Owning a pet, from a cat or dog to even a horse or a pig, can be a hugely wonderful thing in your life and is very common. It is estimated that are two million people in the United States own at least one horse, and there are a total of eighty million dogs and more than ninety million cats owned in the United States as well. A pet can provide love and affection as well as companionship, adding joy in a meaningful way to your life on a daily basis. But, as silly and basic as this may sound, it is important to remember that your pet is a living being in its own right, and thus requires proper care. From being fed a healthy diet to regular veterinarian visits, there is a lot that goes into providing your pet with the proper care that they deserve. Regular vet visits are particular important, as your pet can be provided with preventative treatments to stop them from ever developing heartworm, among other such problems.
When it comes to heartworms, preventative treatment is best. Your vet can provide your dog with a canine heartworm antigen, which can prevent the development of a heartworm. The canine heartworm antigen is most effective when it is used consistently and those adopting an older dog should get them on a canine heartworm antigen as soon as they are possible able to. But the canine heartworm antigen is not always effective at stopping heartworm when it has already developed and is present in your animal.
If you suspect that your animal has contracted a heartworm, ask your vet to conduct a heartworm test kit to check for the presence of any heartworms. If this parvo test kit comes up as positive on veterinary clinical diagnostics, as it will for the one million or so dogs that will develop heartworm every year in the United States alone, it will be necessary for your vet to prescribe the necessary course of treatment to effectively eradicate the heartworm. A canine heartworm antigen might not be fully effective for treating heartworm and getting rid of it entirely, meaning that the vet will need to monitor the pet and conduct another test using veterinary laboratory equipment once the course of treatment has been fully completed.
However, it is far better to prevent heartworm than to treat it. Not only can heartworms have a detrimental effect on the overall health of your pet, it is also exorbitantly expensive to treat. The course of a standard heartworm treatment is likely to cost as much as one thousand dollars, depending on the severity of the condition and its resistance to treatment. However, it is likely that you will need to treat canines more seriously, as they tend to contain more worms in their heart when they contract them – up to thirty, whereas cats are typically found with only five or six in total. It is important to note that for canines, the more worms means a more serious condition. In cats, it is less so, as any worm – even just two – can lead to severe illness due to the different make up of their system.
Preventing heartworm through a canine heartworm antigen is by and large the very best way to prevent the need for extensive medical treatments to eradicate the worms from your animal. Not only will this save you a considerable amount of money in the long run, but will help to protect the health of your pet for years down the road.