If you are worried about your dog and heartworm disease, then we have good news. Dog heartworm treatment is available and can actually cure the disease.
The bad news is that you may not see any symptoms of the disease until it’s too late to treat it. This is because heartworms enter the dog as tiny creatures called microfilariae that can take up to four months to work their way into your dog’s pulmonary artery. Beyond this, there is a six-month long “prepatent” period prior to when the worms become adults– by which time it may be too late for your dog.
Dog Heartworm Treatment
Dog heartworms can be cured with medication if the disease is diagnosed early enough. The most common treatment for dog heartworms is a series of two injections a day for two days. The injections consist of a drug containing arsenic named Immiticide. This treatment kills and slowly disintegrates the heartworms over a period of time. The heartworms are killed slowly because if they were killed all at once, the dead bodies would go into the dog’s lungs and asphyxiate it. The dog is then left to rest for a couple of days to let its body absorb the dead heartworms. Most vets recommend that the dog be kept indoors or on a leash for five weeks.
If yours is an outdoor dog, you should keep it in an enclosed kennel or other arrangement, which would prevent vigorous exercise.
There is also now a newer treatment available, the adulticide melarsomine, which many veterinarians consider to be better than the standard thiacetarsamine. This drug is administered twice and has an efficacy of more than 96%. This treatment is also followed by a period of rest.
A series of treatments called microfilafricidal therapy is often used four to six weeks after injection of the adulticide.
After Dog Heartworm Treatment
After five weeks, the adult heartworms should all be dead and gone. However, there will still be thousands of baby heartworms (microfilariae) in your dog’s bloodstream. Your vet will dose the dog daily for a week and then do another test to make sure all the microfilariae have been killed. If not, it will be another round of treatments at a higher dosage until all the microfilariae have been killed.
Your vet will most likely have you bring the dog back in after five weeks for a dose of preventative medication. You will then want to give the dog the preventative medication a month later.
If your dog has a very advanced case of heartworm disease, the vet may recommend the heartworms be removed surgically.
Symptoms Of Dog Heartworm Disease
As indicated before, your dog could have heartworms and show no signs of the disease, especially if it leads a sedentary life. On the other hand, active dogs may show symptoms of tiring easily, shortness of breath, or repeated coughing. If you hunt with your dog, you may notice it is no longer able to keep up with the rapid pace of the chase and frequently drops with exhaustion.
As the disease becomes more advanced, the dog may have vision problems, lose weight, convulse, and have a dull coat and, finally, experience congestive heart failure and death.
Preventing Dog Heartworm
The best way to prevent heartworms is to regularly take your dog in for a blood test. If the test reveals the presence of microfilariae – before they become adult heartworms – the dog can be treated and cured.
If you discuss heartworms with your vet, he or she may suggest year-round preventative treatments. The most popular of these drugs are Heartguard, Interceptor, Sentinel and ProHeart. All of them are available as pills or chewable tablets.
The combination of regular blood tests and the use of a preventative medication have saved the life of many dogs and there is no reason why yours could not be one of them.
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