April is Heartworm Awareness Month. Heartworm is a preventable disease spread by mosquitoes. Left untreated, it can cause permanent damage and death. But prevention is affordable and easy. Here are eight things you should know to protect your pet.

1. Heartworm can kill your pet. Heartworm is caused by a parasitic worm called Dirofilaria immitis that enters your pet’s body after an infected mosquito bites your pet. Worm larvae left by the infected mosquito-spread through your pet’s bloodstream and migrate to your pet’s heart and surrounding arteries. The worms take 5 to 7 months to mature. Female worms are about the size of spaghetti noodles (up to 14” long) and produce millions of offspring that live in your pet’s bloodstream. Hundreds of adult worms can live inside an infected pet. As worms clog your pet’s heart and blood vessels, they block proper circulation and can lead to lung damage, organ failure, and death.

2. Texas is one of the top 10 states with the highest rates of Heartworm. Every three years the American Heartworm Society gathers data from thousands of veterinary clinics across the country to track the spread of Heartworm. Texas consistently ranks among the top 10 states with the highest rates of Heartworm infection. In 2019, the most recent year the study was performed, Texas clinics participating in the study reported 100 cases or more of Heartworm, compared to fewer than 5 cases reported by clinics in areas such as North Dakota. Both the American Heartworm Society and the Companion Animal Parasite Council rank Texas as a zone for extremely high rates of Heartworm.

3. Signs of heartworm include lethargy, shortness of breath, and fatigue. In the early stages of Heartworm, there are few symptoms. As the worms grow in size and number, your pet may develop a cough, become short of breath, grow lethargic, lose its appetite and lose weight. By the time your pet develops symptoms, the disease may have already caused permanent damage to your pet’s heart and organs.

4. Heartworm can infect cats. It is rarer for Heartworm larvae to grow to maturity in cats, but once they do, there is no treatment for cats with Heartworms. Cats cannot be treated with the same medication used for dogs, so the only protection for cats is prevention.

5. It costs less than $8 a month to prevent Heartworm. Heartworm prevention often takes the form of chewable tablets that you give your pet once a month. Tablets from Spay Neuter Network cost $30 for a 6-month supply for dogs less than 25 pounds ($5 a month). The cost is $35 for a 6-month supply for dogs that are 26 to 50 pounds and $45 for dogs over 50 pounds. The cost for a full year of prevention is even cheaper.

6. It costs $500 to $1,000 or more to treat Heartworm. If your pet gets infected with Heartworms, treatment is costly, complicated, and lengthy. The exact cost of treating Heartworm depends on the size of your dog and the stage of the disease. Before treatment, your pet may need x-rays, blood tests, and an echocardiogram to determine how much damage the disease has already caused your pet’s body. Treatment starts with a combination of medicines taken orally, including prevention medication and medication to minimize a negative reaction later when the worms begin dying in your pet’s body. After taking these medicines for several months, your pet will get its first injection of melarsomine to kill the adult Heartworms. Thirty (30) days after the first injection, your pet will need a 2nd injection. Twenty-four (24) hours after the 2nd injection, your pet will need a third injection. During treatment, your pet cannot exercise. No jumping, playing, or running. Pets need to stay as calm as possible during this period because the dying worms are getting dislodged from your pet’s heart and surrounding arteries. As they travel through your pet’s blood vessels, exertion can cause these worms to lodge in other arteries, especially those in your pet’s lungs, causing a pulmonary blockage that can lead to shock and death. Injections are given deep into your pet’s muscles and may cause pain. Your vet may prescribe pain medication. Depending on your pet’s age and health and the severity of its Heartworm disease, your vet may also recommend that your pet stays at the clinic overnight after injection in case of a negative reaction. It is much easier and far less costly to prevent Heartworm than it is to treat it.

7. Heartworm prevention keeps your pet healthy in other ways. Most kinds of Heartworm medication also prevent other worms. Currently, the Heartworm prevention tablets provided at Spay Neuter Network also prevent two kinds of roundworm (oxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina) and three kinds of hookworm (Ancylostoma caninum, Uncinaria stenocephala, Ancylostoma braziliense).

8. Start prevention early. Puppies and kittens can get bitten by an infected mosquito as soon as they are born. The American Heartworm Society recommends that you start giving your puppy or kitten prevention medication when they are 8 weeks old. Giving your pet Heartworm prevention medication once a month is the safest, easiest, and most affordable way to protect your pet from a preventable disease that can cause lasting damage and death.

Dr. Deresz talks about the importance of spaying and neutering including reducing the number of unwanted pets.

Spaying and neutering is the most effective way to reduce the homeless pet population and end pet euthanasia in our shelters. It is safe for puppies and kittens as young as eight weeks old, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

During January, get your male dog (39 pounds and under) neutered for $30. Make an appointment by phone or online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Click here or call 972.472.3500.

This special $30 rate is even less than our normal low-cost fee and is available to all residents in North Texas. Pet parents who wish to take advantage of this offer must mention the “Happy Neuter Year” campaign when they schedule their appointment.

Bonnie Hill is retiring as our Executive Director after serving Spay Neuter Network (SNN) for 16 years. Below is a note from her to all of our supporters, volunteers, and patrons. Thank you so much, Bonnie!

