Heartworm in Texas

Did you know that if you live in Texas and your dog stays outside or goes outside that he has a 100% chance of getting heart worms? In our climate, where it never gets cold enough to kill off all the mosquitoes, your dogs are at high-risk. In Texas, heart worms are not something your dog *may* get; heart worms are something your dog *will* get - it's only a matter of time. And heart worms, if left untreated, will kill your beloved dog. The adult heartworm lives in the right chamber of the heart and pulmonary artery which routes blood through the lungs where carbon dioxide is removed and oxygen is added to the red blood cells. I have actually seen hearts so chucked full of worms that only a trickle of blood can get through. This all begins with a single mosquito bite! The mosquito bites an infected dog and picks up some microfilaria from the blood meal. The microfilaria live about two weeks in the salivary glands of the mosquito. Now is that a tiny worm or what? When the mosquito bites a dog or cat it punches a little hole with some pinchers. It then releases some saliva that prevents the blood from clotting. As the mosquito sits back sipping at the blood some microfilaria find their way into the wound. The microfilaria then begin to migrate through the tissue following veins to the heart. As the larva migrate they molt and continue growing in size ( since insects have a rigid exterior they must molt or shed the exterior to grow in size). This process takes about six months to reach adult size in the heart and begin giving birth to offspring, the microfilaria. The process then can continue. Note: The offspring cannot grow to adults without coming out of the animal and spending time in the mosquito at cooler temperatures. In other words, the mosquito is necessary. If it released one microfilaria into the wound only one adult heartworm would lodge in the body of the pet. The more times the pet is stung by infected mosquitos, the more heart worms they can aquire. Treatment is expensive: $400-600, so preventing heart worms is much less costly in the long run, not to mention healthy for your pet! That is why it is essential to give your dog Heart worm preventative each and every month. It is not optional! Before starting your dog on a preventative program, you must have her tested for heart worms. Use the stickers that come with the heart worm preventative and put them on your calendar, so your dog receives the medicine the same day every month. Now you can relax, knowing your dog is protected. Call us today at 940-855-0451 to set up your appointment!