Diagnosing Heartworms in Dogs
Heartworm disease in dogs is, sadly, a common problem in North and South America. The best way to help your dog fight heartworms is to give them preventative medicine for all of their lives. The smaller the dog, the faster heartworms will kill. Diagnosing heartworms can only be done by a vet, unless you just happen to have the right equipment with you.
Things You'll Need
- Veterinarian Lab 2-3 vials of your dog's blood Slides (optional) Electron microscope (optional)
Instructions
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Contact a vet immediately if your dog displays the following symptoms: tires very easily, refuses to exercise and a deep cough. These are the early signs. Action now can help save your dog's life.
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Get an antigen blood test done for your dog. A few cubic centimeters of blood is drawn from a vein in your dog's foreleg and sent off to a lab to check for antigen. This is a chemical given off by female heartworms.
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Get a Knotts or filter blood test done for your dog. Another separate vial filled with your dog's blood is sent to a lab to check for the presence of juvenile heartworms, called microfilaria. Slides are made of the blood and can be checked under an electron microscope. A dog can have thousands of microfilaria.
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Repeat antigen and Knotts tests if the results are inconclusive or contradict each other.
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X-ray the dog's chest if the dog is so weak it often collapses or suddenly loses weight. These are symptoms of a more advanced infection. The adult heartworms will big enough to see. They reside in the right ventricle of a dog's heart.
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Repeat all tests six months after treatment to be sure all of the heartworms are gone.
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Tips & Warnings
Pregnant dogs cannot give their developing puppies heartworms.
Do not give preventative medicine for heartworms to your dog if he or she shows the early signs of an infestation. It's too late for the medicine once the heartworms reach adulthood.
Resources
- Photo Credit Image from Wikimedia Commons.
