Park Hill Vet: A Must Or A Bust?
Preventing Mosquitoes And Heartworm Is An Easy Call
By Margot K. Vahrenwald, DVM, CVJ
For the GPHN

Summer’s just around the corner. If you are a dog owner, this means you’ve surely received a notification from your veterinarian about getting an annual screening test and making sure you are continuing year-round heartworm preventative.
Is this a must or a bust? A must in that it is a good idea and protects your pet — or a bust in that it is an unneeded product?
First, what is heartworm? In the heartworm life cycle, a microscopic larval stage can be easily picked up and transmitted by mosquitos as they go from animal to animal to feed on blood. It is only when there are adult worms that our heartworm tests become positive – about 7-8 months from when bitten by an infected mosquito.
Once in a dog, the heartworm continues its life cycle and ultimately finds its adult home in the heart and pulmonary vessels, creating inflammation that can ultimately lead to heart failure and/or thromboembolic disease. Additionally, research is showing that heartworm infection in dogs can lead to other life-shortening systemic problems in the kidneys and other organ systems.
No one can make you do anything, but heartworm preventative is a must for a caring Colorado dog owner and here’s why:
• Colorado mosquito species do carry and spread heartworm disease. Each year the incidence of heartworm spreads a little more and while we still have a low incidence rate, it increased during the pandemic years with the influx of heartworm positive dogs for adoption from southern states.
• The treatment for heartworm disease is expensive, takes three separate injections along with other drugs and carries risks for complications.
• Colorado dogs are active dogs — hiking, visiting dog parks and often traveling out of state Heartworm preventative makes sense as it also offers monthly protection against intestinal parasites that can easily be transmitted from all the popular dog sites as well as just around the neighborhood.
• Many Colorado canines live in households with children under the age of 10. Many other veterinary and human medical associations recommend that pets in homes with children be regularly dewormed. This protects against zoonotic infection in children from intestinal parasites such as roundworms and hookworms that can be carried by dogs and cats. If you have small children or live with someone with a compromised immune system from illness and/or treatment, it is a really good idea to have all cats and dogs in the household on year-round heartworm preventative.
So follow your veterinarian’s recommendations. Rather than being a bust, heartworm testing and prevention is a must to keep your dog and your family healthy. Make sure to purchase heartworm preventative through your veterinarian to avoid any product issues.
For more detailed information on heartworms in dogs and cats, visit:
• The Companion Animal Parasite Council, capcvet.org/
• The American Heartworm Society, heartwormsociety.org/
Dr. Margot Vahrenwald is the owner of Park Hill Veterinary Medical Center at 2255 Oneida St. For more information, visit www.parkhillvet.com.