{"id":323,"date":"2021-03-19T14:50:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T19:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mybeevet.com\/blog\/?p=323"},"modified":"2025-04-22T09:17:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T14:17:40","slug":"straight-to-the-heart-heartworm-disease-and-your-pet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mybeevet.com\/blog\/straight-to-the-heart-heartworm-disease-and-your-pet\/","title":{"rendered":"Straight To The Heart: Heartworm Disease And Your Pet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At BEEVET Animal Hospital, we want to arm you with the information you need to ensure that your pets are healthy and happy throughout the year. Heartworm disease is a serious illness that affects both indoor and outdoor pets. Without the proper prevention<\/a>, even animals who spend a majority of their time inside are susceptible to this health issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing more about heartworm disease, what causes it, and how to prevent it is your best defense against this common, yet preventable health problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Heartworm Disease: The Beginnings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A heartworm is an actual worm, also known as Dirofilaria immitis<\/em>, that uses a mosquito as an intermediate host until the mosquito bites another animal, mostly dogs, cats, and ferrets<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a mosquito transfers a heartworm into another animal through a bite, that animal becomes the definitive host<\/a> for the worm. Traveling to the heart, the lungs, and respiratory blood vessels, the worm continues to grow and can even release offspring into the animal\u2019s blood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heartworms can live for up to seven years inside of a dog and span anywhere from four to twelve inches in length. The more worms that are present, the more dangerous they can be for the animal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Worms Take Hold Of Dogs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Heartworms are extremely dangerous for dogs because, if left untreated, they cause a significant burden to the heart and lungs. The severity of the disease will depend on the amount of worms living inside the dog, or the worm burden, and the canine\u2019s general activity level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n