Cats And Heartworm Prevention

Learn more about heartworm medicine for dogs.

Cats and heartworm prevention.

Since cats have so few heartworms diagnosis can be very challenging. Heartworm infection occurs when a mosquito carrying infective heartworm larvae bites into a cat for a blood meal. Many cats may cough and be misdiagnosed with asthma. If you find it difficult to give pills you may prevent a liquid treatment that you apply to the skin.

Another clinical sign is sudden death. It is crucial to give your cat heartworm prevention medication every month to prevent the spread of the disease if such a mosquito bite occurs because heartworm infection is fatal for cats currently there is no approved heartworm treatment for cats making prevention the only. More information about hard. Finding the best heartworm medicine for your cat should be done in partnership with your veterinarian.

Heartworm prevention products are safe for cats 6 weeks of age and older and they should be continued year round for the entire life of your pet. Diagnostic testing efforts antibody and antigen measurements x rays and echocardiograms will typically be repeated at 6 to 12 month intervals to determine whether the management strategies have been effective. For this reason heartworm prevention for dogs is by far the best option and treatment when needed should be administered as early in the course of the disease as possible. Heartgard and interceptor come in a pill format for cats.

Heartworm prevention is available in oral heartworm treatments like flavored chewable tablets and soft chews that are easy to give as a treat and they also come in single dose liquid that s applied topically to the skin and fur which is great for cats that are not very fond of medicines. Heartworm associated respiratory disease hard. It s important to give your cat monthly heartworm preventives which are available in both spot on and pill form. Heartworm disease in cats is primarily a lung disease.

If you are concerned about other pets licking and grooming each other a pill may be the preferred option. Heartworm is rarer in cats than it is in dogs but when cats do contract it the outlook isn t good. Learn more about heartworm in cats and the steps you can take to prevent it in the first place. Heartworm prevention for cats comes in two forms.

You should consider where they spend most of their time indoors or outdoors and how often you want to give them heartworm medication. A cat that has developed heartworm disease has demonstrated that it is susceptible to heartworm infection and both outdoor and indoor cats are at risk. To prevent heartworm disease in your cat begin heartworm prevention as soon as possible after your veterinarian tests for the disease. Continued monitoring of cats with heartworm disease is an essential component of any treatment plan.

Prescription heartworm prevention medicine for cats.