In the dead of winter in parts of the country where the mercury drops below the freezing point and it snows often, owners are probably not seeing mosquitoes. But that doesn’t mean the threat of heartworm disease goes into hibernation.
Preventing heartworm can be as important in the winter as it is in the summer.
• Heartworm medicine works by killing the parasites that your pet picked up the previous month. If you stop giving it in the fall or early winter, the parasites might remain and cause an infection.
• In many regions, the weather remains mild and mosquitoes continue to bite and cause heartworm disease.
• If you live in a cold climate, but travel with your pet to warm places, you may expose your pet to the threat of heartworm infection.
• Finally, getting the timing of when to stop and start giving heartworm medicine right is much more difficult than staying on a regular monthly schedule. And while prevention is inexpensive, treatment is not. You may not see mosquitoes buzzing around in the middle of winter, but the threat of heartworm disease hasn’t disappeared.
Protect your pet — every month, all year round.
This fact sheet was produced by the American Heartworm Society 2012
