Worms Cats Dogs

Heartworm treatment in dogs as well as in cats is very dangerous and quite complex. To begin with the treatment you need to make sure that your pet is actually healthy enough. If it has any slightest organ problems, make sure to treat that first before you start treatment. Be aware that severe heartworm diseases will cause treatment to lead to complications and even death.

If your infected pet is a cat, you have the choice to let the adult worms die without any treatment over a period of years. However you will risk the cat to become very ill and even die. Another option is to get rid of the worm right away. This, however, may cause your cat to end up with serious complications from all the worms dying simultaneously.

Your dog will need to go through a two steps treatment. The first step will kill the adult worms which is called the adulticide therapy. One way to recognize that this step is effective is the clotting of dead worms in the blood circulation. Your dog may run a fever; you will notice some vomiting, loss of apetite, some coughing, jaundice and also expectoration of blood. After the first step of treatment, the dog must not exercise for at least two weeks because of the clotting in the blood circulation.

This kind of treatment could also be done in cats, however, the risk of complications in the cat has been found greater than in the dog. And even within 12 weeks after this therapy, a cat should be given the antigen test again in order to make sure that all heartworms have been killed.

For dogs, a second step of heartworm treatment is required. The second step of the treatment is called filaricide therapy. This step is to get rid of the microfilaria which needs to be done within 3 – 6 weeks after the first step is done. Your dog will be given two different drugs: ivermectin and milbemycin. Please note the dog will be hospitalized  for this to guard against adverse reactions, including coma and even death. Potential severe adverse reactions are usually found in Collies and Collie mixes. For them, ivermectin should not be used in treating this disease. There is a third drug which is called levamisole which can be taken orally at home. However, it also has significant side effects.

Within 3 weeks after the second step of the treatment, a blood test will be performed to determine whether the therapies have been effective. If the test comes out negative, the dog is ready to start a heartworm preventive program.

Another way to treat heartworm disease in dogs is to have them surgically removed. However, this should be recommended for only critically ill dogs.

Pic Source: Green Brook Vet