Heart disease is a dangerous and common health problem in cats. Unfortunately, due to cats’ ability to mask their pain, it’s not always easy to tell when something is wrong.

It can be scary and devastating to learn that your dog suffers from a dangerous heart condition like congestive heart failure. However, once you receive the diagnosis, another process begins: the routine care and management of your dog’s disease. For many pet parents, this process can be just as or even more challenging than handling the diagnosis itself.

One of the most commonly discussed dangers to pets is heartworm—a disease caused by parasitic worms that affect the heart, lungs and blood vessels of animals. Unlike worms that live in the gastrointestinal tract, heartworms find their way to your cat’s heart, blood vessels and lungs, where they can grow to around a foot long and cause damage. 

As a dog owner, you’re probably familiar with numerous intestinal parasites, such as the tapeworm or hookworm, but another common parasitic worm doesn’t affect your dog’s intestines—it affects its heart and lungs.

It’s every pet owner’s nightmare: your happy, playful puppy suddenly falls ill and requires intense veterinary treatment. Unfortunately, this scenario is a reality for far too many dog owners because of canine parvovirus, or parvo.