What This Service Does
Heartworm disease is spread by mosquitoes and can cause serious damage to a dog's heart, lungs, and blood vessels. Testing helps confirm whether prevention can be started or safely continued.
Why It Matters
For pets, prevention is far easier on the body than heartworm treatment after infection.
For owners, routine testing and prevention reduce the risk of a difficult, expensive disease process.
For the community, prevention helps interrupt the cycle of mosquito-spread disease among unprotected dogs.
What to Know Before You Come
Dogs need a current heartworm test before starting or refilling heartworm prevention.
Heartworm preventatives do not kill adult heartworms.
Year-round prevention is recommended because mosquitoes can appear outside the expected season.
Indoor cats can also be exposed to mosquitoes, but PETS Clinic heartworm testing language on this site is focused on dog service availability.