As previously mentioned the heartworm signs of disease are difficult to spot so may go
unnoticed in it's early stages which will obviously prevent your dog
from being treated effectively. Unfortunately when the disease has
become noticeable it maybe too late to save your dog's life...
Preventative
Treatments
However, there are some pretty good preventative treatments out there
that can prevent the parasite from taking hold in your dog...some of
the treatments are listed below...
Your vet may prescribe pills during the whole year or on a monthly
basis including...
- Ivermectin
- Heartgard
- Interceptor
- Proheart
These have been estimated to be as much as 99% effective at killing the
parasite.
Treatment
During Later Stages
- It obviously depends
on how bad the infection is and how long your dog has been infected,
but treatment may include a test to decide how effective the organs of
your dog are now as a consequence of the infection and whether they
were effective prior to the infection.
- After this test has
been done your vet may start treating your dog with an arsenic based
product
that is given in safe doses. Due to effect that the arsenic has on your
dog's organs the previous test must be done to decide on their
effectiveness.
- After the worms have
been killed by the arsenic, they will be excreted by your dog.
