Heartworm At High Elevations

Reader Contribution by Bruce Mcelmurray
Published on April 3, 2017

We are multiple dog parents that live remotely at high elevation. When it comes to canine disease we are lay people with no specific training other than years of accumulated experience. We have been told by several veterinarians that heartworm is pretty much non-existent in our area because of our location and weather conditions. It is usually not even considered much of a possibility in our locale.

One of our four German Shepherd Dogs recently developed a dry cough and we took her to our vet for diagnosis and treatment. An x-ray was taken and all her vitals were good except it appeared she either had bronchitis or ‘possibly’ heartworm. Heartworm was discounted somewhat in favor of bronchitis since our area is not known for being heartworm infected. She is on treatment for bronchitis; however if she does not clear up soon she will be tested for heartworm even though our area has such low exposure for heartworm. As I studied her x-rays I was concerned from what I saw so I did some research on the parasite.

Heartworm Transmitters

Mosquitoes are the primary transmitter of heartworm in dogs and cats. An adult male mosquito has a lifespan of 10 days. A female adult mosquito has a lifespan of 42-56 days. In everything I have read and experienced pertaining to mosquitoes I have not discovered one single redeeming quality in the pest. I discovered that the males buzz to attract females but the males do not bite. The females are the ones who bite and suck blood.

How Heartworm Is Transmitted

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