Everyone loves the benefits of having a pet, but not everyone is fully aware of how much work properly caring for a pet involves. Although they might be cute and cuddly like stuffed animals, unlike stuffed animals, pets require food, water, emotional nurturing, and perhaps most importantly, medical attention. And a large part of providing proper medical attention to your pet is being proactive about preventing parasites, such as heartworm.
Many popular household pets, such as cats and dogs, are at risk of developing heartworm, a mosquito born, parasitic condition in which roundworms form colonies within the heart of an animal. Over time, this causes a slew of health conditions and eventually death, so it’s extremely important to take measures to prevent this from happening. Failure to be proactive about preventing heartworm in your pet puts them at great risk and can diminish their overall quality of life.
One of the best ways to prevent heartworm disease is through regular veterinary check ups, which includes veterinary laboratory procedures and veterinary laboratory services such as heartworm antigen test kits. Veterinary diagnostics are needed in order to accurately diagnose heartworm in pets, and the most effective method for doing is with heartworm antigen testing.
There are many benefits to heartworm antigen testing, especially when paired with year round preventative heartworm medication. Read on to find out more!
Early detection
As with any kind of health condition, early detection is perhaps the greatest form of treatment. Heartworm is a fatal condition, but when found early, it can be treated appropriately and the effects can be reversed. But without a diagnosis or treatment, heartworm can and will kill your pet. The sooner heartworm is detected, the sooner something can be done about it.
Better quality of life
When heartworm is detected early enough, it can afford your pet a much better quality of life, with less pain and other negative physical symptoms, such as seizures, vomiting, weight loss, shortness of breath or asthma-like attacks, and even decreased energy and mobility. Living with these physical symptoms can also take an emotional and mental toll on your pet, and may cause their behavior to change. Treating heartworm by diagnosing it early allows your pet to enjoy its life to the fullest.
Save money
Veterinary treatments can be expensive, especially for long term and chronic health conditions. It’s much more affordable to find and treat conditions early instead of having to treat a serious condition in the long term. Preventative heartworm medication as well as heartworm antigen tests are much less expensive than long term treatment for advanced heartworm, and much less painful for your pet.