Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in pets.

Heartworms are carried by mosquitoes. They live in the heart, lungs, and associated blood vessels of affected pets, causing severe lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs in the body.

Heartworm disease affects dogs, cats, and ferrets. It can affect other mammal species, including wolves, coyotes, foxes, sea lions and, in rare instances, people.

Because wild species such as foxes and coyotes live in proximity to many urban and suburban areas, they are considered important carriers of the disease.

Dogs are natural hosts for heartworms. This means heartworms that live inside the dog mature into adults, mate, and produce offspring. If untreated, their numbers can increase. Dogs have been known to harbor several hundred worms in their bodies.

Heartworm disease causes lasting damage to the heart, lungs, and arteries, and can affect the dog’s health and quality of life long after the parasites are gone. This is why heartworm prevention in dogs is by far the best option.

Treatment

There are 2 types of heartworm medicine for dogs: those that prevent heartworms, and those used to treat dogs infected with heartworms.

Preventive medications come in chewable pills, topical medications, and injectable medications. Because one form or another may be easier for owners to give their dogs and can vary in additional parasites they may prevent, owners and veterinarians should work together to determine the best product for the individual pet.

The American Heartworm Society recommends yearround administration of heartworm preventives to ensure pets are protected from deadly heartworms.

If a dog becomes infected, the resulting heartworm disease can cause life-long damage. Treating heartworm infection and killing the adult worms that infect the dog’s heart, lungs and arteries can be expensive and requires months of treatment and multiple veterinary visits.

Treatment should be administered as early in the course of the disease as possible.

Medications for heartworm prevention and treatment are available only by prescription from your veterinarian. Regardless of what you hear or read, it is important to understand that there are no “natural” products that can be used for either prevention or treatment.

Always use FDA-approved products as recommended by your veterinarian.