This is a disease of growing importance for all dog owners in Hong Kong.  Due to the increase mobility of dogs with their owners, especially in a cosmopolitan place such as Hong Kong, the incidence of canine Heartworm disease is on the increase.  All it takes for an infection to occur is the presence of an already infected dog and the transmitter of the disease, the mosquito.

Clinical Symptoms

The earliest signs of canine Heartworm disease include coughing, laboured breathing, weakness and increasing exercise intolerance.  Due to the presence if the adult heartworms in the right ventricle and pulmonary arteries of the heart, there is an increase resistance to the flow of blood, thereby causing the blood pooling in the liver and spleen.  If there is a high count of adult heartworms the dog may develop congestive heart failure.

Diagnosis

A diagnosis can be based on an examination of blood sample microscopically.  Confirmation is usually done with the use of an antigen test using a fresh blood sample.

Treatment/Prevention

The best treatment is to prevent the infection in the first place. The most common treatments include a monthly oral treatment with products such as Heartgard/Plus or Milbemycin.  Clients may also find it convenient to have their pets vaccinated yearly with products such as Proheart.

If the dog already has an established colony of adult heartworm, treatment can be quite risky, time consuming and relatively expensive.  Treatment involves treatment with drugs which could potentially cause adverse reactions.  Fatalities are possible if the patient is very sick.