How dogs get heartworm?

It takes about seven months, once a dog is bitten by an infected mosquito, for the larvae to mature into adult heartworms. They then lodge in the heart, lungs, and surrounding blood vessels and begin reproducing. read more

Heartworm symptoms may take more than 6 months to appear. By: Josh. Heartworm disease in dogs is a silent killer that is often overlooked until it’s too late. This preventable condition starts with a mosquito bite and ends with either a long, expensive treatment or death. read more

When a dog is first infested with heartworm there are no visible or detectable signs. In fact, even a blood test will not detect heartworms initially. The changes in dogs begin when during the final molt of the heartworm larvae; it is then that the immature L5 larvae arrive in the right ventricle and neighboring blood vessels. read more