Heartworm disease is a disease that can cause heart failure, lung disease, damage to other organs and pet deaths. Dogs and cats are particularly susceptible to the disease.
Dogs with Heartworms
The most common test for dogs, administered at an animal hospital in Concord, CA, is an antigen test. It is a blood test that detects specific proteins released into a dog’s bloodstream by adult female heartworms. To prevent heartworms dogs should be tested annually. Ask a veterinarian at the animal hospital about the best time to have a dog tested.
The treatment is not easy on the dog or the owner’s wallet. Treatment has the potential of being toxic to the body of a dog. Serious complications, like life-threatening blood clots in a dog’s lungs, can occur. Multiple visits to the veterinary hospital in Concord, CA for a series of injections, hospitalization, x-rays, and blood work can be costly.
Prevention is the best treatment. There are FDA-approved products that the staff at the animal hospital in Concord, CA can prescribe. Most are monthly treatments given as an oral tablet or applied to the skin. A product that is injected under the skin must be administered at the veterinary hospital in Concord, CA.
Cats with Heartworms
Heartworm infection in cats is harder to detect. The staff at the veterinary hospital in Concord, CA generally, runs a combination of two blood tests to check for heartworms in cats. Negative test results do not necessarily mean a cat does not have heartworms. The animal hospital staff uses blood test results, the cat’s symptoms and other tests such as ultrasound or x-rays of the heart to determine heartworm disease.
The FDA has approved several products to prevent heartworms in cats. They are oral and topical products, given monthly, that require a prescription from the veterinary hospital staff. Year-round prevention is also best for cats. Ask a veterinarian at the animal hospital in Concord, CA, which preventative is best.
