Podcast Text:
Music. This episode of The Resourceful Pet Care Podcast …
Understanding Heartworm Disease in Dogs and Cats …
is brought to you by
DiscountPetMedicines.com
This is an independent broadcast and product review and is not affiliated in any
way with the discussed products or their manufacturer. Woof Woof Woof Meow.
The beginnings of heartworm disease in pets can be traced back to the pesky mosquito.
The heartworm begins it's life when it is released into the bloodstream of
the host animal in which the parent heartworm resides. This new offspring is known as a
micro-fil-ar-ee-a . The micro-fil-ar-ee-a then circulate within the bloodstream where they lay in wait for the mosquito.
When a mosquito bites that animal, the micro-fil-ar-ee-a moves from the animal
to the mosquito … it is within the mosquito itself that the micro-fil-ar-ee-a
develop further into the next stage of it's life cycle … the larvae stage.
Once the microfilariae has matured to the larvae stage within the mosquito
it is then ready to pose a problem for your pet. When the mosquito with the larvae bites your pet,
it injects that larvae into the animal. Once in the blood stream of the new host animal,
the larvae travels through the tissues towards the heart where it will mature into an adult.
Most heartworm preventatives are designed to attack heartworms in the early stages BEFORE they reach adulthood within the heart.
There a few reasons why this is such an important concept to understand regarding pets and heartworm disease.
Since heartworm prevention is not designed to kill adult worms, it is important to test your dog
or cat for heartworms BEFORE beginning preventative treatment, otherwise the adult infestation
could be missed entirely and continue to worsen while you are under the false impression that your pet is heartworm free.
It is also important to understand that dogs and cats are affected somewhat differently by heartworm invasion.
In dogs, the health complications mainly arise from the ADULT heartworms.
In cats, the adult heartworms can pose a problem for them too, however, in addition to this,
the LARVAE can be dangerous as well.
This is because … when the feline physiology encounters the heartworm it reacts with an immune response …
the problem is that not only is the larvae damaged by the immune reaction but part of the cat's actual physiology is too.
So how does this affect which heartworm medication you choose?
The answer to this question lies in the difference between how heartworm pills differ from heartworm prevention topicals.
Most heartworm Pills treat the larvae that has built up in the body the previous month,
but they do not work continuously between doses.
This usually works fine for dogs since it is mainly the adult heartworm that create health issues,
in other words, the build up of larvae between doses does not pose as much of a problem for them as it does for cats.
The reason for this is that i cats, THE LARVAE can serve as an irritant and potential health hazard too,
so theoretically any larvae that invades the body between pill doses COULD BE an issue.
This is something that makes a heartworm preventative topical, such as Revolution, a particularly valuable choice for felines.
So if topicals are more effective for cats than pills, wouldn't topical preventatives be the best choice for dogs too?
Not necessarily, this is because topical heartworm preventatives work best when given a chance
to recirculate throughout the body, something that is enhanced by self grooming. Cats tend to
self groom themselves a lot more than dogs do, so they tend to circulate the product much better than canines.
All these things considered, here is what we decided to do for our own pets.
For our dogs, we use heartworm pills such as
Interceptor and
Heartgard. Since larvae are not as much of
an issue for them we like the certainty we get from the pill, in other words we don't have to worry about
wether or not they have groomed themselves enough to spread the product.
But for our cats, we chose
Revolution.
We know they will be self grooming enough to adequately allow the
topical to provide maximum effectiveness and we like the fact that it will be working against any larvae
that may invade between monthly dosages.
If you're interested in purchasing any of these heartworm preventatives or any other pet health product,
always visit with your pet's veterinarian first to make sure the product is the right choice for your
pet and THEIR very specific needs, then when your ready to buy please visit us at DiscountPetMedicines.com
for low online price finds on all the pet health products your looking for.
This broadcast is not meant to be a formal endorsement of any product …
the information provided is for entertainment purposes only and should not be
taken as medical advice, absolute medical knowledge, the opinion of veterinarians,
or a diagnosis or treatment recommendation.
There may be further information you need to know about the products discussed
here today before choosing them for YOUR pet including but not limited to knowledge
of all possible uses, administration directions, hazards, side effects, precautions,
product warnings, allergic reactions, potential drug interactions or adverse effects.
Once again another reason to always visit with your pet's veterinarian first before
deciding to use any pet health product or food.
DiscountPetMedicines.com and the supporting company of this broadcast accepts no liability
for any information, advice, products or events that may transpire or originate from this broadcast.
Always use caution when surfing the internet and buying products online.
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