Wellness Heartworm/Tick Test
Many dog owners are familiar with the annual spring ritual of bringing your dog to the animal hospital to have a blood test taken to be used for heartworm and tick-borne illness (like Lyme Disease) screening in preparation for preventive treatment through the warmer months.
The following information can help you to understand why:
This is called Wellness Blood Testing and it provides important information to the veterinarians including blood cell counts (to detect infection, anemia and other problems) in addition to evaluating blood sugar levels, liver and kidney function. Most of our clients choose this option to allow for early disease detection and overall health monitoring.
Prevention: There are a number of heartworm, flea and tick preventive medications available. They are administered once monthly while mosquitoes, fleas and ticks are present – late spring until November.
The prevention medication is part of a comprehensive internal and external parasite prevention regime for the warmer months. We address internal parasites like roundworm, whipworm and hookworm and external parasites like fleas, mites and ticks. Ask for more information.
Many dog owners are familiar with the annual spring ritual of bringing your dog to the animal hospital to have a blood test taken to be used for heartworm and tick-borne illness (like Lyme Disease) screening in preparation for preventive treatment through the warmer months.
The following information can help you to understand why:
- Heartworm: is indeed a parasitic worm that can become established in the heart and pulmonary vessels of dogs (ask your vet about the risks to other pets including cats and ferrets). If untreated, the presence of this parasite can lead to clinical signs of coughing, inability to exercise and eventually life threatening heart failure. It is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito and does not require the dog to have had contact with any other dogs. This parasite was, until about 20 years ago, a problem seen mostly in the Southern U.S. but it has become established in Ontario and other parts of Canada (both in the pet population and in wildlife).
- Tick-borne Illness: In recent years, there have been more ticks detected on our patients and, in fact, the Deer Tick is a potential carrier of a bacteria that can cause Lyme Disease (which can lead to debilitating joint and kidney disease).
- Detection: These diseases can be detected with the analysis of a blood sample and the results of these tests are generally returned to us the day after sampling.
This is called Wellness Blood Testing and it provides important information to the veterinarians including blood cell counts (to detect infection, anemia and other problems) in addition to evaluating blood sugar levels, liver and kidney function. Most of our clients choose this option to allow for early disease detection and overall health monitoring.
Prevention: There are a number of heartworm, flea and tick preventive medications available. They are administered once monthly while mosquitoes, fleas and ticks are present – late spring until November.
The prevention medication is part of a comprehensive internal and external parasite prevention regime for the warmer months. We address internal parasites like roundworm, whipworm and hookworm and external parasites like fleas, mites and ticks. Ask for more information.
