From:
Edward Lipinski
Date: 2001-03-25 06:27:00 UTC
Subject: Worms (Filariae) living in ferret hearts.
In the posting 'Upsucking may be too darn late' of March 23, 2001 I am
reminded to touch on the subject of worms that invade the heart and
pulmonary arteries by routes that seem to be unknown from the deposits of
the larvae and even adult 'worms' both on the warm, moist skin, as well
as through the bite of the flea and not as often from the bite of the
Aedes mosquito.
If you have read my posting you may recall that I was somewhat critical
of using flea control chemicals that will not work until the flea, louse
or mosquito upsucks the ferret's blood. And in so doing is poisoned or
otherwise controlled (egg maturation inhibition) by the chemical we have
put into the ferret's blood, either by putting drops on the neck fur or
having the ferret intake the chemical by way of mouth.
Here at F.E.R.R.E.T.S. NW Foundation we have been fortunate to find a
very economical method of preventing the flea, louse, or mosquito from
even attempting to penetrate the skin of the ferret, and in so doing
eleminate the sting of the anti-coagulant injected by the parasite
immediately prior to its upsucking the blood. We also use a systemic
approach that is non toxic (and nutritional no less) to give the ferret
several extra ounces of prevention.
In my previous post, I did not touch on the dog (ferret) heartworm, "D.
immitis". I would like to do so here, but briefly from the standpoint of
how the heartworm and the ferret come together via the agency of the flea
and less often the Aedes mosquito. With this knowledge the pet ferret
owner can 'mo bettah' protect the ferret from heartworm infestation in
the first place.
The dog heartworm, discussed in Dr. Kemerer's paper on "Dirofilaria
immitis" does not offer an explanation of how this heartworm actually
gets into the ferret's body. Actually this is a fascinating accounting
and demonstrates a very strange phenomenon of 'periodicity.'
To keep this posting as short as possible, let me stop here and then
continue from here tomorrow or later as I'm able. Just let me say this:
it is a miracle (of evolution) that the heartworm ever makes it into the
ferret's heart.
Edward Lipinski @ F.E.R.R.E.T.S. NW Foundation, Mercer Island,
Washington.