Many are familiar with heartworm disease in canines, but fewer people are aware that their cats too, may become infected with heartworms. Unfortunately, it’s true: cats too, can have heartworm disease. Knowing what it is, how it affects your cat and what you can do to treat it as well as prevention methods, is important for any cat owner.
About Feline Heartworm Disease
In all 50 states of the United States, heartworm infections have been positively identified. For this reason, it is important to know about how serious heartworms truly area. Unfortunately, it is often more difficult to diagnose heartworm disease in felines.
Heartworms infect cats in the same manner that dogs are infected. Tiny heartworm larvae known as microfilariae live in the blood stream of an infected animal. When a mosquito bites an infected cat, the larvae move to the mosquito where it continues to develop. After 2 to 3 weeks inside the mosquito, the larvae moves to the mosquito’s mouth. Once the mosquito bites another animal, such as a cat, the microfilariae moves into the cat and begins to grow.
After approximately 3 months, the larvae moves into the heart of the cat. Heartworms can begin reproducing in approximately 8 months inside cats.
However, microfilariae can only live for approximately 1 month in cats (compared to up to 3 years in dogs.) Furthermore, while dogs can have hundreds of worms living in their heart, cats often have only one to 4 worms living in their heart. In cats, heartworms can only live for up to 2 years, while heartworms can live up to 7 years in canines.
Symptoms of Heartworms in Cats
Though heartworms cause serious damage to the heart in dogs, in cats, more damage occurs within the respiratory system. For this reason, in cats heartworm disease is often referred to as HARD or Heartworm Associated Respiratory Disease.
Symptoms of HARD in cats include difficulty breathing or couching, loss of appetite accompanied by weight loss, vomiting and changes in behavior such as listlessness. Cats may also suffer from a rapid heart rate, blindness or fainting, convulsions, collapse and sudden death.
Treating and Preventing Feline Heartworms
In cats, the goal of treatment is to reduce the severity of damage that may occur within the respiratory system. This could include doses of anti-inflammatory corticosteroids as well as being placed on a monthly heartworm preventative. In some situations, surgical removal of the worms in the infected cat may be necessary.
To prevent heartworm infections in cats, a monthly heartworm medication is recommended. This, combined with regular heartworm testing can help prevent and catch heartworm infections that may occur.
Mosquito control may also help reduce the likelihood of spreading heartworm to cats, especially if the cat is an outdoor cat. Though is not necessarily an effective method of prevention.
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Additional Information:
American Heartworm Society: Feline Heartworm Disease
Pet Education: Heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) in Cats
Pawprints & Purrs, Inc.: Heartworms in Cats
