Why does my dog need a heartworm test every year? Can’t I just buy the preventive from you without a prescription? ER, Vermont
Dear ER,
To help answer your question, I turned to the American Heartworm Society (www.heartwormsociety.org), an excellent resource for questions about the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heartworm disease. According to the AHS, there are a couple of reasons why an annual heartworm test is a good idea. First, there have been situations where dogs looked perfectly healthy on the outside but were actually harboring heartworms on the inside. Giving monthly preventative to some of these dogs caused severe reactions. Second, an undiagnosed heartworm infection causes permanent damage to your dog the longer it’s there so the quicker it’s diagnosed the quicker it can be treated. Giving monthly preventive doesn’t treat the adult heartworms living in the heart, lungs and blood vessels of your dog. And third–let’s admit it–there will be the occasional time your dog doesn’t get his fully monthly dose (you forgot to give it, he threw it right back up, etc.) so an annual test just makes sure some heartworms didn’t slip through the gap. Read the rest of this entry »
