Heartworm Prevention for Your Dog

Healthy Dogma
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

Mosquito time is upon us. They are a major nuisance! For animals, especially our dogs, they can be a deadly danger! They are the carriers of the heart worm disease. Not every mosquito is a carrier, but all it takes is one bite from one that is! It can take seven months for any symptoms to show and if not treated, it is a death sentence.

Once the infected mosquito bites your dog, it injects a larva into their skin.

This migrates to the circulatory system and then lives within the heart, lungs, and surrounding blood vessels. Maturing into adult heart worms after seven months, they can be as long as a foot, and capable of living five to seven years. It’s possible with this disease for a dog to have up to 250 of these beasts in their system.

A good diet for your pet, as well as regular grooming and check ups, is always recommended. What you feed your dog not only affects their energy and digestion but also their immunity. Healthy Dogma provides the highest quality dog food, treats, and supplements. Good nutrition can help your dog fight disease and live a long, healthy life!

There are four stages of heart worm disease. The first one may have no symptoms at all. Eventually, a cough begins. Then this becomes more persistent. Physical exertion becomes more difficult, so does breathing in general.

By the last stage, the dog is very weak, lethargic, very hard time breathing. Here there may even be abnormal sounds from the lungs and/or heart. Their liver may be enlarged. Left untreated is guaranteed death. The further along the disease is, the more severe and intrusive the treatment will be.

Prevention is crucial for the health of your dog. It only involves giving your pet a monthly dose. It may be a pill or a topical medicine applied on the skin. Another option is a shot that lasts for six months. Whichever option you choose, it is important to maintain the preventive treatment annually, not missing any dose. The dosage depends on the weight of your dog, and this also affects costs. It is truly a small price to pay for the investment you’ve already made for a loyal friend — a happy, healthy one.

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We here at Healthy Dogma believe that pets deserve long, healthy and vibrant lives, and that they thrive when they are fed natural, whole foods.

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