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aa March
is national Heartworm Awareness Month.
Heartworms are carried by mosquitoes. Every dog, and to
some degree cats too, are susceptible to getting the disease.
When a mosquitoe bites an infected dog, it sucks up some
microfilaria (baby heartworms) into its salivary glands.
These microfilaria develop into the "infective"
stage inside that mosquito and when it bites another dog,
it injects it's victim with the larva. The heartworms then
molt and migrate unitl they find the heart and develop into
adult worms. Heart worms are 12 to 16 inch round worms that
live inside the right side of the heart. These worms cause
so much inflammation and damage to the heart and lungs that
they will cause congestive heart failure and death.
Although heartworm disease can be treated, prevention is
the best way to go because the damage done to the cardiovascular
system can be permanent. Prevention is a chewey tablet that
your dog, and cat, takes once a month, every month, all
it's life. Treatment is costly and hard on both the pet
and the owner.
Your pet should be tested regularly to make sure that the
preventative program is working. The test is done in house
and we can have the results in just 10 minutes. All we need
is a small amount of blood.
This month at Parsons Pet Hospital the test at a reduced
price and the preventative is 10% off plus an additional
$5.00 rebate if you purchase a whole year supply. There
is no office visit charge to come in and have the test done.
Make an appointment today. Offer expired |
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