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Understanding the threat

Protecting your pooch is job #1. Learn about the causes of heartworm disease and how HEARTGARD Plus can help proctect your dog.

Get to the heart of the problem

When it comes to heartworm disease, prevention is the most effective treatment for you and your dog.

Learn More
5 signs your dog may have heartworms
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3 tips for preventing heartworm disease in your dog
Read Article
Where do heartworms come from?
Read Article
HEARTWORM DISEASE 101
Easily contracted. Potentially deadly.

70 days after a single bite from an infective mosquito, adult heartworms can reach your dog’s lungs. And then the real trouble starts: Serious and potentially fatal, heartworm disease can cause lasting damage to the blood vessels of the heart and lungs. If your dog has heartworms, you might notice signs, including coughing, difficulty breathing, sluggishness, reduced ability to exercise, and even loss of consciousness. Or you might not notice anything, as not all dogs exhibit symptoms—which is why prevention is recommended over expensive treatment that can be a prolonged, painful, and not always successful ordeal for your dog.

Icon/HeartwormDisease Created with Sketch.
Stats
1,000,000
Dogs infected with adult heartworms in the US1
64%
Of dogs leave clinics without a heartworm disease preventative¹
1
Bite from an infected mosquito is all it takes to transmit heartworm disease to your dog
Inside or out, year-round, all dogs are at risk for heartworm disease no matter where you live in the US2
Infection risk
no data high risk
2018 USA Canine Heartworm
137,340
Positive Cases
10,412,597
Total Tested
Infection risk
no data high risk

CAPC Monthly Animal Parasite Alert. (2018). Accessed December 13, 2018, from https://www.capcvet.org/maps#2018/all/heartworm-canine/dog/united-states/

CAPC reference ICON (1) Created with Sketch.
Intestinal Parasites 101
Hookworms & Roundworms

Just like heartworms, hookworms and roundworms are dangerous—and potentially invisible—threats to your pooch. Both can live in a dog’s intestines and cause a range of clinical signs. Roundworms are particularly troublesome, with an estimated 90+% of puppies under 3 months old infected.³

 

Unlike with heartworms, your dog can pass both hook- and roundworms to you. In fact, the CDC estimates that over 10,000 Americans get roundworms every year.⁴ Both can be contracted from either contact with contaminated soil or accidental ingestion.

Hookworms

Transmitted when

Contaminated soil is ingested • Larvae in the soil actively penetrates the skin • An infected mother nurses her puppies

Roundworms

Transmitted when

Contact is made with the feces of an infected animal • An infected mother nurses her puppies • Passed from a mother to a fetus through the placenta

Keeping your home mosquito-free
Install screens in doors & windows
Eliminate any standing water
Use bug spray when outside
Keep your home cool & dry
Test your heartworm knowledge

Keeping your dog indoors for most of the year protects them against heartworm disease.

False. Despite your best efforts, it’s possible for mosquitos to get into your home—and since it only takes one bite to infect your dog, they’re still at risk indoors as well as out.

If your dog has heartworm disease, there will be visible signs to alert you.

False. Heartworm disease can be hard to detect. While some dogs will present persistent cough, fatigue, and fainting, others will show no signs at all.