Heartworm Info..........plz

[wildwings811]

who here knows of a really good website with some really good information on heartworms I am trying to convince my husbands uncle that it is a serious disease and that you can't buy over the counter wormer for them

any input would be helpful

Thanks

[Adrienne]

Important facts About Heartworm

* Heartworms are a parasitic worm (about the diameter of thin spaghetti) that normally live free floating in the right ventricle of the heart and nearby blood vessels.
* The parasites are transmitted from one individual to another by mosquitoes.
* Heartworm is diagnosed with blood tests, and/or X-rays, along with other tests.
* Heartworms are not detectable with the commonly used antigen blood test until they are sexually mature (about 6 months after entering the patient). Female worms must be present for accurate test results.
* Heartworm has been diagnosed in all 50 states and also worldwide. In most areas of the country Heartworm is an important pet health care issue.
* In most areas of the USA, veterinarians recommend Heartworm prevention for dogs. Preventative measures in cats is also becoming more common as veterinarians continue to learn more about the parasite in cats and become skilled at recognizing the disease in cats. Previously it was thought that felines were not at a significant risk of getting Heartworm and that preventative was not needed. We are learning this is not necessarily true. The need for pre-exposure preventative medication in cats depends on the incidence of Heartworm in your area. Your local veterinarian is your best source of information.
* Dogs should be tested FIRST… before starting heartworm preventatives unless they are less than 7 months old.
* Dog’s over 7 months of age that are started on preventative without first testing for Heartworm are at an increased risk of developing severe reactions.
* Puppies should be started on Heartworm preventative by 8 weeks of age (depending on the product being used) and then blood tested at 7 months of age.
* Dogs should be tested on a regular basis, yearly if any doses of preventative have been missed and once every 2-3 years even if no doses were missed and preventative is given year around.
* In the cat, the presence of Heartworm is difficult to detect with a blood test alone. Preventative medication is often started without testing unless signs of a Heartworm infection are noticed.
* In cats, one worm can cause sudden death or sudden (acute) respiratory signs that are indistinguishable from asthma without a medical work up.
* Any area where dogs can get Heartworm, cats can get them as well. The current rate of diagnosis ranges from 5 to 20% that of dogs in the same area.
* The rate of cat Heartworm diagnosis varies by geographic area. As veterinarians continue to improve diagnostic techniques in cats, it is suspected there will be less variation from the canine incidence rate in the same area (5-20%). Until the last few years, it was thought that feline Heartworm disease was so rare that prevention was not needed in cats.
* This view is changing as we learn that many cat Heartworm infections are overlooked since feline Heartworm disease does not commonly present with the same symptoms as dogs and the signs and symptoms look and act like other cat diseases.
* The detection of adult Heartworms in cats can be difficult and tests are not 100% reliable.


