Health and Medical Author: Elisheva Wiriaatmadja

Serious health problems and even death can be the result of some parasites infecting dogs and cats. Heartworms are an example of one of the most dangerous parasite that could be hosted by your pet. Not recognizing the symptoms of this infection may cause your pet to suffer severe illness and in some cases even death. Don't even think that heartworms can be as harmless as ticks or fleas. Instead, it can be very much life threatening. However, if recognized early and treated right, death caused by heartworm infections can be completely preventable. Please also note that parasite infections that are not treated in your dogs and cats may eventually spread to humans.

You can find heartworms in dogs mostly within the walls of the heart. However, in many cases this parasite can also be found in larger blood vessels of the body. Your dog may suffer from heart failure, heart disease, liver failure and also kidney failure. Without undergoing any treatment, heartworms can eventually kill your pet. It is difficult to determine whether your dog has heartworm infection only by searching for symptoms, because symptoms may not always be present. Therefore, it is best to have your dogs and cats tested on a regular basis, at least once a year, for heart worms. Some dogs and cats show symptoms such as coughing, fatigue, labored breathing and also weight loss.

Dogs and cats usually catch heartworm disease through a harmless mosquito bite. In the early years, it was thought that long-haired dogs or cats have less possibilities of getting a heartworm infection. They thought that mosquitos may have more difficulties penetrating through the hair to actually infect the pets. However, it is now proven that in reality, mosquitos more likely bite on the underpart of the abdominal region. Here, even long-haired dogs have relatively little hair.

Before you begin treating dogs and cats for heartworm infection, the animal has to be in perfect health as heartworm treatment can be dangerous and complex. Any slightest organ problems in dogs and cats will lead to serious complications and therefore, it is recommended that organ problems be treated first before undergoing heartworm treatment. Also, dogs whose blood test turn out to be positive with larval worms would not be given certain medication as it may result in sudden death. Treating dogs and cats with heartworm disease is a very dangerous and complicated process.

The best and safest way to prevent dogs and cats from getting a heartworm infection is to protect them from mosquito bites especially in areas where mosquito populations are high. Protect your pet's sleeping quarters with screens to prevent repeated bites. Although repellent spray can be effective within the house, it has only limited effect when the dog is often in the open. Taking blood tests periodically is the most dependable precautions measure you can take because you will then be able to find out early infection in your pet which seems to be completely heatlhy. There are ways to keep dogs and cats healthy before you have to give them any of the toxic heartworm medicine before it is too late due to infection.

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