Prevent Heartworm in Dogs with Injections at Ourimbah Vet

Take heartworm prevention seriously – because treating it is a lot harder than preventing it

Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) is a parasite that infects dogs (and rarely cats). The disease is spread from one dog to another by mosquitoes, therefore your new pup does not have to come into direct contact with another dog for the infection to occur.

Once infected adult worms live in the dog’s heart and lungs and cause serious disease. Dogs can die even with light infestations. Although we can treat this disease, prevention is much better than cure. We recommend your pup start on heartworm prevention at 12 weeks of age with a heartworm injection. The injection is repeated at 6 months, then 15 months then yearly from then on.

Monthly heartworm prevention tablets or topspot formulations are an alternative to the injection.

If your dog is 6 months or older we recommend a blood test to check for heartworm before starting on preventative tablets or injection.