Heartworm is a parasite that has been found in all fifty states of America and all continents except Antarctica
. It is most prevalent along the Mississippi river and within 150 miles of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. This article looks at the life cycle of the heartworm and what it can do to your dog if she is infected and not treated.
Heartworms have two major stages in their life cycle: as adults and as larvae. The adult heartworm lives in an infected host that could be a dog, cat, fox, wolf or coyote. It produces thousands and thousands of live larvae into its blood stream. These larvae can live in the blood of the infected host for a couple of years.
This infected animal is then bitten by a mosquito that is looking for a blood meal. In that blood meal is also a large number of heartworm larvae. Once inside the mosquito, they undergo changes that prepare them for adult life.
The mosquito then lands on a new animal which is your dog. It bites your dog for another blood meal and the pubescent heartworms enter your dog. They multiply and grow in her bloodstream and attach themselves onto the right side of her heart and pulmonary arteries.
Unchecked, these worms will quickly grow and can get to be as long as 30 cm! They are stealing vital resources from your dog and it's obvious to imagine the impact of 30 cm worms living in your pooch's heart and lung arteries.
The worst thing about heartworm infection is that without proper testing, it is very difficult to spot. The initial signs may be as innocuous as your dog being a little lethargic and under the weather. Maybe she has a cough that gets a little worse with exercise.
Eventually her health will deteriorate as the cough worsens. She'll lose weight and become listless. Then she'll start coughing up blood and won't want to go for walks. Heart failure and death can soon follow.
This disease is completely preventable and is also treatable if caught early enough. Save your pooch from heartworms. Get her checked up twice a year without fail. If she is infected, your vet will recommend insecticides to kill off the adult worms and larvae.
These treatments are very toxic and dying adult worms can cause complications. So be proactive and take steps to ensure that you prevent your dog from getting infected in the first place.
Make sure that you use herbal remedies to keep mosquitoes off your dog. Use them to make her less attractive to mosquitoes and use them to kill off the larval heartworms before they can turn into adults and take a hold.