The Yucky Scoop on Heartworm and Lyme Disease in Pets

It’s not fun to talk about, but Lyme disease and heartworm are definite dangers to your pet.  Here’s a quick overview of what these diseases are, how they can harm your pet and how to prevent them.

Heartworm is a parasite that both dog and cat owners should be concerned about. Heartworm is an actual worm that can grow up to 14 inches in length and lives in the heart and arteries of infected animals. Pets get the infection from mosquito bites after the mosquito has acquired the larvae from other infected animals.

It’s not surprising to learn that arteries are not intended to have worms living in them. Dogs who have a large amount of heartworms can become very ill and experience blood clots, aneurysms, inflammation, nosebleeds and ultimately, death. Thankfully heartworm is preventable, and in most cases treatable.

Ticks and Lyme disease are other warm-weather threats that can create health issues in your dog.  Ticks are active in weather above 4 degrees Celsius so it’s a good idea to be prepared with treatment as soon as the weather warms up in spring.

When pets get Lyme disease, it’s very different than for humans. While humans may experience rashes and flu-like symptoms shortly after being bitten by an infected tick, it may take months for a dog to show signs. When it does manifest itself, the dog may get a fever and show signs of arthritis. The good news is that most dogs if infected won’t show symptoms at all and treatment for Lyme disease in dogs is very effective.

Of course, the best strategy is to avoid your dog acquiring Heartworms or Lyme disease in the first place. Preventative options include:

For Heartworm:

• Remember that it’s much less costly to prevent Heartworm than it is to treat it, so consider some of the available products to prevent it. Pills, topicals and injectable products are available.

For Ticks:

• Keep the ticks away from your pets in the first-place by using medicated treats, collars, or topical treatments

And in all cases, talk to your vet about prevention and treatment. Vets recommend yearly screenings for parasites, and to use prevention strategies from April to November.