If you love your dog or cat like family, protecting them from pain, illness, and unnecessary risks is part of the job. One silent but serious threat you might not think about enough is heartworm disease.
What Is Heartworm Disease and Why Should You Care?
Dogs and cats get infected with heartworms from a mosquito bite. Once inside the body, these worms grow, multiply, and lodge in the heart, lungs, and blood vessels, where they can cause severe damage—especially if left untreated.
- In dogs, heartworms can live for 5 to 7 years and grow up to a foot long, leading to lung disease, heart failure, and organ damage.
- Cats are less typical hosts, but even a few heartworms (or immature ones) can cause serious complications, including sudden death.
The worst part? Early infection is often silent. By the time you notice symptoms like coughing, fatigue, or weight loss, the damage can already be advanced.
Prevention is Protection
The good news: heartworm disease is 100% preventable.
Your vet can give you medicine to stop heartworms before they grow. These preventives come as pills, skin treatments, or shots.
Why prevention is better than treatment:
- Treatment is risky, expensive, and hard on your pet.
- There is no approved treatment for cats, only symptom management.
- Prevention is more affordable and far less stressful for both you and your pet.
According to the experts at the American Heartworm Society and the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC), year-round prevention is recommended in all areas, regardless of climate. Mosquitoes don’t take the year off—and neither should your prevention routine.
Why Annual Testing Still Matters (Even If You Use Preventives)
If your pet’s on prevention, do you still need yearly testing? Absolutely. Here’s why:
- No preventive is 100% foolproof. Missed doses, improper storage, or even vomiting after taking the preventive can lead to infection.
- Early detection means better outcomes. A simple blood test can catch an infection before irreversible damage sets in.
- Guidelines support it. The American Heartworm Society recommends yearly testing for dogs, and while testing cats is more complex, your vet may recommend it based on risk.
Regular testing ensures your prevention program is doing its job, and lets you correct course early if it’s not.
Your Pet Deserves a Healthy, Happy Life
Heartworm disease can rob pets of energy, comfort, and years of life. But it doesn’t have to. With consistent prevention, routine testing, and early intervention, you give your pet the best chance at a full, active, and joyful life.
So, if you haven’t talked to your vet about heartworm lately, now’s the time. Prevention and testing may seem like small steps, but for your pet, they make a world of difference.
