With warmer weather comes more mosquitoes and ticks, and those parasites can cause health issues for our furry friends.

Ryan Steen is a veterinarian and also the owner of Frey Pet Hospital in Cedar Rapids. In an interview with CBS2, he said that he has "seen a little bit of an uptick lately" when it comes to heartworm. There have been four cases of heartworm found in pets in the last two months, which is a bit out of the ordinary, considering many veterinary facilities go months without seeing any cases at all. Heartworm in often carried by mosquitoes, and can be fatal if untreated. Steen said,

"I certainly have seen pets that were unable to survive it, but that's a rarity these days given some of the advancements we have in some of the medical care and the fact that we're proactively out looking for it."

Some common symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, weight loss, and lethargy.

Steen also pointed out that he's seen "a tremendous uptick" in Lyme disease, locally. Lyme disease is cause by deer ticks, and ticks have been particularly bad the past few seasons. The disease can be detected using a heartworm test.

The best way to prevent these diseases in your pets is with various oral and topical medication. Steen told CBS2"for a Heartworm preventative, you might be in the ball park of $8-$10 per month whereas treatments are going to be hundreds to thousands of dollars." He also encourages regular vet visits.

For more details on heartworm, click HERE.

For more details on Lyme Disease, click HERE.

[Via CBS2]

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