As many know, I founded Spay Neuter Network in 2004. It has never been just a job for me, but a large part of who I am and a great source of pride. I love SNN – the mission, the clients we serve, and especially the people who make it all happen. My love for our work and impassioned pursuit of greatness for SNN has never wavered. Rather, it has grown as we have pushed the envelope on what is possible. We’ve advanced from a small spay/neuter provider servicing one rural county to the creators of incredible national award-winning work. We’ve grown, from a grassroots organization to a leading national nonprofit helping to change the vision of how animals live across the U.S.
I am leaving a position I absolutely love with an organization that is on the verge of changing the world through new innovative educations programs, surgical veterinary training programs with several corporate veterinary providers, a cat program that requires the community to pitch in and do their part, and a pet resource and support center that is working to change the world of sheltering to no sheltering at all. The time is right for this change, and I have never been more excited about the future of this organization. I work with an incredibly supportive, innovative, and high-functioning board of directors. I am inspired daily by a staff team with unparalleled talents, a constant drive for excellence, and a willingness to step outside the box to come up with new ways to solve our pet overpopulation problem. And I have been deeply motivated by you — our donors and volunteers. You’ve trusted, supported, and partnered with our team as we’ve taken bold leaps and achieved some lofty goals. Your personal stories inspired me and touched my heart every day.
I have always told the team we may be small compared to other organizations, who often have more money, more facilities, and more well-known names behind them, but we are a mighty organization changing the world for animals, which is our reason for being here all these years.
To ensure a smooth transition to new leadership, I will be working with our staff and board of directors over the next few months. With our fantastic team in place, SNN will not miss a beat. When I step aside, Victoria Cowper will take over as interim Executive Director on January 4, 2021. Victoria comes to us with more than 20 years of experience in animal welfare, so we know our team is in exceptionally good hands.
Deep down, we all want to make the world a little better than the condition it was in when we entered it. Working on behalf of SNN, with its local and national partners as well as pet parents in North Texas, has been one of my life’s greatest honors. Because of SNN, millions of dogs and cats have lived and will continue to live happier, healthier, more loving lives.
Thank you for all your support all these years. Because of people like you, we are building more humane communities for dogs and cats in North Texas.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Hill
Executive Director, Spay Neuter Network

On April 6th, Spay Neuter Network (SNN) launched the Pet Resource and Support Center – a collaboration between them, the City of Dallas, and Dallas Animal Services (DAS) – four months earlier than expected. Their goal was to provide services and resources to help keep pets in their homes or place pets directly into foster care or with rescue groups to keep them out of the city shelter entirely. The COVID-19 crisis, however, created the perfect storm where DAS was closed, but pet owners needed help right away, so SNN rolled out the program to meet those needs.

Since then, here are the five ways SNN’s Pet Resource and Support Center is helping pet owners and their pets through the pandemic.

• Provide services and resources to keep pets in their homes. Many times, pet owners just need help getting food or basic medical care for their pets to keep them in their homes. Through the Center, help is available. If someone has a dog or cat that keeps getting pregnant, SNN provides free or low-cost spay-neuter surgery for the pet. If the pet owner needs help with heartworm or flea and tick preventative for their pet, SNN can provide low-cost preventatives to keep their pets healthy. If the pet already has heartworm or skin, ear, or an eye condition that the pet owner can’t afford to treat, SNN can provide or find low-cost services to treat that pet.

 

• Look for alternative placements. If someone absolutely has to rehome their pet, SNN works on finding alternative placements, like with foster care volunteers or a rescue group, as an alternative to the city shelter. With this new model, foster volunteers and rescue groups can view pets being surrendered on a private Pet Resource and Support Center rescue Trello board. The board is color-coded so groups know if the dog or cat has been fixed and is up-to-date on their vaccinations. SNN provides all sterilizations and vaccinations prior to any placements. Even pets that have a scheduled appointment with DAS are listed on the Trello board so if a rescue group can take the pet in beforehand, the pet never has to enter the city shelter. SNN is currently working with a technology company to develop a program to track this huge database of rescue groups and foster volunteers to give them real-time vacancies for pet placement around the city based on a pet’s species, gender, age, and health.

 

• Get the pet owner involved in rehoming the pet. “Even though a pet owner is giving up their pet, most still want the best for their pet, and are often pickier than any animal shelter would be in where the animal ends up,” says Bonnie Hill, executive director for SNN. “We are trying to get the community involved in addressing animal welfare and the only way that can happen is if we get pet owners to become part of the solution.”To that end, SNN provides tips, strategies, and support on how to do this. So far, 10% of the calls they have received during the pandemic have successfully rehomed their pets. SNN is working to finalize partnerships with several rehoming sites to make it even easier for owners to rehome their pets.

 

• Schedule appointments for DAS. If SNN runs out of placement options and the owner can’t keep the pet, SNN is connected with DAS’s internal appointment system and can make appointments for them to surrender their pets, so the animals are entering the shelter on a space-available basis.“Most pet owners don’t want their pets at risk of euthanasia and seem happy to wait for an appointment,” says Hill. “This managed approach streamlines intake and helps DAS know what’s coming into the shelter. They may not have room for a five-year-old, 30-lb. heartworm positive dog today, but they may know they will have space five days later. These few days’ delays in bringing an animal into the shelter could save many other lives.”

 

• Expand the partnership. Even though SNN started with the City of Dallas and DAS, they are hoping other animal groups in Dallas will want to partner in the program. By partnering with other groups in the community, SNN is ensuring that resources and services, like food, crates, spay-neuter, vaccinations, and other health care or behavior-related support, are readily available to keep pets in their homes, whenever possible.Recently, they added Dallas Pets Alive (DPA) to the partnership. DPA has operated a diversion program for many years to keep animals out of DAS. They are now working directly with SNN to further enhance the services and resources available through the Pet Resource and Support Center, and financially supporting the technology development for the program.

 

(Editor’s note: SNN plans to share the database technology being created for the program with any group who wants to start a similar program in their community. To get on the waiting list for the technology roll-out, contact Bonniehill@spayneuternet.org.)