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Dog Heartworm Cough: The First Sign Of
Heartworms
The most common symptom of heartworm disease is a
persistent cough in the infected animal. Therefore, if you live in
an area where heartworms are common, you should make sure that you
are attentive of any coughs that your pet may have. If your dog is
coughing regularly for more than a few days, you should contact your
veterinarian and see about bringing your dog in for a heartworm
test.
The dog heartworm cough is caused by large, adult heartworms that
have grown so large that they are blocking parts of your dog's
lungs. Since the worms grow slowly, you will have enough time to
figure out whether or not the cough is actually caused by
heartworms. However, you should also keep in mind that by the time
there are adult heartworms in your dog's system, the heartworm
infection is already very severe.
Fatigue is another common heartworm symptom.
Even though the dog heartworm cough is one of the first symptoms of
this disease, it is not the only one that you should be looking out
for. One way to determine whether or not the cough is due to
heartworms is to pay attention to your dog while it is exercising.
If you notice that your dog gets tired much more quickly than it
should be, then it is possible that it is experiencing fatigue due
to a heartworm infection.
It cannot be stressed enough that you should get regular heartworm
tests for all of your susceptible animals, especially if you live in
an area where there are mosquitoes year-round.
Heartworm is easier to catch in healthy dogs.
Coughing can be a symptom of other serious diseases, many of which
involve the heart. Therefore, you should always get your dog tested
by a vet if you notice any of these symptoms.
If you're worried about any illnesses, the best defense is to make
sure that your dog is healthy in general. Heartworm symptoms in are
much more noticeable in healthy dogs than they are in dogs that
usually have difficulty breathing.
You can keep your dog healthy by making sure that you are buying
healthy dog food formulas and allowing it to get plenty of exercise.
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