How Do You Test For Heart Worm?

One of the earliest methods which were developed for the purpose of testing for heartworms was to put a drop of the blood of a dog on a microscope slide and look for the presence of baby heartworms. They are microscopic in size. Baby heartworms are also known by their scientific name, which is microfilaria.

This method works if fully developed heartworms are producing babies and also if the immune system of the dog is not killing the baby heartworms. It is most likely an accurate test for the presence of adult heartworms in about 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the infected dogs, but this is just a rough estimate of the accuracy of the test.

The accuracy of this method of testing was improved by using the techniques of concentration, which meant the methods which were used to increase the chances of finding the microfilaria (or baby heartworms) if only a few baby heartworms were present.

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