Bryan Heartworm Treatment & Prevention

Bryan heartworm treatment and prevention is an important part of your pet's health. Heartworm can affect dogs and cats as well as foxes, coyotes and wolves. Diorfilaira immitis, or heartworm, can be found throughout the United States, and even in the warmer areas of Canada. It is transmitted by mosquitoes which inject tiny larvae that eventually grow into an adult worm that can reach up to 18 inches long. The actual worms live mostly in the lung arteries causing damage to the lung and lung tissues of the animal. Periodically the worms can migrate to the heart and this may result in vast infestations.

Left untreated, heartworm most often results in the death of the animal. Initial symptoms can include coughing and weight loss while more advanced symptoms include anemia, collapse, congestive heart failure and fluid retention. Please call our animal vet clinic in Bryan if you have any suspicions that your pet may be suffering from heartworm and be sure heartworm prevention is a part of your pet's wellness plan.

If diagnosed, the veterinary hospital may suggest any number of heartworm treatments. In the most serious of cases, surgery at your animal vet clinic may be suggested to remove the adult worms.

Heartworm Prevention for Cats

While once limited only to dogs, heartworms can now also infect cats, making heartworm prevention an important part of your cat's wellness plan as well. The symptoms of heartworm in felines present differently than in dogs, and it is often harder to diagnose. The traditional blood test administered by your veterinarian is likely to come back negative because the worms are so tiny that they don’t present in blood samples. Your vet will have to perform different tests to prove the existence of heartworms in your cat.

Cats infected with heartworm will often appear to have asthma or a cough but weight loss, lethargy, loss of appetite, diarrhea, vomiting and collapse are all also symptoms of infection. Heartworm treatments for cats include any of three different approved medications, though surgery can be used to remove adult worms. Please call our Fountain City Veterinary Hospital in Bryan if you see any of these symptoms in your cat.

Heartworm Prevention is the Best of All Heartworm Treatments

The best defense against heartworm is taking your pet to the vet for an annual heartworm blood test. It is important that your pet be checked prior to taking the preventative medication as it can cause serious complications if you give your pet this medicine while they’re infested with heartworms.

Heartworm prevention in dogs can include monthly oral medications, which are the most popular form of preventative medication, though there is also a topical solution and injection available. The topical solution is applied monthly and the injection would be administered every six months.

Some veterinarians, in areas that are endemic to heartworm, are also suggesting that outdoor cats, or cats that go outdoors, should also be given a monthly preventative medication. A Bryan veterinarian can advise you on how best to prevent heartworm in your cat.

Animals that get heartworm can become sick very quickly and the risk of death is certain unless untreated. Once infected, heartworm treatments are long and can become expensive. Therefore, the best way to combat heartworm is to prevent it from ever happening.