heartworm meds in the mountain west
Both of our dogs are on heartworm meds, no surprise given that we are from Florida. But we are on the road now in Colorado and have been advised that local vets council against giving that med up here...
Forum Discussion
ReneeG wrote:
Our dogs are not on heartworm meds and never have been. They get annual checkups and more if needed, have never had a problem.
You have been lucky.
American Heartworm Society wrote:
KEY POINTS:
EPIDEMIOLOGY
• Heartworm infection has been diagnosed
in all 50 states and around the globe.
• Environmental and climatic changes,
both natural and those created by
humans, relocation of microfilaremic
dogs, and expansion of the territories of
microfilaremic wild canids continue to be
important factors contributing to further
spread of the parasite.
• A pivotal prerequisite for heartworm
transmission is a climate that provides
adequate temperature and humidity to
support a viable mosquito population, and
can also sustain sufficient heat to allow
maturation of ingested microfilariae into
infective, third-stage larvae (L3) within the
intermediate host.
• The length of the heartworm transmission
season in the temperate latitudes also
depends on factors such as the influence
of microclimates, unique biological habits
and adaptations of the mosquito vector,
variations in time of larval development,
mosquito life expectancy, and temperature
fluctuations.
• Heartworm transmission does decrease
in winter months, but the presence
of microenvironments in urban areas
suggests that the risk of heartworm
transmission never reaches zero.
American Heartworm Society Guidelines
