Heartworm Disease

What Is Heartworm Disease?

Heartworm Medical terms: Microfilaria, Pulmonary vessels, Heartworm-endemic areas, Pulmonary embolus, Pulmonary thrombus

Heartworm Disease is caused by a worm that is carried by mosquitoes. Inside the mosquito’s body, the tiny worm is called a microfilaria. The microfilaria is injected into the pet’s body when the mosquito bites and sucks blood. Your pet’s blood transports the microfilaria to its heart and through the heart to the blood vessels in the lungs (pulmonary vessels). Protected within the heart and pulmonary vessels, the heartworm matures to adulthood and grows to be several inches long. As an adult, the heartworm is able to breed with other heartworms and produce microfilaria. These tiny microfilaria are picked up by blood-sucking mosquitoes and carried to other pets where they can be injected under the skin and migrate to the heart.

Who Gets Heartworm Disease?

Dogs and cats get Heartworm Disease. Heartworm Disease has been diagnosed in all 50 states and is most concentrated in the eastern United States, the southern United States, and near Midwestern river valleys, including areas along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

Pets that live outdoors are at the most risk for heartworm disease although in a North Carolina study, 28 percent of the cats diagnosed with heartworm were inside-only cats. This is because while outside pets are more suppectible to mosquitoes, mosquitoes can also get inside your home and deliver the one bite necessary to spread the disease.

Check out our Heartworm disease FAQ section.

See the advantages of different Heartworm medications here.

The articles here were answered by a variety of pharmacists and veterinarians   Date Category Topic 02/20/08  Other  SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEARTWORMS 02/19/08  Heartworm Medicine  HEART WORM PREVENTION 02/12/08  Other  HARD TO EXPLAIN... 02/11/08  Cough  COUGHING AND WORMS 02/11/08  Allergy  HEART GARD AND TRI-HEART 02/10/08  Flea & Tick  MIXING OF MEDS 02/10/08  Vaccines  MEDICATIONS 02/07/08  Cough  COUGH WITH WHITE MUCIS 02/03/08  Heartworm Medicine  COLLIE HEARTWORM MEDICATION 02/01/08  Other  NEW PUPPY 01/27/08  Heartworm Medicine  HEARTWORM MEDICINE 01/21/08  Heartworm Medicine  ONLINE PURCHASE 01/21/08  Digestive Care  REGURGITATION 01/20/08  Flea & Tick  GREAT DANES 01/19/08  Other  WEIGTH LOSS/ALLERY/ANXITY 1 2 3 4 5 »»

 

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