Heartworm Disease and Preventative Medicine.

Heartworm disease is a mosquito borne infectious disease in which parasitic worms migrate into the right side of the heart and the pulmonary vessels. When the worms have developed in the animal’s system for a long enough period of time, they begin to cause a number of different problems within the lungs, heart and liver. Pulmonary hypertension is the biggest problem we see with heartworm infection. This may shorten your animal’s life span, cause weakness as well as chronic lung and breathing problems.

Heartworm larvae need an average outdoor temperature of 67° F to mature to the infective stage. When an adult mosquito bites a susceptible host, the larvae are transmitted into the host’s bloodstream, and they go on become adult heartworms within the body. These adult worms breed with each other inside the animal’s heart and create more larvae which continually affect the host until it perishes or the threat is removed.

As a result of an increased risk for heartworm in Colorado, Boulder’s Natural Animal now recommends that you give your pet the once a month heartworm preventative pill for 6 months out of the year, roughly April through September.

The preventative medication is very effective and when administered as directed has nearly a 100% rate of prevention.

The American Heartworm Association recommends that your animal be tested every year for the presence of the disease by a simple blood test, and then provided with heartworm medication during the mosquito season. It is recommended that if your dog has never been tested for heartworm disease that you do so to be certain that it does not have the disease before you start the preventative.

Please call Boulder’s Natural Animal to set an appointment to protect your animal from heartworm.