Stomp Out Heartworms in Your Pet

Those pesky mosquitoes love to annoy and bite pets. However, some of those mosquitoes can be very dangerous to your pet. Mosquitoes, particularly those in the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, can carry heartworms. Heartworms are a very dangerous parasite that dwells in your pet’s heart causing major damage. Heartworms cause your pet to cough constantly, breathe rapidly, lose weight, and even can cause death. Most heartworms occur in dogs, but cats can get it too. The best thing you can do to stomp out heartworms is to prevent them from attacking your pet in the first place. Make sure your pet gets the appropriate medication to prevent them from getting heartworms even if they are bitten by an infected mosquito. The medication will stomp out any heartworms before they can grow and cause problems. Contact your vet to find out what preventive medication is best for your pet.

Other preventative measures you can take to stomp out heartworms in your pet is to make sure your pet’s records are up to date. Some older tests for heartworms were not completely accurate, so make sure your pet has had the most up to date tests available to check for heartworms. Don’t mix medications with your pets. What is good for one pet may not be good or as effective for another pet. Of course you can’t entirely prevent mosquitoes from biting dogs or biting you, but there are a number of things you can do to cut down on the amount of mosquitoes flying around your house. Make sure there are no puddles of water or standing water around your house. Mosquitoes breed in water. Make sure window and door screens are tightly secured. If your pet stays outside, spray them with insect sprays as often as possible and make sure you bathe them once a week.

To stomp out mosquitoes put up a few purple martin birdhouses in your yard, which will attract these birds that love to eat mosquitoes and other insects. You can also bring in your pets during the busy times of the day for mosquitoes, which is late afternoon and evening. Once your pet gets heartworms it is hard to stomp them out. Some drugs do more harm than good but if caught early the heartworms are much easier to treat. The best way to stomp out heartworms is to prevent them from attacking your pet, but the next best way is to make sure you notice the signs associated with heartworms and seek treatment early.