They may faint or collapse, and blood may be present in their urine. Class 4: Also known as caval syndrome, patients in this class have notable difficulty breathing and weakness.Breathing trouble and a lack of appetite are also common, leading to weight loss. Such dogs avoid exercise or only do so with great difficulty. Class 3: A frequent cough is seen in dogs in this class, along with a change in appearance, such as a bloated belly or sickly look.Class 2: Dogs in this class may exhibit occasional coughing and lethargy - especially after exercise.Class 1: Most newly infected dogs fall in this group, and they may show no symptoms or, at most, a slight, occasional cough.Heartworm disease classes and their respective symptoms include: The disease is broken down into four severity classes with varying symptoms, with higher class numbers correlating with more serious infestations and worse side effects. What Are the Symptoms of Heartworm in Dogs?Īs mentioned above, heartworm infestation often has no initial signs, making it incredibly difficult to catch. Sadly, most dogs who reach this stage pass away anyway, sometimes even after surgery. Over time, heartworm disease can lead to caval syndrome, where the worms cause a blockage that requires immediate surgery and removal of the worms, or the host animal will die. Newly infested and inactive dogs typically have less of a worm burden than very active dogs or those who’ve been infested for a long time. You don’t want your dog to have any heartworms, but the greater the number of worms present, the more destruction to the body they cause. Most infested dogs carry an average of 15 heartworms, but this number (also called worm burden) can reach upwards of 250 worms. Unfortunately, heartworm disease is also a silent threat at first, with a great deal of harm inflicted before your dog begins to show symptoms. This makes it harder for your dog’s body to pump blood through the body and can lead to leaky valves and ultimately heart failure. The worms cause heart and lung damage as well as stress your dog’s system as they take up more and more space. Heartworm disease is incredibly dangerous to dogs. However, the dog is still vulnerable to heartworm disease from a mosquito bite without a heartworm preventative. Fortunately, these larvae won’t mature without passing through a mosquito. So, you won’t contract it from a dog, nor will your dog catch it from another pooch at the park.īut puppies born to a heartworm-positive mama can harbor microfilariae in their bodies. Heartworm disease is not directly contagious it requires mosquitos to spread. It’s a cheap, easy form of protection against these deadly parasites. but the ailment has been reported in all fifty states.īecause of this widespread distribution, all dogs should take a heartworm preventative (pending your vet’s recommendation to do so), regardless of where they live. Heartworm disease is most common in the southeastern U.S. The disease will progress from there for the afflicted dog, and he can also serve as an additional vector for the parasite - mosquitos feeding on him from this point forward may pick up and transmit the parasites to other dogs. Once transmitted, the heartworm larvae (called microfilariae) live in a dog for several months before releasing offspring into the dog’s bloodstream. Eventually, they’ll end up passing the heartworm larvae on to dogs when feeding on four-footers. Mosquitos act as a conduit between dogs and heartworms, carrying the parasites for a short time while they mature.
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