Ballistic147
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- Feb 24, 2015
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Seems like there are a lot of dog lovers here on the forums and while most are probably aware of a common problem some may not. Anyway, with spring quickly approaching mosquitoes will soon be buzzing around sucking the blood from any donor they can find. Heck, in the southern states this can happen year round. The problem is that mosquitoes carry heartworms which are extremely dangerous to you four legged best bud. Once bitten by an infected mosquito a heartworm larvae will float around in their bloodstream and eventually grows into a full blown worm that attacks your dogs heart and reproduces more. It's a slow process and generally something you will not notice until it's too late and major irreversible heart damage has already been done.
Last summer we had a dog wander up at work. He was skinny and really dirty but outside of not eating well overall he was healthy. I fed him for a couple of weeks and got to know him a little better finally deciding he would be a good fit with the 3 dogs we already had. Took him to our vet to have him checked out to find he had heartworms. Luckily he was young and the heartworms weren't bad with no damage to his heart. We decided to have him treated which is $$expensive$$. You can figure bare minimum at $1,000 but likely more. In a nutshell, they inject poison into the dogs back to kill the worms. The injection site is extremely painful for 3 to 4 days and very uncomfortable for a couple weeks. Plus, due to the poison the dog is going to feel pretty bad for a week or two. Add to that the dog has to be kept calm and confined for 2 months while the worms die off and are absorbed by their body. Any activity can dislodge a large chunk of the dead worms, go to their lungs and kill them. It's pretty scary and something no dog should ever have to endure.
The good news is heartworms are easily preventable. Cost is not bad, usually $100 a year or less and it's a simple chewable tablet you give your dog once a month. Our dogs love them and think they are getting a treat. Most folks will need to give their dog a heartworm preventative year round as here in NC I saw mosquitoes out in January. Some areas where the winters are cold you might could skip a few months during the winter but this is very important to keep furry buddy healthy. All of our dogs have been on a heartworm preventative for years.
End of story, my new buddy Rocket received his treatment for the heartworms on August 4th of last year. He was then tested again on November 5th and is completely heartworm free. As I said, we were lucky with this stray and being young (about 2 years old) the worms were not bad yet. Today, Rocket is a healthy, happy boxer mix and loves taking his heartworm preventative each month and I never want to see a dog go through the process of getting rid of heartworms again!
Below is a picture I took of Rocket the day he came up at work and a picture of him with his little brothers all waiting for a treat. Please, take care of you best friend!
Last summer we had a dog wander up at work. He was skinny and really dirty but outside of not eating well overall he was healthy. I fed him for a couple of weeks and got to know him a little better finally deciding he would be a good fit with the 3 dogs we already had. Took him to our vet to have him checked out to find he had heartworms. Luckily he was young and the heartworms weren't bad with no damage to his heart. We decided to have him treated which is $$expensive$$. You can figure bare minimum at $1,000 but likely more. In a nutshell, they inject poison into the dogs back to kill the worms. The injection site is extremely painful for 3 to 4 days and very uncomfortable for a couple weeks. Plus, due to the poison the dog is going to feel pretty bad for a week or two. Add to that the dog has to be kept calm and confined for 2 months while the worms die off and are absorbed by their body. Any activity can dislodge a large chunk of the dead worms, go to their lungs and kill them. It's pretty scary and something no dog should ever have to endure.
The good news is heartworms are easily preventable. Cost is not bad, usually $100 a year or less and it's a simple chewable tablet you give your dog once a month. Our dogs love them and think they are getting a treat. Most folks will need to give their dog a heartworm preventative year round as here in NC I saw mosquitoes out in January. Some areas where the winters are cold you might could skip a few months during the winter but this is very important to keep furry buddy healthy. All of our dogs have been on a heartworm preventative for years.
End of story, my new buddy Rocket received his treatment for the heartworms on August 4th of last year. He was then tested again on November 5th and is completely heartworm free. As I said, we were lucky with this stray and being young (about 2 years old) the worms were not bad yet. Today, Rocket is a healthy, happy boxer mix and loves taking his heartworm preventative each month and I never want to see a dog go through the process of getting rid of heartworms again!
Below is a picture I took of Rocket the day he came up at work and a picture of him with his little brothers all waiting for a treat. Please, take care of you best friend!
