Heartworm is a very serious concern in
pets. While cats also can suffer from heartworm, these pests are
mostly associated with dogs. The treatment for a dog infested withheartworm is risky in itself so prevention is the best measure.
There are many medications that are
used to prevent heartworm and although not terribly expensive the
costs do add up, so reducing the number of treatments per year can
have financial benefits to a pet owner. Additionally, and perhaps
more importantly, there are concerns in regards to the
over-medication of pets and potential risks (including cancer).
The question remains, should you treat
your dog year round for heartworm or only in the months in which
mosquitoes are active?
First let us understand how heartworm
medications work.
Heartworm is spread to cats and dogs
via mosquitoes. The mosquito must drink the blood of an infected pet
and take up the very young heartworms at that time (larval stage 1) .
The larva grow inside the mosquito and eventually travel to the
mosquito's mouth and wait to be inserted into another pet. The
heartworms develop in the pet's bloodstream eventually making their
way to the heart. Heartworm prevention medication does not actually
“prevent” the heartworm infections, but rather they kill the
young heartworms at one larval stage which is about 30 to 45 days
after the initial infection, but before the worms make their way to the
heart. Heartworm prevention medication does not kill the mature
heartworms in the heart.
In order for the heartworms to develop
in the mosquito temperatures must be relatively warm. When
temperatures drop below 57F (14C) the lifecycle of the heartworms in
the mosquitoes is ended.
But recalling that the heartworm
preventative medication is only effective on larvae that have been in
the infected dog for more than 30 days, you can see that treating a
dog in the fall (depending on how cold it gets in your area), after
mosquitoes have died off, is still a good idea, however into the
winter is not necessarily required unless you live in a warm weather
area. As such if you live in an area where winters get cold you may
find that you do not have to treat your dog with heartworm medication
from December to February or March.
You may want to discuss the risks of
heartworm with your vet before going on a heartworm medication
prevention program. In warm areas where there are lots of dogs and
mosquito's (areas with lots of water) the risk is certainly higher
than in areas with desert conditions and a lower population of pets.
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If you are looking for places to buy
heartworm medication for your dog (or cat) here are some great online
places worth considering. They sell many other pet health products
too and you should note that a healthy pet has a natural defense
against heartworm.
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