April Is Heartworm Awareness Month!

One health issue every dog owner should be aware of is heartworm disease. The disease, which is spread by mosquitos, can cause severe lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs. As many as 30 species of mosquitos can transmit heartworm.

The American Heartworm Society has declared April Heartworm Awareness month to help raise visibility around the importance of testing dogs for this disease. Comprehensive, annual testing can help detect leading diseases impacting dogs such as heartworm disease, Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis. Even pet owners using heartworm preventive medicine need to have their dogs screened annually for the disease.

Some of the diseases are also starting to spread as mosquitos and ticks migrate. For example, the lone star tick that is traditionally found in the southeastern United States has migrated as far north as Massachusetts. A map of tick-borne disease is available here: http://www.pethealthnetwork.com/which-canine-vector-borne-diseases-are-my-area.

Your dog's best line of defense? Annual testing and preventitive products.