Important Definitions for understanding Heartworm

* Life Cycle – The unfolding of one’s life from the beginning to the end including development, sexual maturity, environment, the ability to reproduce, and all that is required for a full cycle of development and maturity.
* Host – Is an animal or plant that harbors or nourishes another organism (parasite).
* Parasite – A plant or animal which lives upon or within another living organism at whose expense it obtains some advantage.
* Vector – A carrier, especially an animal or insect that transfers an infective agent from one host to another.
* Biological Vector is an arthropod vector (in the case of Heartworm the mosquito) in whose body the infecting organism develops or multiplies before becoming infective to the final host.
* Microfilaria – This is the name given to the microscopic, snake-like prelarval stages of the Filaroidea worm in the blood of man and animals and in the tissues of the vector. Microfilaria are the offspring of adult heartworm reproduction.
* Larva/larvae– An independent, motile, sometimes feeding, developmental stage (immature stage) in the life history of a worm or insect. Usually undergoes metamorphosis or a molt to become an adult. Heartworms have several stages of larvae. L1 are the microfilaria in the blood of the infected animal and these are sucked up by the mosquito while it is feeding. It molts from an L1 to L2 and again from an L2 to L3 in the mosquito before it can infect an animal. L3 larvae are expelled from the mosquito’s mouthparts while the mosquito is feeding and burrow through the skin of the host. Inside the host it molts twice, from an L3 to an L4 and then from an L4 to an L5. The L5 larva will become the adult once it matures.
* Adult worm – A worm that is sexually mature enough to produce young. The worm may still continue to grow in length and size after reaching sexual maturity. Adult heartworms live in the dog for up to 7 years. In the cat they are thought to live a much shorter life, around 2 years. Adult Heartworms prefer to live floating freely in the blood in the right ventricle of the heart and in the associated pulmonary blood vessels. The right heart ventricle receives the blood returning from the body that is low in oxygen. The right ventricle’s function is to pump this blood through the lungs to absorb oxygen and to deliver the oxygenated blood to the left ventricle. From this chamber blood is pumped back throughout the body. The returning, poorly oxygenated blood flows from the large veins (the Vena Cava Vein) to the right side of the heart, to the lung arteries and capillaries (called the pulmonary arteries). The Heartworm organisms often move back and forth anywhere along this pathway from the Vena Cava to the right ventricle to the pulmonary arteries. The signs an animal shows depends on the number of worms present, the animal’s reaction to their presence, and general health factors in the patient such as age, size, and obesity.
* Aberrant migration or sometimes called abnormal migration – This term refers to the larval stage of the worm or other parasite where it wanders or deviates from the usual or normal course. The parasite ends up in locations that are different from where they would normally be present, such as under the skin, in the eye, or stomach. This could occur in any animal but is more common in host animals that are not the preferred host for the parasite. Think of aberrant migration as taking a wrong turn on the wrong road and ending up in an unintended location permanently.
* Pre-patent Period – The time from initial infection with a parasite until the young adults are sexually mature and start to produce either larva or eggs. In the Heartworm, this takes about 7 months in the dog and 9 months or more in the cat.
* Patent Heartworm infection – Heartworm adults are sexually mature and producing microfilaria.
* Microfilaremia – A condition where there are microfilaria circulating in the blood of an infected animal.
* Occult Heartworm infection – The infected animal has sexually mature adult Heartworms present but for some reason no microfilaria are present. The most common reasons are: 1) The worms are sexually mature but the infected animal’s immune system kills and removes the microfilaria as soon as they leave the female worm’s body, leaving none to be detected in a blood sample. 2) There is a single sex Heartworm infection and therefore no microfilaria are produced. 3) Aberrant migration resulted in no microfilaria production even though the worms are sexually mature.
* Antigen – Any substance which under appropriate conditions is capable of inducing the formation of antibodies and of reacting specifically in some detectable manner with the antibodies induced. Basically an antigen is anything the body can recognize as foreign and therefore stimulates its immune system to eliminate what has been recognized. A commonly used Heartworm test detects an antigen produced by the female heartworm that is producing microfilaria.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/hw.html

[Fran27]

Dogs should be tested FIRST… before starting heartworm preventatives unless they are less than 7 months old

Puppies should be started on Heartworm preventative by 8 weeks of age (depending on the product being used) and then blood tested at 7 months of age.


Makes no sense to me...

Anyway, what I would do Wildings is stop by a vet and ask them if they have any documentation on heartworms. It's probably your best bet.

[Adrienne]

If you treat a dog with a heartworm preventative without testing first the reaction of the drug along with the heartworm can kill the dog. Persoanlly I forgoe the testing because my dogs are on it year round and have no chance to contract the disease. I do have to sign a waiver from my vets office for the heartworm company saying that if my dog does contract heartworm I will not have the ability to hold them responsible.

[wildwings811]

Yeah our clinic has a lot of good info on it (I am a vet tech) I just wanted to print off some other info because he is a "hillbilly" no pun intended and don't believe in vaccinating, heartworm prevention, or even worming, I don't even think he feeds the same food all of the time (and he wonders why his dogs get kennel cough, looses litters of puppies, and etc..) he thinks vets are crazy money hungry fools (which some are) and that because I went to school to work for them that I am just as crazy and money hungry

[Fran27]

If you treat a dog with a heartworm preventative without testing first the reaction of the drug along with the heartworm can kill the dog. Persoanlly I forgoe the testing because my dogs are on it year round and have no chance to contract the disease. I do have to sign a waiver from my vets office for the heartworm company saying that if my dog does contract heartworm I will not have the ability to hold them responsible.


Never heard of it. Even the vet never mentionned it. But granted, I haven't seen any mosquitoe for a while.

[wildwings811]

That is true you should have your dog tested at least every couple of years we have ours tested every year because we don't give the preventitive all year long (We live in MI and supposidly the feeze kills the mosquitos)

The meds will kill your dog if it has heart worms that is why they suggest the testing every couple of years but some vets do require testing every year or make you sign a waiver holding the vet and the pharmacutical company not reliable