Heartworms: their symptoms, prevention, treatment

Heartworms

Prevention of heartworms is simple and only involves a blood draw to determine wether the parasite is present and regular dosing with preventive medication.

Heartworm is a parasitic roundworm that is spread from host through the bites of mosquitos. The heartworm is a type of filaria, a small thread-like worm. The definitive host is the dog but it can also infect cats, wolves, as well as other animals and humans in rare occasion.
Parasites go through several stages of life before to emerge as adult and often need at least two hosts to complete the cycle.
In heartworms, a mosquito serves as the intermediate host for the larval stage of the worm also know as the microfilariae. The mosquito ingests the larva when it bites an infected dog and deposit it back when it bites an uninfected dog. The microfilariae burrow into the dog and undergo several changes to reach adult form, then travel to the right side of the heart through a vein and awit the opportunity to reproduce. It takes about six, seven month between the initial infection and reproduction by adult worms living into the heart of dogs.
According to the Heartworm Society, the highest infection rates occur in dogs not maintained on heartworm preventive within 150 miles of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and along the Mississipi River and its major tributaries.


Symptoms

Visible signs of the heartworms disease may not appear until a full year after the dog was bitten by infected mosquitos. In fact, the disease may be well advanced before the dog shows any symptoms which is an important reason to use preventive medicine. The symptoms include a dog easily tired, cough, and appear rough and not thriving. Blood and worms from ruptures vessels may be coughed up and blockage of major blood vessels can cause the animal to collapse suddenly and die within a few days... Read More

Did your dog bite a toad?

Bufo Toad is a Poisonous Toad For Our Dogs

Bufo toads were introduced in Florida to control insects. They reproduce very fast and have become a problem for dogs in Florida.

The Bufo or Cane toad produces a pasty yellow-white toxin in the parotid glands which extend from the head backward over the shoulder and is released through pinhole openings in the skin.

When a dog bite or eat a Bufo toad the toxin is released and rapidly absorbed across the mucus membranes of the mouth.

Symptoms

Symptoms occurs very fast, they include foams at the mouth, drooling, vocalizing and pawning at the mouth, brick-red gums, vomiting, incoordination or a stiff gait, stumbling, falling, tremors, rigid legs, and difficulty breathing. It can rapidly progress to seizures and death!

What to do if your dog is poisoned by a Bufo Toad

The first thing to do is to rinse your dog's mouth with a wet cloth. You can also rinse his mouth from side to side for 3 to 5 minutes at a time for a total of 3 times with a large amount of water (hose, shower sprayer, water bottles...) Do not make your dog swallow the water!!!
Some people say to give your dog milk and the yellow of eggs mixed together to coat their stomach (after the rinsing of the mouth).
Rinse his pawns as some poisoning appears sometimes after dog licks their pawns.

If your dog is seizing, having tremors or cannot stand seek veterinary attention immediately!

If you need to ...Read More