So every year I take my dog to the vet for his annual checkup.
All the usual stuff, rabies shot, weight, teeth, heartworm test.
So my question is, they never give you the heartworm pills without doing the heartworm test, why is that?
I never have to wait for any test results to start giving him the pills.
How does this work?
elbows, when your dog has heartworms, he will have both adult worms in his heart AND microfilaria (baby heartworms) in his bloodstream. Most of the heartworm preventatives contain enough of the active ingredient to kill both the adults and the babies. However, killing all of the adults suddenly could result in an embolism (followed by death) caused by the adult worms. So, most heartworm preventatives are prescription, and vets are supposed to check your dog for heartworms before prescribing them. Giving the medication to a dog that is positive could kill it.
You shouldn’t have to wait for test results - there are numerous ways to test for heartworms right there in the clinic, and all of the tests take just a few minutes. My vet does two tests - one is simply looking at a direct smear under the microscope to see if there are any ‘wigglers’ in the blood. The second is an antigen test that is very accurate and specific, and takes about 10 minutes. Some of the tests are faster than that (only 5 minutes or so), but the longer test is a little more sensitive.
There is a new heartworm medication called Revolution that kills ONLY the microfilaria, not the adult worms, so is safe to give to your dog without testing. However, if your dog has adult worms, they will still be sitting there clogging up your dogs heart and causing damage. If the microfilaria are kept killed off, the adult worms will eventually die, but before they do they may kill your dog or at least severely damage his heart. Also, when they do die, they may cause the above-mentioned embolism and your dog will suddenly fall over dead while chasing squirrels or something.
For this reason, the manufacturer recommends that heartworm checks be done even before using the Revolution, so that the owner knows that his dog has a dangerous condition that needs treatment.
I live in the southeast U.S., so heartworms are a big deal here (almost year round mosquitos). The vet clinic I work at usually treats at least two dogs per month for heartworm - we started treatment on a black lab yesterday.
And believe me, the preventative is much, much cheaper than the treatment! Safer, too!
Thanks Coosa.
I wonder about it every year. It never occured to me that they were actually getting the result from the test while I was right there in the office.
Sure, it makes so much sense now that you’ve explained it.
You’re welcome, elbows. Give your dog an ear rub for me.