Heart Worm Disease in Cats
Yes, heart worms disease is real and cats are at risk. I have not always held this belief to be true. Fo
didn't passionately recommend heartworm preventives because we say so few cases of heartworm d
tested for the disease and evaluated necropsy ( autopsy) results, but we still only saw, on average , a
years. At that time I had a real hard time justifying a monthly preventive and a monthly expense for ev
seemed that the cat's odds of getting heartworms were about the same as you wining the lottery.
Wo why am I such an advocate of heartworm prevention now? KNOWLEDGE. For years we have
same disease in cats that dogs develop. In dogs, the mosquito carrying the baby heart worm(microf
and injects the baby form into the dogs body. Once inside the microfilaria goes through several tran
in the tissues, then to the lungs,and then to the heart. The problem is that cats are not dogs. Cats a
"appropriate host " for heartworms. They can be bitten by the mosquito and injected with the same m
but they don't have the same response. A cats body is a pretty hostile environment for the microfilaria
to the lungs the cats immune system is pretty effective at destroying them. The problems is that this i
doesn't stop and will create an inflammatory response, in the cats lungs, that will last for the rest of the
cat now has not a heart disease but a lung disease, "Asthma".' This, we are finding with regularity.
Because of these findings we are now calling the disease HEARTWORM ASSOCIATED RESPIRAT
I hope this will increase awareness of a disease that YOUR cat can get.
So , is your cat at risk? If you live in middle Tennessee and are reading this article the answer is
cat never goes outside it is at risk. The mosquitos that carry heartworms can get into your home as e
So , what can you do? The great news is that Heartworm Disease is preventable and there are gr
the market that are highly effective at protecting your cat. Everyone asks which is "the best" Produc
answer is " the one you actually use."
We carry Heartguard for cats, which is a monthly chewable. It is very effective and the least expen
chewable and you have a cat not a dog. Some cats love this but being cats some will turn their nose an
We also carry Revolution and Advantage Multi. Both of these products are topical monthly applic
require your cats oral cooperation.
One final note; I do recommend using heartworm preventive year-round. Our winters in middle Te
inconsistent and it may be freezing one day and 70 the next so don't take the chance. It's not worth