Feline Heartworm Disease

Mosquitoes are not picky about sharing heartworms.  They are just as happy to bite a cat as a dog. Therefore, while heartworm disease is a lot less common in cats, we still recommend prevention, and for a very good reason.

 

 

 Heartworms do not need to develop into adults to cause significant pulmonary damage in cats like they do in dogs. Unfortunately, though, consequences can still be very serious when cats are infected by mosquitoes carrying heartworm larvae.  Newly arriving worms and the subsequent death of most of these same worms can result in acute pulmonary inflammation response and lung injury. The initial phase is often misdiagnosed as asthma or allergic bronchitis. 

 

 Although outdoor cats are at a greater risk of being infected, a relatively high percentage of cats considered by their owners to be totally indoor pets also became infected.  There is no predictable age in cats for becoming infected with heartworms.  Cases have been reported to the American Heartworm Society in cats from nine months to 17 years of     age, the average being four years at diagnosis or death. 

   The clinical signs of heartworm infection in cats can be very non-specific.  Diagnosis by clinical signs alone is nearly impossible, but a cat may exhibit generic signs of illness, such as vomiting intermittently, lethargy, anorexia, weight loss, coughing, intermittent difficulty in breathing, panting, open-mouth breathing, or gagging. Unfortunately, diagnostic tests also have limitations, as a negative heartworm blood test does not necessarily rule out an infection. A true diagnostic plan includes a physical examination, xrays, echocardiography, and bloodwork, and a healthy price tag! 

 

Therefore, as in dogs, prevention of heartworm disease is the safest and cheapest way to protect your cat. We recommend and carry Revolution ™ for Cats, but there are several other once a month preventative medications available. 

For more information about this fatal disease, visit the American Heartworm Society’s website for call our office at 913-649-0446.