Here's what dog, cat and ferret owners need to know about heartworms and how their pet can get them--as well as why they should opt for safe and easy heartworm prevention.

1. Why should you
WORRY About
HEARTWORMS?

2. Your veterinarian has
probably told you your pet
needs protection from
heartworms. Both dogs and
cats—as well as ferrets—can
get them. But what exactly
ARE heartworms?

3. Heartworms are parasitic worms that can live
in your pet’s heart and the blood vessels of
the lungs.

4. Pets DON’T get
heartworms directly
from other pets. They
are spread when a
mosquito carrying
infective heartworm
larvae bites your pet.
In fact, mosquitoes are
vital to the heartworm’s
ability to survive and
spread.

5. First, heartworms
mate inside infected
dogs, coyotes and
wolves and produce
millions of
microscopic babies
(larvae) that live in
the animal’s
bloodstream.
Oh NO!

6. When a female mosquito
looking for a blood meal bites
an infected animal, the
heartworm larvae hitch a ride
into the mosquito’s body.

7. The larvae spend
the next couple of
weeks in the
mosquito’s body,
maturing into
larvae. At this
point, the mosquito
can spread the
infection when she
feeds on
unprotected pets.

8. They start out tiny, but heartworms grow up fast.
Within just a few months, they can grow to be a FOOT
long or even LONGER inside your dog, causing
serious—even fatal—damage.

9. Adult heartworms in cats
grow to be 8 or 9 inches long,
but that’s huge when you
consider a cat’s heart is only
about the size of a golf ball.

10. Dogs can harbor many adult worms—more than
100 of them in some cases. Cats and ferrets
have fewer worms, but even a single heartworm
can be deadly for these smaller pets.
“Yikes, Charlie,
did they say
100
WORMS???”
“Max, they also
said just one
heartworm
could KILL me!”

11. If you’re still wondering why you
should worry about heartworms,
consider these odds:

12. If an infected mosquito feeds on a
dog that’s not on heartworm
prevention, a study showed it is
almost 100% likely to develop
heartworm infection, with 60% of the
larvae developing into adult worms.

13. Meanwhile,
heartworm
preventives are
almost 100%
effective in
preventing
heartworms if used
on time 12 months
a year!
Makes
sense to
me!

14. The odds of infection are almost
as high for unprotected cats. Most
immature worms die before
becoming adults, but still can cause
vascular damage and disease.
Meanwhile, adult worms cause
VERY serious disease.

15. Heartworm preventives
are nearly 100%
effective in these pets,
too.
But while heartworms
can be treated in dogs,
there are no approved
treatments for cats and
ferrets.
Makes
purrfect
sense to
us.

16. Why WORRY about
HEARTWORMS?
You don’t need to IF you
follow your veterinarian’s
advice and do this:
• Discuss which
heartworm preventive
is right for your pet.
• Administer the
preventive year-round.
Your pets will thank you!

17. For more information, visit
heartwormsociety.org.
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