MJ Wixsom: Heartworms are serious pet threat - The Tribune - Ironton Tribune

---

MJ Wixsom: Heartworms are serious pet threat - The Tribune - Ironton Tribune Posted: 21 Nov 2020 11:57 PM PST The recent rains have produced swarms of mosquitos. Getting the pups out of the truck, I paused and slapped my arm. Three mosquitoes died from the single slap, with two that had fresh blood. As I removed them from my arm, I thought it would be a banner year for mosquito-borne diseases and heartworms. But in an exam room last week, I gave my lesson on heartworms and heartworm preventative to a client. Then I listened to the client discuss that they did not want to put their pets on heartworm preventative. I know that there are different levels of care that people want for different pet and that money is often an issue and I let it go. But later that night, I realized that many clients don't really understand why their dog needs heartworm medication. Heartworm disease starts when a mosquito bites an infected dog. The microfilaria is taken up with the blood and move to the mosquito kidneys for two weeks of growth. The slightly larger larvae are then deposited on the skin when the mosquito bites again. The larvae quickly burrow into the skin and the capillaries of the skin. (By the way, over seventy species of mosquitos can transmit heartworm larvae.) Once back into a dog (or ferret or cat), the larvae grow and molt and grow and molt again. They outgrow the capillaries and start moving to the heart and lungs. The worms can be ten to fourteen inches long by the time they are living in the ventricles of the heart. The foot-long worms then get together, mate and have babies. (The males can be differentiated from the females by a corkscrew shaped tail that holds on to the female to assist in mating.) These babies are picked up by a mosquito and the cycle starts all over again. Cats, ferrets, foxes and some other animals all can get heartworms, but they may have some natural immunity that makes them not as susceptible. Coyotes get heartworms about as often as dogs. (When I was in vet school, I concurrently worked on my master's degree and studied over 500 coyotes and foxes for heartworm prevalence. I received research awards and presented at national conferences.) A foot-long worm in a small pet heart is bad news. Heartworms damage the lining of the lungs and cause thrombotic events (clots) and granulomas due to dead or dying worms. The constant cracking the whip motion of the worms in the blood vessels cause the pulmonary vessels to become thickened and tortuous. The worms cause the valves to leak causing a reduction in cardiac output and pulmonary hypertension. The right side of the heart enlarges and can fail. Although in the early stages a pet can look normal, severe or long term infections can cause coughing, difficulty breathing, weight loss, abdominal fluid retention, exercise intolerance and arrhythmias. It can also damage the kidneys by a secondary antigen-antibody complex deposition. Sometimes the worms get lost and are in strange places in the body. I removed a heartworm from the anterior chamber of an eye once. Although it is very rare in our area, sometimes there are so many worms that the pet goes into caval syndrome. Worms cause enough problems with circulation that the heart beats too rapidly for the heart to fill and blood does not circulate. Sudden collapse and death can occur. But most of the time, we find dogs are positive on a simple blood test at the annual exam. And to be fair, more often we see tick-borne diseases than heartworm disease. So, owners think that it is not important. After all, whipworms and hookworms can kill pets and fleas are bad. When we notice a problem, we treat the animal and they are all better. But heartworms are different. When intestinal parasites die, they just move out with the poop. When fleas die, we give the pet a bath or vacuum. When heartworms die, their graveyard is the lungs. The tiny white blood cells must clean up the foot-long worms. This is not an easy or quick procedure. If not done carefully, the patient may still die even after (or during) treatment. Not to mention, the drug is somewhat expensive (think hundreds of dollars.) So, while it is okay to wait until you have fleas to treat them, heartworms really need to be prevented or killed while they are under the skin and tiny. Prevention, not treatment. Especially, this peak mosquito year. Get your dog tested, get them on preventative and miss the expense and scare of heartworm treatment. MJ Wixsom, DVM MS is a best-selling Amazon author who practices at Guardian Animal Medical Center in Flatwoods, Ky. GuardianAnimal.com 606-928-6566

