Because heartworms are spread by mosquitoes, keeping pets indoors overnight and avoiding walks at dusk or dawn when mosquitoes may be feeding can help prevent exposure to mosquitoes that could be carrying heartworms.
They can be controlled naturally with citrus oils, cedar oils, and diatomaceous earth. Dogs needing conventional treatment may benefit from herbs such as milk thistle and homeopathics such as berberis; these minimize toxicity from the medications and dying heartworms.
Apple cider vinegar has numerous health benefits and is known to be effective in treating worms in dogs. Unlike other vinegar, apple cider vinegar increases the alkaline levels in the intestines of the dog. As a result, it creates an inhospitable environment for worms and other parasites.
Melarsomine dihydrochloride (available under the trade names Immiticide and Diroban) is an arsenic-containing drug that is FDA-approved to kill adult heartworms in dogs. It's given by deep injection into the back muscles to treat dogs with stabilized class 1, 2, and 3 heartworm disease.
MYTH: Coconut oil can cure heartworms.
FACT: Coconut oil does not cure heartworms in dogs. As discussed, the only effective treatment for heartworm disease in dogs is a series of injections of melarsomine.
Signs of heartworm disease may include a mild persistent cough, reluctance to exercise, fatigue after moderate activity, decreased appetite, and weight loss. As heartworm disease progresses, pets may develop heart failure and the appearance of a swollen belly due to excess fluid in the abdomen.
Add garlic to your pet's diet
This may sound strange, but garlic can actually help prevent heartworm. Feed your dog one clove of fresh garlic for every 10 pounds of body weight every day. You can even crush up the garlic and add it to their food.
Slow Kill Method
While not generally recommended, another method of handling heartworms is to only attack the microfilaria, leaving existing adult heartworms to die of natural causes. This is known as the slow kill method. It's cheaper and does not require a rest period and debilitating adulticide.
How Long Can a Dog Live Without Heartworm Treatment? A dog can live at least six to seven months from the date of infection.
No one wants to hear that their dog has heartworm, but the good news is that most infected dogs can be successfully treated. The goal is to first stabilize your dog if he is showing signs of disease, then kill all adult and immature worms while keeping the side effects of treatment to a minimum.
The heartworm preventives you are probably most familiar with are the once monthly tablets or chewables. These products typically contain either ivermectin or milbemycin as the active ingredient.
Myth #3: If my pet has heartworms, I will see them in her feces. Although many worm types, such as roundworms and tiny hookworms, are shed in your pet's feces, heartworms do not live in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and are not found in feces.
If owners can't afford treatment at the time of diagnosis, Dr. Herrin recommended delaying melarsomine therapy but still initiating treatment with both a preventive and doxycycline. This will prevent further infection and remove the dog as a heartworm reservoir.
Right now, heartworm disease can only be prevented through the regular and appropriate use of preventive medications, which are prescribed by your veterinarian. These medications are available as a once-a-month chewable, a once-a-month topical, and either a once or twice-a-year injection.
Although there are fewer mosquitoes in the winter, there is still a risk that your pet could get heartworms if you stop giving heartworm prevention medication during this season. That's one reason veterinarians strongly recommend pets receive heartworm prevention medication year-round.
A diagnosis of heartworms is not a death sentence, even in a somewhat older dog.
Why Is Heartworm Preventative So Expensive? The big drug companies that sell heartworm preventative make a healthy profit off of their products and are not about to help owners find a cheaper option. I do not have stocks in these companies, do not market their products, and do not mind if you find an alternative.
Ivermectin is most commonly used as a heartworm preventive in dogs and cats. It also used 'off label' or 'extra-label' for treating a variety of internal and external parasites.
Eating three cloves of raw garlic on an empty stomach every day for one week is one of the simplest ways to get rid of all types of intestinal worms. Alternatively, you can boil two crushed garlic cloves in one-half cup of milk and drink it on an empty stomach. Do this for about a week.
Give 1 tsp per 10 lbs of your dog's body weight per day. Garlic is another natural dewormer for dogs. If you give it to your dog in moderate amounts it can be a good way to fight worms. In fact, garlic can be as effective as conventional dewormers.
According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, garlic and other members of the allium family, including onions, contain thiosulfate, which is toxic to dogs but not to humans. Thiosulfate causes oxidative damage to red blood cells, resulting in hemolytic anemia.
Spring time is notoriously known as “heartworm season” for many pet owners as well as “flea and tick season”. There is truth to this! Springtime is when all of the creepy crawlies begin to come out of their hibernation and start infecting our pets (and sometimes us!) to start their lifecycles.
Six months after they bite your dog and inject those larval microfilariae heartworms into your dogs, it takes that six months for them to develop into that adult worm. So generally, it's anywhere from six to 12 months after they've been bitten; you may start noticing signs in your pet.
Dogs with heartworm infections will feel weaker, and will find it harder to remain active, even in low-energy activities. Weight loss and loss of appetite. In more advanced stages of heartworm infections, your dog will find it hard to complete normal physical tasks like eating.