I have a discussion daily, if not multiple times a day, with clients about heartworms. How do we prevent the disease, how do we treat it, and how and why did their dog get it?

How Do Dogs Get Heartworm?

Heartworm disease is spread by mosquitoes. I don’t have to tell anybody who lives in South Louisiana or anywhere along the Gulf coast how many mosquitoes we have. They’re everywhere. It doesn’t matter the time of year. If you live in Montana, you can probably skip heartworm preventative in the wintertime, maybe even in the summertime, but here – not so much. We have them year-round. They bite a dog who has heartworms and then they later on go and bite a dog who is not on a preventative and that’s how your dog comes down with heartworms. They cannot go from one dog to the next immediately. It has to live in that mosquito for two weeks…two weeks before it can become infectious.

How Long Does It Take For a Dog to Test Positive After Being Bitten?

Mosquitoes bite your dog and, if your dog is not on preventative, it takes roughly between five and six months for the time they’re bit by that mosquito until that time they actually have heartworms living in their heart. That’s when they will test positive on the test that we screen with. They get bitten by the mosquito here, the infective stage sits in the tissues for a little while and, ultimately, it migrates into the bloodstream. It makes its way to the heart, and it’s then that a mosquito can go and take a blood meal and then later transmit it. And that’s how the cycle is perpetuated. Dogs here in Louisiana need to be on heartworm prevention monthly without fail year-round, no exceptions.

If My Dog is Mostly Inside, Does He Still Need Heartworm Preventatives?

It doesn’t matter to me if your dog is indoors or outdoors—all it takes is one mosquito. Any of the monthly products should be sufficient. A lot of people lately are favoring injectable products. We have ProHeart 6, which lasts six months, and we have ProHeart 12 that was released a few months ago, which as the name implies lasts 12 months. So there’s no longer any excuse for not remembering to give it every month. These medications take the remembering off of your plate and we do that for you.

That’s about it for the ins and outs of how your dog gets heartworm and the importance of heartworm preventatives. Thanks so much for tuning in and have a great day.

-Dr. Scott

To schedule an appointment call (337) 223-9581