Jumping ‘snake worms’ are invading U.S. forests - Science News for Students Posted: 09 Nov 2020 12:00 AM PST angler: A term for someone who fishes for food, usually for personal consumption, not on an industrial scale. arboretum: A garden that focuses on showcasing tree species. bacteria: (singular: bacterium) Single-celled organisms. These dwell nearly everywhere on Earth, from the bottom of the sea to inside other living organisms (such as plants and animals). Bacteria are one of the three domains of life on Earth. behavior: The way something, often a person or other organism, acts towards others, or conducts itself. biochemistry: A field that marries biology and chemistry to investigate the reactions that underpin how cells and organs function. People who work in this field are known as biochemists. biology: The study of living things. The scientists who study them are known as biologists. chemistry: The field of science that deals with the composition, structure and properties of substances and how they interact. Chemistry also is a term for the recipe of a compound or mix of compounds in some material, for the way that recipe is produced or for some of its properties. climate change: Long-term, significant change in the climate of Earth. It can happen naturally or in response to human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests. compost: The end product in the breakdown, or decomposition, of leaves, plants, vegetables, manure and other once-living material. Compost is used to enrich garden soil, and earthworms sometimes aid this process. DNA: (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) A long, double-stranded and spiral-shaped molecule inside most living cells that carries genetic instructions. It is built on a backbone of phosphorus, oxygen, and carbon atoms. In all living things, from plants and animals to microbes, these instructions tell cells which molecules to make. drought: An extended period of abnormally low rainfall; a shortage of water resulting from this. earthworm: A type of worm that lives in the soil. As it moves through soil, an earthworm creates burrows. These allow air and water to move more readily through the soil. The worms feed on decaying organic matter, which helps improve soil fertility. ecology:  A branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings. A scientist who works in this field is called an ecologist. egg: The unfertilized reproductive cell made by females. environment: The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature and humidity (or even the placement of things in the vicinity of an item of interest). football field: The field on which athletes play American football. Owing to its size and familiarity, many people use this field as a measure of how big something is. A regulation field (including its end zones) runs 360 feet (almost 110 meters) long and 160 feet (almost 49 meters) wide. forest: An area of land covered mostly with trees and other woody plants. granular: Composed of granules or grains. greenhouse gas: A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing heat. Carbon dioxide is one example of a greenhouse gas. gut: An informal term for the gastrointestinal tract, especially the intestines. host: (in biology and medicine) The organism (or environment) in which some other thing resides. Humans may be a temporary host for food-poisoning germs or other infective agents. (v.) The act of providing a home or environment for something. invasive species: A species that is found living, and often thriving, in an ecosystem other than the one in which it evolved. Some invasive species were deliberately introduced to an environment, such as a prized flower, tree or shrub. Some entered an environment unintentionally, such as a fungus whose spores traveled between continents on the winds. Still others may have escaped from a controlled environment, such as an aquarium or laboratory, and begun growing in the wild. What all of these so-called invasives have in common is that their populations are becoming established in a new environment, often in the absence of natural factors that would control their spread. Invasive species can be plants, animals or disease-causing pathogens. Many have the potential to cause harm to wildlife, people or to a region's economy. litter: (in biology) Decaying leaves and other plant matter on the surface of a forest floor. microbe: Short for microorganism. A living thing that is too small to see with the unaided eye, including bacteria, some fungi and many other organisms such as amoebas. Most consist of a single cell. mineral: Crystal-forming substances that make up rock, such as quartz, apatite or various carbonates. Most rocks contain several different minerals mish-mashed together. A mineral usually is solid and stable at room temperatures and has a specific formula, or recipe (with atoms occurring in certain proportions) and a specific crystalline structure (meaning that its atoms are organized in regular three-dimensional patterns). (in physiology) The same chemicals that are needed by the body to make and feed tissues to maintain health. native: Associated with a particular location; native plants and animals have been found in a particular location since recorded history began. These species also tend to have developed within a region, occurring there naturally (not because they were planted or moved there by people). Most are particularly well adapted to their environment. niche: A small or narrow pocket that sets something apart, or perhaps offers a region of protection. (In ecology) The term for the role that an organism plays in its community. nitrogen: A colorless, odorless and nonreactive gaseous element that forms about 78 percent of Earth's atmosphere. Its scientific symbol is N. Nitrogen is released in the form of nitrogen oxides as fossil fuels burn. It comes in two stable forms. Both have 14 protons in the nucleus. But one has 14 neutrons in that nucleus; the other has 15. For that difference, they are known, respectively, as nitrogen-14 and nitrogen-15 (or 14N and 15N). nutrient: A vitamin, mineral, fat, carbohydrate or protein that a plant, animal or other organism requires as part of its food in order to survive. sea: An ocean (or region that is part of an ocean). Unlike lakes and streams, seawater — or ocean water — is salty. seedling: The initial plant that sprouts leaves and roots after emerging from a seed. serpentine: Relating to serpents or snakes or their movements. species: A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce. toxic: Poisonous or able to harm or kill cells, tissues or whole organisms. The measure of risk posed by such a poison is its toxicity. unique: Something that is unlike anything else; the only one of its kind. weather: Conditions in the atmosphere at a localized place and a particular time. It is usually described in terms of particular features, such as air pressure, humidity, moisture, any precipitation (rain, snow or ice), temperature and wind speed. Weather constitutes the actual conditions that occur at any time and place. It's different from climate, which is a description of the conditions that tend to occur in some general region during a particular month or season.

You are subscribed to email updates from "How do you know if you have worms in your poop" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States