Cheap Pet Insurance

June 28th, 2010 by D. Thurmond, D.V.M.

Prevention of heartworm disease is an important part of the health care of your dog. Heartworm medicine for dogs is not only widely available but easy to apply. Spot on products such as Revolution, flavored tabs offered by Sentinel and Interceptor, and tasty wafers of Heartgard are aimed at preventing heartworms from infesting your best friend. Protection from hookworms, roundworms and even fleas are also included in the formula of some heartworm preventive medicine.

Treatment is an expensive option if your dog develops heartworm disease. The goal of treatment is to destroy the heartworms living in your pet’s heart and lungs but treatment can be dangerous if your pet has other health problems.

The number of worms present in the animal indicates the severity of the disease but the activity level of the dog also plays an important role. As the heartworms die they decompose and the fragments can lodge in pulmonary arteries and block blood flow. This blood flow increases during period of physical activity which can increase the chances of clogged arteries that potentially can cause heart failure. Dogs undergoing treatment to cure heartworm disease must be restricted or confined to prevent high levels of activity that could increase blood flow.

Melarsomine is the only medicine approved for heartworm treatment in dogs. The treatment recommended by the American Heartworm Society recently changed. Previously, Melarsomine was administered in two injections 24 hours apart. Now, the protocol is a three injection treatment. One dose of the Melarsomine is followed one month later by two more doses 24 hours apart.

The earlier treatment method did not always kill all of the heartworms present in the dog. The drug is not effective for heartworms younger than 4 months old. Currently, veterinarians often advise pet owners to administer Heartgard monthly for two to three months before subjecting their pet to the cure for heartworm. This has the effect of preventing new, young heartworms from growing in the animal and increases the effectiveness of the treatment.

Your vet will conduct a thorough health check of your dog before subjecting him to treatment for heartworm disease. This is because the treatment is similar to chemotherapy for people. To kill the heartworms you are administering a poison to the animal (arsenic) and a dog challenged by health problems or weakened by age may not survive the treatment. For those animals, an alternative therapy of ivermectin and doxycycline given weekly for 36 weeks is the recommended option. Though all of the heartworms are not destroyed by this gentler treatment, a four week course of ivermectin every four months will keep the parasites at low levels in the animal.

There are times when heartworm disease is not diagnosed until the dog is faced with a life threatening medical crisis in the form of a heart problem. This is caused by obstruction of blood flow through a heart valve that interferes with the closing of the valve. The symptoms may be lethargy and severe weakness that come on quickly and the only treatment is surgery to attempt to remove the heartworms blocking the heart valve. A tool inserted through the jugular vein removes worms one by one.

The drastic treatment of administering poisons to your pet to cure heartworm disease is not necessary. The medication to prevent the disease is affordable and available from your vet and from discount pet med sites online. Heartgard, Sentinel, Revolution or Interceptor administered monthly for twelve months each year will protect your pet from damage caused by heartworm disease. Get your pet tested today and start him on heartworm prevention immediately.

Heartworm medication for dogs is part of your pet’s routine health care. Buy recommended heartworm prevention products from a licensed veterinarian at http://www. petscriptsdirect.com