Available Treatments for Heartworms in Dogs

Heartworms pose the biggest risk to the circulatory system of the infected animal because they commonly take residence in the bloodstreams and in the heart of their host. As the relationship between the parasite and the host grow worse, the host usually dies as the parasites feed on it. In order to save your dog’s life, the parasites must be terminated.

Getting rid of these wormy parasites should be easy, given that they have not been inside the dog’s body for quite sometime already. However, when they have severely infested the dog’s system, this is where the danger of not saving the dog might start.

The best thing to do would be to go to the veterinarian to make sure that further treatment for the dog will not worsen the case. Before the introduction of any sort of treatment into the dog, the vet should check the dog for possible complications such as heart or liver problems, and other complications.

What should be killed first are the young worms to immediately stop them from growing into mature worms that are harder to kill. The microfilariae, L3, and L4 larvae can be killed by using the ivermectin-based preventive drugs. In order to kill the larvae at a faster rate, the Milbemycin-based drugs can be used.

However, the risk in killing them fast is that this might endanger the circulatory system when it gets possibly shocked by the sudden death of many larvae all at once. These drugs should be introduced to the dog for one to three months in order to cut off the growth of more adult worms.

After killing the younger worms and larvae, the adult Heartworms which likely reside in the heart already should be terminated next. There is one effective product that can be used to treat adult Heartworms in dogs. This is Melarsomine Dihydrochloride. The manufacturer of the product recommends that the drug be taken either in two or three doses.

The dosage depends on the class of infection the dog already has. However, despite what manufacturers say, most universities practice injecting three doses to the infected dogs. According to them, by giving the dog three doses, the drug will slowly and gradually kill the adult worms. This way, the dog will be safer, avoiding shock and embolism.

Another recommended treatment for dogs would be two doses of arsenic compound. These should be given for two days. However, the dog should be well-rested to stop the worms from transferring to the lungs.