Did you know… Kansas City has a high rate of heartworm disease?  The incidence of heartworm in the Kansas City metropolitan area ranges from five to forty-five percent in untreated dogs!

      Heartworm infected dogs suffer from cardiovascular, respiratory, kidney, and liver disease and serve as a reservoir of infection to other dogs.  Early detection is the key to successful treatment.  Infected pets that receive preventive medication are at risk of experiencing an anaphylactic-like shock reaction.  The test requires less than 1/10th ml blood and can be run in less than ten minutes.

Our Policy

1)      We advocate the administration of a once-a-month heartworm preventive each and every month for every year of your dog’s life.

2)      We will only dispense medication to dogs current on testing since infected dogs can have a serious reaction when given preventive medication.  We require blood testing of dogs over six months of age on either a yearly or every-other-year schedule.

a.       If you are certain that your dog received preventive each and every month for twenty-four consecutive months without missing a dose and without vomiting within ten hours of administration, then your pet is eligible for every-other-year testing.

b.      If you only give preventive during the mosquito season then your pet should be tested prior to beginning the preventive in the spring.

3)      If your pet misses one or more doses of preventive you should consult with our staff.  You will likely be asked to test prior to administering preventive and/or you may be asked to re-test six months following the last missed dose.

This policy is in place because we care about your pet and we realize that circumstances, sometimes beyond your control or recognition, can result in prevention failure.  It is important to understand that dogs infected with adult heartworms that start on a preventive can have adverse reactions.  Please don’t let this happen to your pet!