Natural Cures for Canine Heart Worms
From LoveToKnow Dogs
If you want an alternative to conventional heartworm treatment, choose one of the natural cures for canine heart worms.
Heartworm: A Potential Deadly Illness
A heartworm infestation in your dog causes serious illness and possibly even death. Spread through the bite of an infected mosquito dirofilaria immitis, commonly known as heartworm, is able to live in a dog for years without there being any signs of the illness. Heartworms often live in the dog’s lungs while microfilariae, the larvae of the heartworm, live in the dog’s bloodstream for up to three years.
As the worms increase in number and size, they make their way into the dog’s heart and symptoms begin. Adult heartworms living in the dog’s heart can grow up to six inches in length. Generally, the heartworms infest the heart’s right side first, and then spread to the arteries of the lungs, the veins that enter the heart’s left side and the veins of the liver.
Preventing Heartworm Infestation
Just as in conventional medicine, using alternative methods and medications to prevent or treat canine heartworm is a complex subject. An essential aspect of holistic heartworm prevention and treatment is keeping your dog as healthy as possible with a strong immune system.
Many holistic veterinarians and proponents of alternative treatments for heartworm stress the importance of feeding your pet a diet that is healthy and free from commercially processed dog food. Many recommend a diet made up of mostly raw food including meat, vegetables and fruit. This type of diet promotes an immune system that is strong and healthy.
A healthy immune system is a strong defense against parasitic infestation of all types including heartworm, fleas and ticks. In many instances when a dog has an immune system that is strong and healthy, its own body is able to defend itself against heartworm larvae, killing it while it is in the bloodstream.
The Heart and the Circulatory System
Since mature heartworms lodge in the chambers of the right side of the heart, keeping your pet’s heart as healthy as possible helps protect against infestation. A strong fit heart and good circulatory system carries an ample oxygen supply throughout the dog’s body and provides plenty of white blood cells to fight off any infections that may develop.
Making sure your dog gets plenty of exercise and a nutritious diet will help keep its circulatory system and heart strong and healthy. Giving your dog a heart and circulation tonic, such as PetAlive Heart and Circulation Tonic, on a regular basis also increases heartworm protection.
Natural Cures for Canine Heart Worms
An alternative treatment for the prevention of heartworm is Petalive Parasite Dr. Used on a regular basis, Parasite Dr. improves the overall health of the dog while helping to prevent heartworm infestation. Certain ingredients in this natural product contain bitter principles, making the dog less appealing to mosquitoes, fleas and ticks. Because of this, a mosquito infested with heartworm is less apt to bite the dog. Parasite Dr. also contains natural ingredients that help kill the heartworms and then expel them from the dog’s body. If the dog has an advanced case of heartworm disease, PetAlive Parasite Dr. may be used as part of a veterinarian supervised treatment program. It is extremely important to consult your pet’s veterinarian if your dog shows symptoms of heartworm disease or if you feel your dog is not well.
Another natural product for heartworm prevention is Heartworm Free. A natural organic herbal product, Heartworm Free helps your dog’s body slowly rid itself of existing heartworms.
The ingredients include:
- Garlic
- Black seed
- Hawthorn
- Licorice
- Sorrel
- Hops
- Grapefruit seed extract
- Apricot pits
- Flavorings
- Distilled water
- Alcohol
Additional Resources and Information
Conclusion
Heartworms and the process of killing them once they are in a dog’s system is a dangerous process. Your veterinarian should always be involved in the treatment of your pet, even if you do decide you want to use natural cures for canine heart worms.
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This page has been accessed 2,198 times. This page was last modified 15:24, 15 December 2008.
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