Heartworms: the dreaded diagnosis. These spaghetti-looking parasitic perversions attack one of the most precious parts of our pets — their hearts. I suppose you could say that, by extension, they attack our hearts as well when we see our pets suffering. Whose heart wouldn’t break after seeing the labored breathing, fits of coughing, and distended abdomen so typical of an advanced case? Whose heart wouldn’t break knowing that their pet’s heart and lungs were filling with writhing parasites that multiply and slowly suffocate them? Our hearts break in theory due to heartworms, but our pet’s hearts and lungs can break from them in reality. And all of this pain is caused by ONE LITTLE MOSQUITO.

All of this pain is caused by ONE LITTLE MOSQUITO

Yes. You read that right — one little mosquito can cause pain and death for our pets. Why? because those little suckers have direct access to your pet’s bloodstream. And how does blood circulate? The heart pumps it. So that means that these nasty bloodsuckers have indirect access — you got it — to your pet’s heart. In essence, a mosquito sucks blood from a heartworm infected animal, the blood contains “baby” heartworms and those “baby” heartworms grow into “toddler” heartworms inside the mosquito. Once they reach “toddlerhood” they are deposited on the skin next to where the mosquito is feeding on your pet. Within a minute of the mosquito feeding, those heartworm “toddlers” toddle right off into the hole and directly into the bloodstream. From the bloodstream, they make their way to the heart where, once they mature, they breed and start their parasitic plague all over again. Only this time, your pet is the host. Yuck.

So how do you protect your pet from these pesky parasites? Prevention, prevention, prevention. Kill the parasites before they can grow. Kill them before they can spread. Kill them before they can reproduce and do irreversible damage to your pet’s health. And, guess what? Your veterinarian has a bunch of options for you to do just that! From monthly chewables (they’re like a treat!) to topical application, to a once a year shot, your pet’s heartworm prevention can be well in hand. So what do you need to do?

Step 1: Call us at 601-924-4549 to schedule your pet for a heartworm test

Step 2: Buy veterinarian approved prevention

Step 3: Give prevention as directed!

Heartworms are beatable and treatable, but they can cause lasting damage to your pet’s heart and lungs in the process. Keep your pet’s heart safe by keeping them on prevention and your own heart will thank you, too.