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Heartworms are parasitic roundworm that are spread from animals to animals through the bites of mosquitoes. ​The disease is spread when a female mosquito, bites an infected dog, then bites another dog.  

The mosquito deposits tiny immature heartworms, called microfilariae.  Once a heart worm matures it can grow up to 12 inches in length and move to the heart, blood vessels and lungs to reproduce. 
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Once the heartworms reproduce, they cause lung and heart disease, as well as damage and failure to other organs of your pet.  Once the damage is done, it cannot be corrected, even after your pet is heartworm free.  ​
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     One heartworm can live 5-7 years, and dogs            have been known to have as many as 200-300      heartworms in their system at one time.
     
     As heartworms grow and get into your pets            heart and lungs your pet will start to cough,            they will become more tired, loose their                  appitite, loose weight, perhaps even vomit.
     Their stomach may become bloated from the        fluids that gather because of the heart not              pumping properly.  These are all signs and              symptoms that you should take your pet and          have them checked. 
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  • Just one bite from one infected mosquito is all it takes to put heartworm larvae in your dog or cat's body.
  • Heartworms cannot be transmitted from dog to dog
  • Heartworms do not affect people
  • Hearworms are more comon in dogs than cates
  • Indoor and outdoor pets are at risk 
  • Pets should be tested yearly for heartworms
  • Eventually your pet will die if heartworms are not treated
  • Simple blood test done in the office 
  • Heartworm prevention is only available through a veterinary prescription​
Heartworms are an easily preventable disease that can be deadly if left untreated, so prevention is very important.  
​Talk to your Vet today about testing for Heartworm disease and getting your pet on preventative treatment. 
“We patronize the animals for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they are more finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.” ― Henry Beston