Heartworms in Dogs

Heartworm is a significant health condition with deleterious effects on dogs. Further studies and reports also proves the fact that heartworm disease incidence among cats are also increasing. The potential risks that heartworm poses to both dogs and cats is alarming. It can even cause fatal death on these species.

Heartworm disease may be preventive, however when preventive measures are not taken or fail, infected dogs and cats will exhibit heartworm symptoms that merits to alert the pet owner to immediately seek medical treatment for their pet. It should be noted though that heartworm symptom is not obvious during the first few months, usually 4 months after the infection.

This is the period where the larvae live in the heart and lungs waiting to mature into adult worms. They then have the capacity to cause debilitating heartworm symptoms that may begin only with a mild cough.

The pet owner may disregard this initial heartworm symptom as insignificant. However as the disease progress, the worm begins to extend its destruction from the heart to the lungs and sometimes may greatly affect other vital organs including the kidney and the brain. Immediate treatment must be given before the dog becomes too ill and minor heartworm symptoms such a mild cough must be taken seriously. Bringing the pet to a veterinary for a heartworm test is a wise step to ensure that proper management of heartworm symptoms must be indicated and pet medicine immediately prescribed to counteract the disease progression.

Heartworm symptoms may be mild at the early stage of the disease. Occurring heartworm symptoms on this stage may include cough, weight loss, easy fatigue with minor activities, less endurance and anemia. As the heart becomes burdened with the pressure caused by the clot formed by the heartworm, the worms get dislodged to the lungs, causing its collapse and can cause the animal to cough out blood. Dogs are often subjected to respiratory distress due to inability of blood to efficiently flow throughout the lungs, depriving the brain and heart of enough oxygen to circulate.

Heartworm symptoms are so detrimental that the dog suffers from anorexia and loss of appetite that result to tremendous weight loss. Fatal obstruction in lungs and heart result to shock, organ failure and fatal death. But pet owners must not be dismayed with the occurrence of this disease in their pets since it is treatable once detected at the early stage. Appropriate medical intervention should commence before the disease progress into manifesting a more serious and fatal heartworm symptoms that can cause irreparable destruction and death.

Prevention is better than cure but when all preventive measures fail and the disease begins to manifest the initial heartworm symptoms, immediate treatment and care is the absolute step to take to deliver your dog against the risk of death that the condition may cause.

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