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Suwanee Animal Hospital
85 Buford Hwy, Suwanee, GA 30024
Tel: (770) 271-8716
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| Heartworm Disease
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How do dogs get heartworms?
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Mosquitoes harbor immature larval stages of heartworms. When your dog is bitten by a mosquito, this larval
stage is injected, and travels into the dog’s tissues. They migrate over the course of several months until they
reach the heart, where they continue development into adult, 12-14 inch long worms. As these worms grow and
reproduce, they produce more immature heartworms that are released into your dog’s bloodstream. When other
mosquitoes bite your dog, they pick up these new baby heartworms, and the cycle continues with the next dog
they bite.
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How serious is heartworm disease?
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Heartworm disease is very serious. Heartworms interfere with the normal blood flow from the right side of the
heart to the lungs. If left untreated, canine heartworm disease can result in congestive failure of the heart and
other organs, thereby considerably reducing your pet’s quality of life, and ultimately lead to death.
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How do you know if your dog has heartworms?
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A simple blood test that is run in our hospital can determine if your dog has heartworms in less than 10 minutes.
Clinical signs of heartworm disease can be very mild in the early stages. However, as the disease progresses
and the damage increases, your pet may show signs of listlessness, tire easily while playing, develop a cough
(sometimes with blood), or become anemic. The blood supply to the lungs or major organs may become blocked.
Some animals will develop a swollen abdomen due to fluid accumulation. Heartworms are endemic in our area,
and dogs should be tested annually for heartworm infection, even if they are on preventative.
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What is the treatment for heartworm infection?
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Before any treatment is started, it is essential that your pet receive a full physical exam and have a series of lab
tests performed to determine the extent of the damage. Bloodwork, urine tests, and xrays are all part of this work
up to give us a better idea of how many heartworms are present and the severity of the damage they have caused.
Doing so allows us to create the safest and most effective treatment protocol for each individual patient. Adult
heartworms are treated with a medication called Immiticide. This is a series of injections, the number and
period between injections to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Patients are hospitalized for several days
following an injection so that they may be carefully monitored for any complications. While this medication is much
safer than previous therapies, there is always some risk in treating any heartworm infected dog. As the parasites
die, they will start to dissolve and may form clots in vital organs. Patients may experience nausea, lethargy,
panting, fever, depression, coughing or difficulty breathing. It is for this reason that patients must be strictly
confined and their activity restricted for approximately 4-6 weeks following each injection. Failure to do so could
result in these complications, even death.
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Can my dog get heartworms again?
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YES!! Unless you protect your pet year-round. Heartworms are easily transmitted by mosquitoes, and your dog
will not be immune from re-infection. Following treatment, your dog will be placed on an appropriate heartworm
preventative.
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What is the recommended follow-up after treatment?
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Following treatment for the adult heartworms, your pet may need to be treated for the immature stages. This
involves dropping your pet off with us for the day, so that we may monitor it closely for any potential reactions.
We should then see your pet again in 7-14 days to check a blood test to make sure this part of the treatment was
successful. If so, we will do a follow up blood test in approximately 6 months to see if the treatment for the adult
heartworms was successful. A small number of patients may need further treatment if they had a particularly high
number of worms.
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