Heartworm disease and tick-borne infections cause significant preventable suffering in dogs. Understanding prevention, recognising symptoms, and ensuring access to treatment protects dog welfare.
Heartworm and tick-borne diseases cause significant preventable suffering in dogs. Established heartworm infection causes progressive cardiopulmonary deterioration with exercise intolerance, coughing, and eventual organ failure — a welfare deterioration occurring over months to years. Treatment is itself welfare-compromising: the requirement for strict exercise restriction during melarsomine treatment is challenging for both dogs and owners, and treatment carries mortality risk in severe cases. Prevention is dramatically preferable: monthly oral or topical preventives are highly effective, affordable, and have excellent safety profiles. The geographic expansion of disease vectors driven by climate change means prevention is increasingly relevant to dog owners in previously low-risk areas. Veterinary access disparities mean that dogs in lower-income households often lack consistent preventive care, creating preventable welfare burdens in these populations.