Dog Heartworm Symptoms - Figuring Out If This Is Your Pet's Problem

Heartworm in dogs is not easy to diagnose, it's not easy to cure

, and dog heartworm symptoms can be even more difficult and confusing to decipher.

The symptoms can mask other illnesses or they can be so general that most pet owners may not pay much attention to them. To compound the already serious problem of your dog being infected, symptoms don't usually occur until your pet's life is in danger.

The most common symptoms include coughing, vomiting, lethargy, difficulty breathing even when resting, weight loss, and a protruding rib cage. As the disease progresses undetected and untreated, these symptoms will progress in their severity to the point that either there is no doubt what is wrong with your pet, or the animal collapses and dies without ever being properly diagnosed.

Dog heartworm symptoms can sometimes look like a cold and even when taken to the vet, he may not immediately think of anything more serious than a cold or even an allergy.

Even though heartworm is more prevalent with dogs who spend a considerable amount of time outdoors, in climates rife with mosquitoes, it's not unheard of for indoor dogs to be infected as well. We all know that pesky mosquitoes can easily make their way indoors and all it takes is one bite from one infected mosquito and any dog can be immediately infected.

Smaller dogs are in even worse danger, and their symptoms should always be closely monitored. A cough or bout of diarrhea in a 3 pound teacup Chihuahua can be fatal with or without the added dangers of heartworm. Since heartworms can easily reach about 12 inches long, and dogs can be infected with many at once, smaller dogs have a higher death rate simply because owners and vets alike tend to ignore the coughs and general symptoms until it's too late.

Since prevention is so aggressively touted and highly recommended, many vets and pet owners simply assume that because they have given their dog the appropriate medication as prescribed, nothing can happen and the dog won't - or can't - be infected with heartworm.

This just isn't true. Even dogs who receive their heart worming medicine as regularly scheduled still are not immune to heart worm. Unfortunately, all it takes is one powerful mosquito bite that is infected with the worm, and the dog can become infected with or without the medication at work in his system.

by: Sharon Taylor

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