Telltale Heartworm Symptoms in Dogs
Your pet dog could be mildly or severely suffering from heartworm disease. Heartworm condition is an aggravating condition that may lead to a dog’s death. There are also an increasing reported incidents that heartworm can also be deadly in cats. With the grave affliction of heartworm among pet animal’s health, immediate treatment is needed to counteract the disease and prevent more risks that will lead to pet animal’s deaths.
Heartworms are about 6-12 inches parasites that reside in the dog’s heart and liver that can cause deleterious health condition and even death among dogs. It mainly affects the right chamber of the heart, the pulmonary artery as well as the vena cava of the heart. The mode of transmission is carried around by mosquito bites. Heartworms may be transmitted by mosquitoes that may have sucked the baby heartworm from an infected dog and then bite a healthy dog thereby transmitting the heartworm to the new prey of the mosquito. The larvae (baby heartworm) will then migrate into the dog’s heart or its liver where it will live to grow into a mature heartworm which takes about at least 6 months.
Heartworm symptoms are usually not seen in the early stage of the disease. Dogs may appear to be healthy but along the progression of the disease, heartworm symptoms begin to surface, usually when the heartworm inside the dogs has grown into adult heartworms that can cause irreparable damage to the dog’s body system. Common heartworm symptoms in the early stage of the disease may include heart irritation, thickening of the blood vessels with resulting blockage of blood flow. Some heartworm may involve the liver with significant blockage of the liver’s blood vessels that results to liver damage and eventually liver failure.
The disease process usually takes longer periods, about 1 year, before heartworm symptoms are exhibited by dogs. It may begin as a mild cough that pet owner may disregard as a simple illness. The heartworm symptoms will then progress into a worsening condition that will cause the dog to be in respiratory distress. More coughing and further fatigue with breathing difficulties will be experienced by the dog as the heartworm symptoms progress. Disregarding the telltale heartworm symptoms will result to the severe progression of the disease and can risk the life of the dog. With liver involvement, the heartworm symptoms will include jaundice, appetite loss and collapse of the liver.
Treatment of heartworm symptoms during the initial stage can significantly save your pet dog’s life. There are many pet medications available that are indicated for treating heartworm symptoms. However, preventive measure is better than giving treatment to heartworm disease. Preventive measure may include providing preventive medicine against heartworm such as Heartgard, Revolution, Sentinel and many other pet medicines designed to protect your dogs against heartworm and at the same time provide control to growth of intestinal parasites. Mosquito control should also be observed to prevent transmission of the disease.
Awareness of the different telltale heartworm symptoms can save your dog’s life. Preventive treatment should be provided in order to raise a healthy dog free from heartworm disease and its debilitating symptoms.
Tags: Pet Medicine, Cat, Heart Worms, K9, Dogs