Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in both dogs and cats. The disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis (D. immitis) continues to cause severe disease and even death in dogs and other animals, even though safe, highly effective and convenient preventatives have been available for the past 20 years. Furthermore, the parasite [...]

The heartworm Dirofilaria immitis is an important parasite of dogs. Transmitted by mosquitoes in warmer climatic zones, it is spreading across America at an alarming pace. There is no vaccine, and chemotherapy is prone to complications. To learn more about this parasite, experimental biologists have sequenced the genomes of D. immitis and its endosymbiont Wolbachia. [...]

Cannabis in Nevada became legal for recreational use effective January 1, 2017, having been legalized by ballot initiative in 2016. Medical marijuana use was legalized by ballot initiative in 2000 and has been available to licensed individuals in the state since shortly after that date. As laws regarding marijuana use become laxer, people are using [...]

It is my opinion that year-round heartworm prevention does improve client compliance and the overall safety of the pet and the family. My experience as a clinical veterinarian is that dog owners who stopped giving heartworm preventative compounds over the winter either starting giving the preventative late or did not give it all the following [...]

Heartworm disease in dogs is a silent killer that is often overlooked until it’s too late. This preventable condition starts with a mosquito bite and ends with either a long, expensive treatment or death. Symptoms may not appear until the worm reaches maturity (usually around 6 months). SIGNS OF HEARTWORMS IN A DOG [...]

Animal shelters must frequently make difficult decisions regarding the allocation of limited resources to appropriately care for the millions of dogs and cats that enter their doors annually. Lack of funds for staffing, expertise, and guidance on heartworm disease management in animal shelters creates significant confusion on how these facilities should appropriately address heartworm infection [...]

THE INFORMATION BELOW HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY THE MANUFACTURER OF NAGAYU CO2 SKIN THERAPY PRODUCTS: What is Nagayu Skin Care? “Nagayu is a compressed tablet consisting of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and bicarbonate. The system adds ions into the rinse following the shampoo, which has been an effective treatment on humans for years,” according [...]

The Humane Society of America estimates that over 60% of American homes have pets. Dogs and cats remain the most common pets in America, accounting for more than 90% of the total number of pets in the country. This trend is quite encouraging as it means humans are showing love to other species more than [...]

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE CDC REGARDING HEARTWORM DISEASE IN DOGS: It is important to reiterate that humans are not a natural host for heartworm disease. In rare cases, heartworms have infected people, but it does not complete its life cycle. The heartworm will migrate to the lung and cause a round lesion that looks like [...]

Feline heartworm disease is a very different clinical entity from canine heartworm disease. In cats, the arrival and death of immature heartworms in the pulmonary arteries can cause coughing and dyspnea as early as 3 months post-infection. Adult heartworms suppress the function of pulmonary intravascular macrophages and thus reduce clinical disease in chronic feline heartworm [...]