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heartworm

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heartworm

Species (Dirofilaria immitis) of filarial worm that parasitizes mammals, especially dogs. Up to 500 adult heartworms, which can grow to 6–12 in. (15–30 cm) long, live in the dog's heart, and the microfilariae (embryonic larvae) pass into the blood. Mosquitoes transfer infested blood from dog to dog. Both adult and larval heartworms tax the heart and restrict blood flow to the lungs, kidneys, and liver. By the time visible symptoms (chronic cough, labored breathing, listlessness, heart failure) develop, it may be too late for treatment. Preventive medicines and treatments, including surgery, exist.
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Your mom has begged you all week to give Sparky his heartworm pill but, somehow, you've managed to do everything--including arranging your socks by color--but take care of the dog.
Ms. Last-Minute: always putting stuff off? There's a name for your ... by Kershaw, Leah / Girls' Life
Their veterinarian treated her for heartworm and other maladies, and said she had probably never seen a veterinarian before.
STRAY GOES FROM HURRICANE HERO TO L.A. STAR by Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Testing was conducted by using the IDEXX 3Dx kit, used widely by Maine veterinarians to screen clinically normal dogs during heartworm season.
Antibody testing and Lyme disease risk by Rand, Peter W. / Emerging Infectious Diseases
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