What is a Heart Worm?

Welcome to my first official blog post of 2020! I am very excited for what is to come this year. I have a lot of fun stuff planned so make sure to subscribe to know when I post something.

By Rodeo Warhola on flickr.com

Today’s post is all about those pesky heart worms. These parasites live in the heart, lungs, or blood vessels of dogs and cats and can create serious problems. They restrict the blood flow to the rest of the body causing the heart to work a lot harder than normal to try and compensate for it. With this constant hard work the heart can easily get overworked and become strained. It’s kinda like if you were to do a lot of exercise without stopping- you would eventually get tired and overworked.

The scientific name of heart worms is Dirofilaria immitis and is a kind of parasitic worm. It travels between animals through mosquitoes. Baby heart worms (called microfilariae) are small enough to get sucked up by the mosquito when drinking blood from an animal where they can then grow and thrive before getting passed into the next victim.

By Mendy Lindsay on flickr.com

These tiny, string like worms can be found in blood tests taken from an infected animal.

Treatment is no fun. It is a two-step process and can be very dangerous. The veterinarian will start by giving a medication that will kill the adult worms, but this may cause the arteries to block up with the dead worms. After that, a medication is used to kill the baby heart worms, which is not as dangerous as they are so small.

Luckily, there are ways to prevent heart worms before the animal may get it. Using heart worm tablets given daily or once a month and a topical medication applied monthly the chance of an animal get heart worm is taken down significantly.

By Debra Garrison on flickr.com

If you liked this post or found it interesting please like it and subscribe for more posts about similar topics. Thanks for reading!

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I got most of my information from my class on veterinary assistant on ed2go.com.

Crocs, Gators, and Caimans Oh My!

This is a crocodile.

By Esther Sommen on Flickr.com

This is an alligator. 

By Serge Forcier on Flickr.com

This is a caiman

By Reid Park Zoo on Flickr.com

Can you tell the difference? It’s kind of hard, huh? These three animals are all from the Crocodylia group but past that they are separate families. Crocodiles are from the family Crocodyliae while alligators and caimans are from the Alligatordae family. And even though alligators and caimans are more closely related, caimans seem to have facial structures more related to crocodiles. They both have super sharp teeth and the inside of the mouth is a beige color while the alligator has more rounded teeth and a more orange mouth. But the easiest way to tell the three apart from each other is probably by looking at the snout. 

Crocodiles have a v-shaped snout while alligators and caimans have a more u-shaped snout. Between a caiman and an alligator the caiman has a very large overbite while the alligator has a smaller one. 

So now that you know how to tell the difference are you going to be able to tell what animal is in the next picture?

It’s an alligator!
By Florida Fish and Wildlife on Flickr.com

If you didn’t get it don’t worry. It’s really hard to learn how to instantly tell them apart unless you have had a lot of hands-on experience with the animals (which I have not). I still find it hard to tell which one is which without looking it up. 

Now let’s talk more about caimans. 

They are usually smaller than it’s relatives but the black caiman (the largest species) can be about the same or even bigger than the alligator and crocodile. Caimans tend to live in marshlands in Central America and South America and are usually more aggressive than the average gator. They have great eyesight and hearing which helps them find their food but also watch out for things that are trying to kill them. Because they are large and scary they don’t have many predators, but their main enemies tend to be jaguars and the oh so invasive human. 

When April comes around the entire alligator family becomes sexually active. They will find a partner to mate with and once the deed is done the males bail out. The females build mounds in the ground to create a nest which they then lay eggs in and watch and protect for about 6 weeks while the babies are still developing. Normally about 40 eggs are produced per mating season. Imagine having 40 new babies to take care of! The babies will stay with the mom for a little bit until they decide to go off on their own. 

And did you know that the temperature of the environment affects the gender of the babies? The warmer the temperatures the more girls are produced and the colder the temps the more males are born. Kinda crazy, huh?

That’s all I have to tell you about the vicious caiman so I hope you enjoyed. Please like and comment and follow Animal Digest Fur Real for more information about animals and cool stories. 

And just one last test: what animal is this? Debate in the comments!

By J P on Flickr.com

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-differences-between-a-caiman-and-an-alligator.html

https://www.britannica.com/animal/caiman-reptile-group

https://www.rainforestcruises.com/jungle-blog/amazon-caiman-facts

What is the Difference Between Poison and Venom?

Did you know that poison and venom aren’t actually the same thing? Although people tend to use the two words interchangeably they have different definitions. 

A poison is a substance that gets into the body through swallowing, inhaling, or absorption and it affects the inner mechanics of the body. Animals that are poisonous release this line of defense through being eaten or touched. Can you guess what kinds of animals are poisonous? Mostly amphibians but some other animals, like the puffer-fish, is also poisonous.

By Thanh Nam Nguyen on flickr.com

A venom is a special kind of poison that is released through a bite or sting. In order for this tactic to work the animal must first create a wound allowing the substance to enter the bloodstream where it can get to work. A lot of the animals that are venomous use this deadly chemical to kill prey or frighten away enemies. Some venomous animals include types of snakes, spiders, lizards, and ants as well as all bees and wasps. 

By Akash Samuel on flickr.com

You have probably heard of these animals being pretty deadly, but do you know what animals are the most poisonous and venomous?

The most poisonous animal is the golden poison dart frog shown below,

By Charles (Chuck) Peterson on flickr.com

and the most venomous animal is the box jellyfish. 

By Luan R. S. on flickr.com

While researching this topic I thought of one specific question: what is it that these substances do to the body? 

A poison limits the amount of oxygen that can get to your cells, and boy do cells need oxygen. When they don’t get what they need they can slow down, stray from their job, or die altogether. And when you lose a large amount of cells your body can’t function the way that it was meant to. So you get sick or can even die. 

Venom affects the organs and body systems instead of the individual cells. It can also damage your DNA which tells the body how to function. Without these things working properly you don’t stand much of a chance fighting off this infestation.

Either way, both of these substances are not good to encounter! I am not an expert on this topic so feel free to do your own research and let me know of any errors I might have. But here’s where I get my information:
https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/poison-vs-venom
https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-venomous-and-poisonous
https://futurism.com/what-is-the-difference-between-venom-poison-and-toxins

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