The recent rains and storms can give rise to a big surge in the mosquito population that could result in a big threat to our pets: heartworm infection. Heartworms are the common name of Dirofilaria immitis, 12-inch long worms that dwell inside the heart chambers and lungs of affected animals. Although the disease is most prevalent in the hot southeastern parts of the U.S., there have been cases all the way north of the Great Lakes. An incidence map denoting the areas where this infection is most prevalent can be seen at https://www.heartwormsociety.org/veterinary-resources/incidence-maps. Unsurprisingly, Florida is heartworm heaven and there’s a widespread infection that includes not just dogs as victims but cats, foxes, coyotes, ferrets, and other mammals.
Long summer days are wonderful to enjoy! But warm weather means mosquitoes and the threat of heartworms they pose to pets is greater than ever. To help stress the protection message now AND all year long, check out our new “prevention” posters.
To keep this message front and center with your clients, we’re sharing a set of new posters you can print OR post on your Facebook or Instagram page.
- To save or print a poster, just click on the image below, then click on the “download” button and save the PDF file.
- To save a poster for use on your social pages, simply open the downloaded poster, then right click on the file and follow the menu instructions to save the file as a JPEG image.
For more client tools, be sure to visit the Resource Center. And if you don’t already, make sure you’re sharing our Facebook and Instagram posts!