Heartworms are parasites transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. They live in the right heart ventricle and surrounding blood vessels. Heartworms are easy to prevent but difficult to treat. Heartworms can kill your pet, but so can the treatments.
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Function
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Heartworm treatment is divided into two phases in order to kill adult heartworms and those still in the larval stage (microfilaria), since no one medication kills both.
Types
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The first round of treatment is administering Caparsolate or Immiticide. Both are adulticides with arsenic as their base.
Time Frame
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It takes about four to six weeks to kill all adult heartworms and restore the animal to good enough health to kill microfilaria.
Effects
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Microfilaria are treated with Ivermectin or Mibemycin oxime, which both kill larval heartworms. These are also the active ingredients in the two major brands of monthly preventative sold by vets.
Prevention/Solution
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Your dog needs to be on a monthly heartworm preventative (available from your vet) from the time she is eight to 12 weeks old.
Warning
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It takes six months for heartworm infections to show up in lab tests. Never start your dog on a monthly preventative without having her tested for heartworms if she is older than seven months.
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