|
Feline Heartworm Diseasesymptomstreatmenttestingprevention |
Heartworms and heartworm disease in catsHeartworms are a parasite of dogs and wolves. They don't really belong in cats, but when a heartworm-carrying mosquito bites a cat, the baby heartworms do the best they can. Because cats are a crummy place for heartworms to live, most of the baby heartworms will die, and those that survive and grow to adulthood won't be able to reproduce. Unfortunately, in cats even one or two adult heartworms can cause a lot of trouble. The cat's immune system can react to heartworms in strange ways, so symptoms of the disease are unpredictable and seemingly illogical. symptomsUsually there aren't any symptoms at all. When we see symptoms, they usually resemble other more common problems.
treatmentWe do not have a satisfactory drug for heartworm treatment in cats. If we did, using it would be risky because cats do not deal well with dead heartworms. They may absorb the dead worms successfully; or they may die from arterial obstruction or allergic reaction to the dead worms. So, if we could kill feline heartworms, it is not clear that we ought to. As it stands now, the best treatment for feline heartworm disease is to start on prevention (so they don't get more) and try to control the symptoms, if there are any. Eventually the heartworms will die on their own, one at a time, which gives the cat its best chance of dealing with them successfully. testingPrimarily because of the low heartworm numbers found in cats and the fact that heartworms do not reproduce in cats, testing is much less reliable than in dogs. Although the American Heartworm Society considers it "good medical practice" to test cats before starting on prevention and it is hard to argue with this, we feel that effort and expense required to test the entire cat population would be better devoted to doing something more useful. After all, even when know that a cat has heartworms, our treatment is exactly the same as for cats that do not have heartworms: we start it on prevention and treat the symptoms as necesary. If your cat has unexplained vomiting and gagging symptoms, or especially if there is difficult or noisy breathing, heartworm testing is an important part of the diagnostic workup. If you would like to know if your cat has heartworms, that is also a good reason for testing. However, we do not ordinarily test before starting on prevention. preventionWe urge everyone in our area to protect their cats from heartworm disease. If your cat is entirely indoors and you don't get mosquitoes in the house, she may not need heartworm medication, although a surprisingly high proportion of feline heartworm cases occur in "indoor" cats. Heartguard for Cats is a once-a-month, good tasting kitty treat medication. Most cats enjoy it or accept it readily mixed with their food. If necessary, Heartguard can be given like a pill. Revolution for Cats is a liquid medication applied to the skin once a month. It kills most intestinal worms, fleas, ticks, and ear mites, and it prevents heartworm infection. Revolution is more expensive than Heartguard, but it takes care of everything all at once and you don't have to struggle with an oral medication.
|
||||||||||||||