Heartworms Come North to Great Neck

Long Island Pet Parasites Part Two:

The last post started with the fact that there are 4 groups of parasites that we need to worry about here on Long Island. We concentrated on Ticks because they are emerging right now.  I mentioned fleas in passing, so that is group 2 (in no particular order). Now I want to concentrate on a third group before we return to fleas next time.  

HEARTWORMS are the parasite group that you'll never see but that can kill your pet!

There, I said it , I didn't mince words, yet many of you will not do anything to prevent this potentially deadly disease.  I've heard all of the excuses, or at least most of them.  If you have a new one, post it in a comment.  Most of them are not valid.

1. My dog doesn't need to be on heartworm preventative, none of my dogs ever have been and none of them got sick.
2. My dog won't take the medicine
3. I have a cat and it doesn't go outside ever
4. My dog never goes out.
5. I can't remember to give the medicine.
6. My friend's dog took heartworm medication 30 years ago and died.
7. All this medicine is giving our pets cancer
8. Heartworm is a conspiracy of the pharmaceutical industrial complex

Let me start by telling you a little about heartworm.  It is spread from host to host via mosquitoes.  Dogs and cats can get heartworm.  Mosquitoes are everywhere, even in your home.  In fact, the incidence of heartworm disease in cats that live indoors is actually higher than out door cats.

So here is how it works in dogs.  A mosquito bites a dog that has heartworm, it takes up the immature forms of the parasites and injects them into the next dog that it bites.  The worms take several months to mature in the dog, eventually localizing in the heart as seen above. In severe cases, (like the one above) the parasite causes obstructive heart failure and the dog dies.  In less severe cases, the dog has permanent damage to the heart and lungs and may have symptoms for the rest of it's life.   The disease is easily prevented with regular administration of a heartworm preventative. With our milder winters, dogs being rescued from the south, and storm victim dogs coming to Long Island to retire, we have seen more cases each year.  Last year at Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital we teated three positive dogs.  The treatment is multiple injections of an arsenic compound. That should address points 1, 3, and 4.

The disease is a little different in cats.  Their immune system keeps the  worm burden much lower.  Usually only a couple of worms mature in a cat and although this graphic picture shows a worm in the heart, most of the damage is done in the lungs of infected pets.

Why haven't you heard about this before?  Well, it is more difficult to diagnose heartworm in cats.  Oh, and there is no treatment once a cat is infected, so prevention is our only hope here.  Most of the clinical signs are chronic respiratory tract symptoms.  We vaccinate our cats but for some reason we are reluctant to prevent respiratory disease caused by a parasite: Go figure.  That should address point 3 yet again.

OK, you're a rational pet owner (addresses point 8) and you recognize that heartworm disease is a threat to your pet.  I guess that also addresses point 6, I mean, yes, some animals have adverse reactions to medications but they are rare when all risk factors are taken into account before prescribing.  Why don't we just agree that maybe it's possible that the dog died of something else 30 years ago. What should you do to protect your pet? 

There are several excellent options for dogs, and only a couple for cats so lets get the felines taken care of first.

There are two excellent topical products that when applied monthly will prevent heartworm in cats.  They will also prevent and treat fleas (remember last post). And will also treat and prevent intestinal parasites (oops foreshadowing for group 4)  Neither will do anything about ticks.

At our hospitals, these are priced only slightly more than just flea control products and they do so much more.  All cats should be on one of these products for at least 6 months of the year and we can help you pick the one that is best for your pet.

Now you probably couldn't help but notice that the Advantage Multi had a picture of a dog and a cat while the package of Revolution is conspicuously missing a dog.  That is because we feel that the Advantage Multi is superior for dogs as far as intestinal parasite control, enough so that we do not currently sell Revolution for them. Both products work well against heartworm and fleas.  

If you can't pill your dog as per objection #2, these are both good options. However, if you don't want to use a topical product on your pet for whatever reason, I still have an answer for you.

Only for dogs, this medication provides excellent protection against heartworms (this week's topic), fleas (the topic that we skipped), and intestinal parasites (the topic that we mentioned but have yet to discuss)  It is a pill and needs to be given monthly so you can raise the appropriate objections now.

But, I do have another solution.  What if I told you that there is a product that will protect your dog from potentially deadly heartworm disease?  You don't have to think about it, nothing to give.  In fact, it is given by injection once every six months. I'm talking about Proheart 6.

I have used it off and on over years with great success.  It is effective against heartworm disease.  You don't have to remember to use it and your dog doesn't have to take a pill.  Couple it with the Seresto collar that I wrote about last time and you have 3/4 parasite groups covered for 6 months with one fell swoop.  As

To paraphrase Ron Popiel, get it and forget it.  Feel free to comment if you get that reference

Discuss your options with your veterinarian.  I know there are four groups of parasites to be concerned with but I think we can wrap this up next time with some comprehensive recommendations for different situations.  Until then, please, feel free to comment here, or follow the discussion on Twitter @knvet