Heartworm In Dogs And Puppies?

Do You Know About Heartworm In Dogs And Puppies?

We all have heard of horror stories about people who suddenly found their pet dog was ill with some obscure illness they had never heard of before and this is a worry for any dog lover so it makes good sense to make yourself aware of all you can about your dogs health.

One question that crops up is about dogs and heart worm. There are other types of animal that can suffer from heart worm but dogs can be affected too. The big question is if it can this be cured and the answer is yes it can.be treated and effectively dealt with.

There is at least one drug used to help in the prevention of heart worm in dogs and that is known as Ivermectin. This seems to have some beneficial prevenative features that can resist heart worms.

When a dog is affected by heartworm some signs to look out for include frequent coughing, excessive panting and your dog will appear less lively and perhaps quite dull compared to his normal self.

The heartworms can be up to twenty-seven centimeters in length for the female worm and about seventeen centimeters in length for the male worm. The worms are usually transmitted between animals by mosquitoes who may contain the larvae of heart worms inside them.

Treatments for heart-worms may also be effective in treating other worm infestations in your dog such as hook worms, whip worms, and round worms.  The third stage larva is the crucial one when it comes to transmission of heart worm larva through mosquito bites. This  will usually be less common in the colder months when the mosquito is more dormant and unlikely to be breeding but it may occur at any time in many countries around the world.  Drug treatment is available in both as an injection or in oral form and there are some applications where it may be used as an external treatment.

The cost is always an important factor for many people and it needs to be considered before treatment begins. The usual procedure is that a month before the mosquito season begins and up to two months after the mosquito season, ivermectin or milbemycin oxime may be given once monthly for the prophylaxis and Diethylcarbamazine may also be administered for therapy purposes.