This week on Dr. Molly Says, it’s just me… and we’re talking about one of the most important diseases in veterinary medicine that somehow still manages to be one of the most misunderstood: heartworm disease. 

I know, I know… heartworms aren't exactly the sexiest podcast topic BUT if you've ever wondered, "Does my indoor dog really need heartworm prevention?" or "Is heartworm prevention actually safe?" or "Can't I just skip it during the winter?"… we're answering all of it.

We start with Heartworm 101 (don't worry, I'll make parasites as fun as they can possibly be 🤝). We talk about how dogs actually get heartworms, why mosquitoes are the real villains here, and how these parasites somehow manage to make their way from one tiny mosquito bite all the way into your dog's heart and lungs. (Nature is... honestly kind of terrifying.)

Then we get into the questions I hear every single day in practice.

• How heartworm disease actually develops
• Why your dog can have heartworms for MONTHS before showing any symptoms
• The scary complications veterinarians worry about (including caval syndrome)
• What heartworm treatment actually looks like... and why we'd all rather prevent it than treat it
• How heartworm preventatives actually work (because they don't work the way most people think they do)
• Whether indoor dogs really need heartworm medication (spoiler: yes 😅)

If you've ever had questions about heartworm prevention (or you've seen one too many TikToks trying to convince you it's more dangerous than heartworm itself) this episode is for you.

LOVE YOU GUYS 💛

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome back! Why we're talking about heartworm disease

01:20 What heartworm actually is

03:58 How mosquitoes transmit heartworm

07:18 The heartworm life cycle explained

11:10 What heartworms do inside the body

15:57 Early signs of heartworm disease

17:34 Right-sided heart failure & caval syndrome

20:13 Wolbachia bacteria & why it matters for treatment

22:30 How veterinarians diagnose heartworm disease

25:45 Heartworm treatment explained

30:39 Why treatment is expensive (and dangerous)

31:39 Heartworm prevention myths debunked

32:28 How heartworm preventatives actually work

34:24 Ivermectin, resistance & prevention options

36:30 Why year-round prevention matters

37:43 Why your vet recommends annual heartworm testing

38:31 Indoor dogs still need prevention

39:20 LOVE YOU GUYS 💛

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Listen to the pod on YouTube/Spotify/Apple:

https://www.youtube.com/@drmollysayspod 

https://open.spotify.com/show/7xmKqrXGPJXpsbDbtCMgfe?si=17148ddc74604cb1 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-molly-says-podcast/id1800302028

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