Veterinary Medicine Essentials: Heartworm disease

December 22, 2016

Each Veterinary Medicine Essentials package covers diagnostic steps, treatment plan guidance and the latest updates, plus resources to share with your entire veterinary team and your clients.

Mosquitoes-a hated villain in all veterinary clinics because they spread heartworm disease. Regular heartworm preventive administration is key, but this is one area of client compliance where we must improve. Here are our best articles on heartworm disease transmission and prevention, along with ways to help spread the message about the direness of this disease to boost that compliance.

Updates on heartworm disease

How to get 100% compliance on flea, tick and heartworm preventives

Sep 13, 2016

OK... maybe not 100%. But these five strategies can help increase client compliance with parasite prevention products. ...

New research cited in support of change to heartworm protocol

Aug 11, 2016

Study examines effects of topical repellent-insecticide plus oral heartworm preventive on development of heartworm disease. ...

Parasite compliance-there's a hack for that.

Aug 03, 2016

Put parasite woes to rest with these client education and communication tips, as well as a few ideas to make those fecal exams stink less. Literally. ...

Heartworm prevention: The questionable zero mosquito factor

Apr 06, 2016

Even areas with fewer mosquitos can be hotbeds of heartworm infection. ...

Heartworm update: Antigen tests may return false negatives

Jan 26, 2016

Make sure infections aren't getting past your veterinary team ...

Pictorial evidence: Heartworm disease and its damage

Apr 20, 2015

Even if heartworm infection is treated, we all know it does serious, permanent damage to the body. This in-depth look at that damage will renew your commitment to consistent prevention recommendations for your veterinary patients. ...

Diagnosing heartworm disease

Heartworm Negative? Are you sure?

Antigen testing can result in a false negative. ...

Recommendations for diagnosing, treating, and preventing heartworm disease

We now have an arsenal of test kits and prophylactics to choose from, and it can be confusing to know which to purchase. We tend to mold ourselves to the product instead of molding the product to the individual patient. This article should help you tailor the heartworm diagnostic, therapeutic, and prophylactic options to each of your canine and feline patients. ...

CAPC urges yearly microfilariae testing in new heartworm guidelines

Parasitology group updates recommendations for veterinarians based on frequency of false negative antigen test results. ...

Checking for heartworm disease

Thorough testing helps keep more pets protected from heartworm disease. ...

Symbiosis in parasitology: Heartworm recommendations updated

NCVP, CAPC address emerging needs in understanding and managing heartworms and other complex parasites. ...

Treating and preventing heartworm disease

Heartworm prevention: "Oops, I missed a dose!"

It happens. It happens a lot. Here are your best practices when a lapse in heartworm preventive delivery occurs. ...

American Heartworm Society issues revised guidelines

Resistance acknowledged; new veterinary testing methods recommended. ...

Getting a handle on heartworm resistance

AHS experts discuss what veterinarians and their clients need to know about the emergence of 'evil heartworms.' ...

Important heartworm basics for the practicing veterinarian

Dr. Byron Blagburn offers support to understanding why the life cycle and epidemiology of heartworms is required for diagnostic, treatment and control strategies. ...

Overcoming the barriers to heartworm prevention in your veterinary clinic

See how four veterinarians from across the country achieve year-round compliance. ...

CAPC changes heartworm guidelines due to evidence of resistance

'Slow kill' method no longer recommended in cases of infection. ...

Q and A: Veterinary client noncompliance and heartworm resistance

A veterinarian asks, 'What if my client won't agree to CAPC-based treatment of infection?' Dr. Dwight Bowman responds. ...

Associated conditions

Heartworm's little friend: How eliminating Wolbachia affects treatment outcomes

Parasite seems dependent on this bacteria for survival, reproduction. ...

Severe pulmonary hypertension and cardiovascular sequelae in dogs

Pulmonary hypertension is increased blood pressure in the pulmonary vascular system. ...

Client education

Why aren't you talking about feline heartworms?!

Feline heartworm has been diagnosed in all 50 states, and it was important enough the American Association of Feline Practitioners crafted an entire campaign about it. So why don't veterinary technicians talk about preventive care as much as they could? ...

Heartworm prevention: The reminder quagmire

Forgetting that monthly preventive-it's so easy to do, even for veterinarians and their own pets (you know you've forgotten a time or two!). Here's why and how to not let clients skip a dose again. ...

Have a heart: Heartworm preventive compliance

Appeal to veterinary clients' hearts and wallets with this client handout. ...

Help veterinary clients understand the heartworm life cycle in pets

For pet owners struggling to grasp the importance of heartworm prevention, try this handout. ...

Feline heartworm disease: Why you should be screening for it in your veterinary practice

You may be surprised to find the incidence of this often-fatal disease is higher than you think-even in your practice. ...

Busted! 11 myths about feline heartworm disease

Make sure your team and your clients know the truth when it comes to this deadly but preventable disease in cats. ...

Client handout: Feline heartworm Q&A

Use this form to answer clients' most common questions about the disease. ...

Arming your team

Answers to 3 common price questions about flea, tick and heartworm preventives

Consider these scripts when fielding questions from veterinary clients about the cost of flea, tick and heartworm preventives. ...

Plan a team meeting on heartworm education

Use these tips to teach your veterinary team to talk about the latest heartworm news with pet owners. ...

The heartworm toolkit

This toolkit delivers team training, free client handouts, exam room education strategies and more, all designed to make it as easy as possible for veterinarians and their teams to discuss heartworm disease with clients and promote year-round prevention in dogs and cats. (With an educational grant provided by Merck Animal Health) ...