As a rescue, we feel that the biggest part of our job should be to educate pet owners.  We have found that many well meaning pet owners do not know what heartworm is or how their dog can get it.

Contrary to what many pet owners think, heartworm is very prevalent in Ohio. Rescues and shelters take in many dogs from this area with heartworm each year.  Not only is it expensive to treat, but it is very painful for the dogs who quite often do not make it through the treatment. 

Here are a few heartworm facts:

Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes. 
It cannot be transferred from one dog to another. 
It is not picked up from walking on others dogs feces. 
Heartworm starts out as larvae in the blood stream and make their way to the heart where they reside.
Heartworm is treated with arsenic. The money to keep your pets on heartworm does not compare with the kind of pain your dog will go through or the money it will cost to treat it if you do not keep them on heartworm.  

Why should you have your tested every year?  When a dog is bitten by an infected mosquito little larvae develop and start to migrate through the blood stream to the heart.  It forms  a string like worm that continues to grow and wrap itself around the dog's heart.  Before your pet starts to show the onset of heartworms it is usually too late to treat the pet.

We could show gross, scary pictures of what happens to a dog with heartworm.  But if you would like to see these you can "google" heartworm and you can find all the information you would like on heartworm.  

If there is anything that you do not understand about heartworm, how your dog gets it, how it is treated or in general please email us and if we do not know the answer we will find it for you.