Heartworm symptoms in dogs

1. The earliest symptom is chronic cough, but there are no other symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection. It is aggravated during exercise, or the sick dog is prone to fatigue during exercise.
2. As the disease progresses, the sick dog develops hyperpalpitations, a weak and intermittent pulse, and murmurs in the heart. The liver area is painful on palpation and hepatomegaly. Fluid accumulation in the chest and abdomen, and edema all over the body. Difficulty breathing.
3. In cases of long-term infection, pulmonary heart disease is very obvious.
4. In the final stage, death occurs due to systemic weakness or collapse during exercise.
5. Sick dogs are often accompanied by nodular skin disease, which is characterized by itching and multiple focal nodules that tend to rupture. Skin nodules are pyogenic granulomatous inflammation in the center of blood vessels. Microfilariae are commonly found in the blood vessels surrounding pyogenic granulomas.

Introduction to dog heartworm

1. Dog heartworm (also known as heartworm) is yellow-white and slender in the shape of vermicelli. The male worm is 120~160 mm long, with a spirally curled tail, and the female worm is 250~300 mm long. The viviparous larvae are called microfilariae, which live in the blood. They are 307-322 microns long and have no sheath.
2. Dog heartworm needs fleas, Anopheles mosquitoes or Culex mosquitoes as intermediate hosts to parasitize living organisms.
3. The female parasite parasitizing the right ventricle produces microfilariae that can move freely and enter the blood. When fleas and mosquitoes suck blood, the microfilariae are sucked into the human body and develop into infective larvae, which enter the body of fleas and mosquitoes. Inside the beak. When fleas and mosquitoes suck blood, the larvae escape from the beak and penetrate into the skin of the final host. They circulate to the heart and large blood vessels through subcutaneous lymph or blood.

Preventive measures for dog heartworm

1. Regularly deworm the dog and use anthelmintics to kill parasites.
2. Preventing and eliminating intermediate hosts, including fleas and mosquitoes, is the key point.
3. Drug prevention can also be used. The oral dose of diethylcarbamazine (Haiqunsheng) is 6.6 mg/kg body weight. The drug should be used continuously during the mosquito and fly activity seasons.
4. For microfilaria-positive dogs, the use of diethylcarbamazine is strictly prohibited. Adult worms and microfilariae must be killed with medication before diethylcarbamazine can be used for prevention.