If your dog is spending a lot of time outside or in the woods, maybe in fields with tall grass or things like that, and they're not on prevention, then they're at a higher risk for contracting these parasites.

They can, especially here in Kentucky—it's not like Alaska, where it gets super cold, so we see fleas and ticks all year round.

They do not discriminate, so whether your dog has short hair, long hair, or no hair, they will be there.

They do. And the reason is, we want to make sure that we're not letting any heartworms slip through the cracks. We want to ensure that the product is as effective as possible because nothing has a hundred percent guarantee anymore, and we want to try to keep your pet as safe as possible.

We will often do some follow-up tests. We'll look for the larval stage of that heartworm, the microfilariae, on a blood drop under the microscope to confirm that the heartworms are there. Sometimes we do a secondary confirmation with a send-out lab to be extra sure. But most times, that initial test is definitive.

We recommend testing at least once a year. And that's per the American Heartworm Society. If you're in a heartworm-heavy area and maybe you're not keeping your pet on prevention, you could do it every six months, but the best protection is keeping your pet on prevention.