets, so that you can have access to your pet's information wherever you go! Additionally, we are excited about new links/services that will allow our clients to text or email us for medication refills, boarding reservations, and so much more. We genuinely look forward to better serving our clients and patients with this new addition to our practice! In order to take advantage of this innovative communication capability, please update your current mobile numbers and email address with our office. Look under “Links” to sign up and try our new services.