Cats can get heartworm disease, too!
Services Contacts Staff Info Pet Links Pet News What's New? Take a Tour Senior Pages		Although veterinarians have been aware of the potential effects of heartworm disease in cats since the first diagnosis in the 1920’s, few pet owners are aware that the canine heartworm parasite can also affect cats. Prevention is currently the only way to keep your cat free of heartworm disease since neither a reliable test nor a safe treatment exists for cats. Feline heartworm disease is caused by the same parasite (Dirofilaria immitis) that causes the disease in dogs. Heartworm is transmitted by mosquito bite to a dog or cat. However, unlike the dog, the cat is a dead-end host which means that the larvae grow up to be adults, but the adults die before producing more young larvae able to perpetuate the disease in other cats. CAUSE PREVALENCE The prevalence of feline heartworm disease in Centre County remains unclear, primarily because we do not look for the disease in cats on a routine basis. However, we do know that there are cats out there with heartworm. Recent studies indicate that indoor cats are at a higher risk for developing adult heartworms compared to outdoor cats. It is recommended, based on the safety and relatively low cost of the preventative, to use the monthly medication for all cats with possible exposure to mosquitoes. CLINICAL SIGNS (symptoms) The signs associated with heartworm disease in cats are different than those seen in the dog. In cats, the most common signs are a sudden difficulty in breathing, (in some cases misdiagnosed in asthma), coughing, chronic vomiting and sudden unexplained death. The presence and subsequent death of the adult worms, usually within two years after infection, is what usually causes the clinical signs. DIAGNOSIS Unlike canine heartworm disease, there is currently no reliable test for feline heartworm available. Diagnosis of feline heartworm disease usually involves a combination of physical exam findings, blood tests, x-rays, echocardiography (an ultrasound exam of the heart) and a post-mortem exam. TREATMENT Currently, there is no approved or safe treatment for a cat that has heartworm disease, so we treat the signs associated with the disease and wait for the adult heartworms to die. This waiting and watching period can be a very tense time. PREVENTION Because a reliable test for feline heartworm disease is not yet available and because the preventative is safe to use even in a cat that has existing heartworm disease, the recommendation is to use the heartworm prevention for any cat which is considered at risk. Since indoor cats are at a higher risk, it is just as important to protect the indoor as well as the outdoor cat from heartworm disease by use of the preventative. No pre-prevention tests are required. The feline preventative, like the canine preventative, consists of a once-a-month chewable nugget that can be fed directly or mixed with a small amount of food. It is safe and will effectively prevent heartworm disease in your cat.