Heartgard

Being a potentially deadly condition that can instantly kill your pet, heartworm disease should be eradicated and controlled from occurring and affecting your pets. Transmitted through mosquito bites, this deadly disease can severely damage your pet’s vital organs particularly the heart and lungs and could extend its systemic effects to brain and kidneys.

Preventive therapy is highly encouraged with the use of heartworm medications. But in case heartworm disease is already transmitted to your pet, preventive heartworm medication is no longer effective. The treatment approach will be to administer treatment heartworm medication. There is a distinction between a preventive and treatment heartworm medications.

The preventive heartworm medication may be in the form of chewable tablets of varied tasty flavors and topical liquids that a veterinarian will prescribe but can be administered by the pet owner at home. The treatment heartworm medications usually are in the form of muscular injections applied by a vet in a clinic followed by adjunct tablets at homes.

The treatment of heartworm in dogs varies with the severity of the condition. Simple approach is used when a heartworm positive dogs does not manifest any symptoms compared to dogs suffering with very ill conditions. Surgery may be the option in severe cases of heavy infections such as those causing extensive liver damage.

Surgery is potentially a risky and dangerous procedure with higher morbidity compared with treatment heartworm medication. Only a single drug is currently registered which can kill the adult heartworms found in dogs. Treatment heartworm medication uses the drug Immiticide to kill adult heartworms of over 4 months of age and is not an effective drug in killing immature worms.

The treatment regimen using this heartworm medication is divided into two. The first regimen is intended for dogs with mild symptoms of the disease and the second for dogs with severe symptom manifestations. Standard regime is giving the heartworm medication via injection to the lumbar muscles. It can kill the adult heartworms only.

A fast acting regimen that quickly kills the adult worm consists of two injections of the heartworm medication along the lumbar muscles by 24 hours interval. An alternate regimen is one injection to the lumbar muscle and after a month, 2 more injections are applied with a 24 hours interval. This will slowly kill the adult worms.

Inflammatory reaction can occur after the treatment heartworm medication regimen and vets usually incorporate anti-inflammatory and/or anti-clotting agent along with the heartworm medication.

Tags: K9, Pet Medicine, Heartworms, Pet, Cats