Domestic Dogs And Heartworm Disease
Everyone loves their pets. This is particularly clear when we look at the bond between a human and a domestic dog. Whether you call them man’s best friend, cuddly company or keep them as guard dogs, these canine animals have become a focal part of many of our lives.
Given the fact that we love our pets so much, any sort of injury or illness to them can be upsetting and financially difficult to deal with. One illness in particular that is very difficult to detect thanks to lacking early symptoms, is heartworm disease.
Heartworm disease is a disease that is transmitted between animals by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes bite an infected animal and then young heartworms enter into the mosquitoes’ system. Within two weeks, these have become infective larvae and when the mosquito next bites an animal, it is likely to infect that animal with the disease.
As mentioned, there are no really early symptoms of heartworm disease, though as it progresses symptoms will begin to show. These symptoms include a lack of energy, weight loss and a reduced appetite and eve coughing and breathing difficulty. They’re really very uncomfortable symptoms for your dog to experience. As the disease progresses, the symptoms if produces could even threaten your dog’s life. The treatment is not particularly pleasant either, as it makes use of an arsenic containing chemical, meaning your dog can’t be active during treatment either. All in all, the disease and its treatment alike are horrible for your dog and it’s terribly difficult to watch pets experience this.
Fortunately, there are preventative measures available on the market. These preventative medications are cost-effective and many of them are incorporated into treat style foods that you might give your dog anyway. It works out far better value to prevent the disease than it does to have to treat it and means far less upset and unpleasantness for both dog and owner.
Find out more about preventing heartworm disease with Heartgard.
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