Page 4 - Stuart Exposure - March '25

Page 4, Stuart Exposure
Tip Of The Tail

Heartworms This can cause irreversible changes to the heart muscle, directly from your veterinarian, these products come

as well as damaging your pet’s lungs causing a cough with a guarantee from the manufacturers. Contact your
or shortness of breath on walks, etc. In untreated cases, veterinarian to determine which option might be best
congestive heart failure can result in fluid accumulation for you and your pet’s lifestyle. If your dog has been off
in the pet’s abdomen. Heartworm disease can be treated, prevention or missed doses, your veterinarian will likely
but it does carry an expense that far outweighs the cost want to perform a simple blood test to ensure he or she
of keeping your pet on prevention – not to mention the has not already contracted heartworms. It can take up to
potentially long-term effects on your pet’s heart muscle. six months for heartworms to be detected via blood test.
For an average 40-pound dog, it would cost as low as $12 So, if you’ve recently adopted a dog with an unknown
per month to keep him or her protected, depending on medication history, you’ll likely want to retest six months
the product chosen. Alternatively, if the same pet were to after the initial sampling.
become infected with heartworms, the cost to eradicate Established in 1981, Palm City Animal Medical Center
them could be 10 times the yearly amount depending on is dedicated to providing the best possible care for your
the treatment. pets. With focuses on compassionate care in surgery,
As many of you may or may not be aware, heartworm Thankfully, there are many options for preventing physical therapy and rehabilitation, preventative medicine,
disease is fairly prevalent here in Florida. It is a potentially heartworms in our small animal companions. The mainstay extensive diagnostics, and emergency service, Palm City
fatal disease that is spread to dogs and cats via mosquitoes. is a monthly preventative pill, with many of the products Animal Medical Center combines exceptional medical
The good news? It is completely preventable with including protection against fleas and intestinal parasites. care with a caring philosophy for pets and their owners.
heartworm prevention, usually in the form of a monthly These medications come with stickers in the packaging For more information, call (772) 283-0920, visit www.
pill. But did you know that your pet is still at risk of that you can place on your monthly calendar to remind palmcityanimalmedicalcenter.com or find us on Facebook
contracting the disease in fall and winter months? There you when it’s time to give the prevention. If purchased at www.facebook.com/PalmCityAnimalClinic.
is sometimes a false perception that because we see less
mosquitoes during that time, that the risk of your pet
getting heartworms is not present. Unfortunately, this Safari Nights Roars To Success from page 1 since 1982. The 200-plus
isn’t the case. We see heartworms year-round, especially members of the volunteer
here in Florida. Additionally, mosquitoes routinely travel Treasure Coast Hospice’s youth and family grief group have raised nearly
inside our homes to escape the elements and in search of support programs help children and teens overcome the $5,000,000 to support the
a blood meal. Therefore, even indoor animals or pets that challenges of grief to find healing, assist families through organization.
only go outside to use the restroom are still at risk. And grief counseling, and enable the Treasure Coast Hospice For more information
here’s another alarming fact: One heartworm positive Crisis Response Team to support communities, businesses about Treasure Coast
dog in the neighborhood (this can be someone’s pet or a and schools when tragedies occur. Hospice, the FFOTCH or
stray) will result in 74 percent of the mosquitoes having The FFOTCH have supported the Treasure Coast its comprehensive grief
infected heartworm larvae. This means that your pet, if Hospice mission to provide access to compassionate, counseling services, visit
not on heartworm prevention, is at an even greater risk. caring, expert and professional hospice and grief support www.TreasureHealth.org.
As previously mentioned, heartworm disease can be a services to patients and families at the end of life Photos by Liz McKinley Dan Bailey and Gale Langford
fatal disease, in which adult worms measuring up to 14
inches long can lodge in the heart and major blood vessels.

Rita May Wright and Ted Kenny Jean Daniels, Beth McKay, Patricia Imperiale, Barbara Smith and Kate Morris

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