Authors
Juliana Xue, Elizabeth Fuller, Brian DiGangi, Uri Donnett
Published in
Parasites & vectors. Jul 06, 2026. Epub Jul 06, 2026.
Abstract
The 2024 Shelter Heartworm Management Practices Survey was performed to update current knowledge on heartworm management practices in animal shelters, including prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
The survey mirrored the 2019 survey with updates to questions based on new products and practices. The electronic survey was then distributed to veterinarians working with animal shelters in North America.
A total of 135 responses were received and distributed across private humane societies, municipal shelters, traditional shelters, breed/species-specific rescues, and foster-based organizations. Most organizations (77%) provided monthly heartworm preventives for dogs, using oral ivermectin products per label (50%), followed by oral milbemycin (33%). Shelters in the Midwest provided the highest percentage of heartworm preventives to both dogs and cats (37% and 40%), followed by the Southeast (31% and 34%). Heartworm testing was conducted in 76.2% of shelters for all dogs > 6 months of age, primarily using antigen testing (96.4%). Heartworm treatment was provided to all infected dogs in 66.1% of shelters. Those that only treated some dogs (22.9%) made treatment decisions based on adoptability (48.1%) and resources (25.9%). Primary adulticidal treatment was a three-dose melarsomine protocol (70.5%), followed by a two-dose melarsomine protocol (22.9%). A majority included doxycycline or minocycline and other common adjunctive treatments included steroids (75.3%) and macrocyclic lactones (60.2%). Heartworm-positive dogs were typically housed in the shelter (67%) or foster homes (49.5%) and made available for adoption. Exercise restrictions were applied in 80.6% of shelters, starting at diagnosis (55.8%) and continuing for several weeks after the last melarsomine injection (89.6%). During the restriction period, 58.2% of the shelters used psychopharmaceutical medications. Heartworm prevention was provided by 49.1% of shelters who admitted cats and 25.9% of those who admitted ferrets. Compared to 2019, shelter respondents reported increased use of preventives, microfilaria testing, doxycycline and three-dose melarsomine treatment for dogs, and a decrease in use of protocols for prevention of feline heartworm disease.
Survey results highlight the challenges shelters have faced and the improvements made over the past 5 years, offering insights for targeted operational and educational improvements.
PMID:
42410481
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Jul 2026.
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