Does Your Dog Have Heartworms?
There are few signs of a heartworm infection until severe damage has already occurred. Furthermore, a heartworm infection is fatal if untreated. The difficulty of diagnosis and risk of serious health problems are a dangerous combination. Learn more about heartworm prevention, detection, and treatment here.
Unlike other kinds of worms, heartworms do not infect your dog's intestines. Instead, microscopic heartworm larvae reside in the blood, and adult heartworms move primarily to the heart and lung arteries, and less frequently, in the liver. Heartworm larvae are transmitted by mosquitoes. After being bitten by an infected mosquito, the larvae will live in the blood. Maturation to an adult heartworm takes about six months. An adult heartworm, up to one foot long, can live for several years and release thousands of young larvae a day.
