By Colleen Collier, QK Veterinary and Wellness Technician

Did you know that heartworm disease is spread by mosquitos?

They can carry the infective heartworm larvae; the larvae migrate from the bite wound through the dog’s body until it reaches the heart and blood vessels of the lungs. Then it sits there and grows. Grows to a point where the dog’s health becomes affected by it and it becomes life threatening.

With these typical New England days, the weather is consistently inconsistent which means unpredictable weather changes. It is the 28th of February and we are expected to reach up to 55 degrees today, next week however we are to have a lovely snow mixture. Point is, due to the temperature roller coaster ride, the mosquitos can remain active year-round. Be on the safe side and continue to give that heartworm prevention, or if you stopped the preventative for the winter, I advise you begin it now. Most of those preventives do more than just prevent heartworm, they can prevent intestinal worms, mange, fleas and ticks. Stopping this medication will leave your pet exposed to picking these things up.

It’s a relatively inexpensive every month and will protect them from a disease worth thousands.