In early-stage heartworm disease, dogs may seem healthy and not have any symptoms. As the disease progresses dogs may lose weight, cough, get short of breath, and be fatigued.

Dogs need to be on heartworm prevention every month. Heartworm medications are dosed differently depending on the brand. Prevention can be oral, topical or injectible and given monthly, or every 6 months, or once a year.

If your dog's heartworm test is negative, you must keep him on prevention every month, missing a month puts him at risk of infection.

If your dog tests heartworm-positive, heartworm prevention alone will not get him well. A heartworm-positive dog needs heartworm treatment.

If your puppy is 8 weeks old, he's ready to begin heartworm prevention.

The only way your dog can become infected is through the bite of an infected mosquito.

No, dewormers destroy intestinal worms and have no effect on heartworms

Heartworms eventually destroy the vasculature of the dogs’ lungs and heart and lead to death

Humans cannot get heartworm disease.

Your other dogs and cats can get heartworms if an infected mosquito bites your heartworm positive dog and then bites your other pets.

FDA approved heartworm medications are prescription only.

Yes, because there are pockets of mosquitos breeding even in cold climates and it only takes one infected mosquito to infect a dog.

Yes, mosquitos come inside.

In the early stages of heartworm disease most dogs seem healthy. However, as the worms have babies and travel and lodge inside the blood vessels of a dog, these worms make dogs very sick.