National Heartworm Awareness Month 2024: When It Is & How You Can Celebrate
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With spring quickly approaching, many pet owners are already planning activities, vacations, and get-togethers where their pets can be part of the fun. Unfortunately, spring is also the time of year when pesky mosquitos return. Mosquitos are the culprit behind one of the most deadly diseases our pets can experience: heartworm. For pet owners who strive to not only provide their pets with fun in the sun but also ensure they are healthy for years to come, being aware of National Heartworm Awareness Month in April of each year is crucial.
National Heartworm Awareness Month is used as a way to spread information about a disease that affects pets, especially dogs, everywhere. The American Heartworm Society works diligently year-round to provide veterinarians and pet owners the information and protection they need to safeguard against heartworms, however, during National Heartworm Awareness Month the outreach is bigger in an attempt to convince pet owners to start preventative measures as the weather changes and mosquitos make their return. Let’s learn more about National Heartworm Awareness Month, heartworms, and how you can protect your pets.
What Is Heartworm Disease?
Heartworm disease affects pets throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. Heartworms, as the name suggests, live in the heart, lungs, and surrounding blood vessels of infected animals. These worms are approximately 12 inches long and can cause damage to an animal’s bodily organs, severe lung disease, and even result in heart failure. Unfortunately, heartworm disease is one of the most damaging, common, and often fatal diseases for pets, especially dogs.
Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites a dog, cat, coyote, wolf, fox, or even ferret that is infected with heartworms, baby heartworms known as microfilaria, which travel in the bloodstream, are picked up. It only takes 10 to 14 days for these baby worms to mature. Once that happens, they are considered infective larvae. When that mosquito bites another host, these larvae are left on the skin and then enter the body through the wound left behind. After 6 months in the new host, these larvae mature and become adult heartworms. Once that happens, they can live inside a dog for 5 to 7 years and up to 3 years in a cat.
Heartworm Disease in Dogs
Unfortunately, dogs are the perfect host for heartworms. When a dog contracts heartworms, it can live inside the animal for several years until they reach maturity. Once mature, these worms will mate and produce offspring that continue the same cycle. This leaves dogs vulnerable to hundreds of parasites that can affect their health and daily life. Due to the mode of transmission, it is difficult to determine just how vulnerable dogs in a particular area may be to heartworms.
The signs of heartworms in dogs can go undetected for some time. This is due to the parasites maturing and breeding. As the infection continues, signs will then begin to develop. Lack of activity, fatigue, a persistent cough, decreased appetite, and weight loss are early warning signs of heartworm disease. As the illness progresses, a swollen belly, heart failure, blockages, and cardiovascular collapse are all possible.
Heartworm Disease in Cats
While dogs seem to be the primary target for heartworm disease, cats can also fall victim. Cats are not as viable of a host for heartworms as dogs are. This is due to heartworms typically dying before they reach adulthood in cats. This doesn’t mean every heartworm dies. Some can live to adulthood in cats but typically veterinarians only encounter a few adult worms in felines. Unfortunately, even immature heartworms can cause significant damage. The lower number of heartworms in the body of cats also makes it more difficult to detect the disease. Signs of heartworms in cats can include asthma-like attacks, coughing, vomiting, lost appetite, weight loss, difficulty walking, fainting, seizures, or sudden death. Prevention is the only option when it comes to cats and heartworms as the treatments for dogs cannot be taken by cats.
How Is National Heartworm Awareness Month Celebrated?
As we’ve mentioned, National Heartworm Awareness Month in April is used to promote awareness of this horrible disease. This awareness means understanding heartworms, the symptoms, treatments, and ways to prevent your pets from contracting them. We’ve already learned what heartworms are and the symptoms you may see in your dogs and cats. Now, let’s take a deeper look at treatments and prevention.
Treatments for Heartworms
We’ve already mentioned that heartworms in cats cannot be treated due to the medications only being safe for use in dogs. The American Heartworm Society offers guidelines for veterinarians and owners to follow when treating dogs with heartworm disease. Among these are proper diagnosis, restricting activity while the dog is being treated, stabilizing the disease, administering medications according to guidelines, testing, and preventing future infection. Unfortunately, the more severe the case of heartworm disease, the more difficult and longer treatments may take. Some dogs may even be left with long-term issues due to the damage done to their heart, lungs, and other organs.
Prevention
Heartworm prevention medications are available for both dogs and cats. The key to these preventions, and National Heartworm Awareness Month, is testing. According to The American Heartworm Society, those responsible for the month of awareness, testing should be done every year. They even call their testing and prevention methods the “think 12” method. They feel the best way to prevent heartworm disease in pets is to have them tested every 12 months and to provide them with heartworm prevention treatments 12 times per year, or once per month.
Conclusion
While it may not be a typical celebration, National Heartworm Awareness Month is of primary importance to pet owners. Sharing awareness about this disease, having your pet tested, and introducing heartworm-preventative medications are the end goal. The true celebration happens every day when you know you’ve done all you can do to help your beloved pet stay happier and healthier throughout its life.
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Featured Image Credit: Orawan Pattarawimonchai, Shutterstock
