Cats are an atypical host and worms have a tougher time surviving, but it's not impossible. Because heartworm treatment for dogs can't be used to treat cats, veterinarians typically recommend using medication to prevent cats from getting heartworms. Even though mosquitoes tend to increase during the warmer months, experts recommend using a preventive year-round to protect your dog. It also protects against fleas and ticks for up to 30 days.
The adjustable and water-resistant collars use extended-release technology to provide lasting protection. Remember, dogs can't directly pass heartworms to other dogs. Heartworms are only passed on when a mosquito bites an infected animal and then bites another dog that isn't infected. An Integrated Mosquito Management IMM program is essential to helping prevent mosquito bites and transmission of serious vector diseases to both humans and pets. Community understanding of how to properly eliminate mosquito breeding habitat and take personal protective measures is critical.
Furthermore, distribution of educational pieces is important for treating symptoms and aids public health officials in identifying disease problem areas. In order to understand the risk and address the threat appropriately, it is critical to determine the mosquito distribution, density, and species composition throughout the target area.
Surveillance will also provide direct evidence of an increased transmission risk of a disease. When mosquito larvae are detected in an area, trained and experienced ground crews reduce breeding habitat when possible, then preferentially apply Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis Bti to remaining areas of standing water, stagnant pools, and water-holding containers.
Aerial and ground application of larvicide via ULV equipment can provide control in hard to reach container habitats.
In addition, when the disease risk warrants it, truck and aerial ULV applications should be utilized to reduce the adult mosquito population. When combined with our larvicide efforts, these methods have proven highly effective at significantly reducing local populations of the target mosquitoes. Both indoor and outdoor cats are at risk for heartworm disease. Heartworm disease in cats is a bit different than in dogs. Heartworms in cats do not live as long average lifespan is only 2 to 4 years or grow as long, and fewer of them mature into adults.
Worm burdens are lower in cats than dogs. Usually a cat has only one or two worms. However, due to its relatively small body size, a cat with only a few worms is still considered to be heavily infected.
In cats, it takes 7 to 8 months for infective larvae to mature into adult heartworms and produce microfilariae. This is about one month longer than in dogs. Only 20 percent of cats with heartworm disease have microfilariae in the bloodstream, compared to 80 to 90 percent of dogs with heartworm disease.
Also, the presence of microfilariae in the bloodstream is inconsistent and short-lived in cats. It is harder to detect heartworm infections in cats than in dogs. Veterinarians generally use two types of blood tests in combination to check a cat for heartworms.
However, negative test results do not rule out heartworm infection, and positive test results may or may not mean that there is an active heartworm infection. Not all cats with heartworm disease show symptoms. Some cats are able to spontaneously rid themselves of heartworms without having any symptoms.
However, some infected cats die suddenly from heartworm disease without ever showing signs of being sick. Cats with heartworm disease may have very nonspecific symptoms that mimic many other cat diseases.
These nonspecific symptoms include vomiting, decreased activity and appetite, and weight loss. Cats with heartworm disease rarely show signs of heart failure. In cats that show symptoms of heartworm disease, respiratory signs are the most obvious due to the lung damage caused by the heartworms. Cats typically show symptoms of heartworm disease at two time points — when the immature heartworms arrive in the arteries of the heart and lungs and when the adult heartworms die.
The immature heartworms arrive in the heart and lung arteries about 3 to 4 months after a cat is bitten by an infected mosquito. This response is called heartworm associated respiratory disease HARD because respiratory signs, such as trouble breathing, increased respiratory rate, and cough, are the most obvious.
You may not always experience any symptoms because the heartworms will die before maturity in a human host. Mosquito bites appear as red, itchy bumps with dots in the middle. This is especially important because these symptoms can also indicate other, more serious conditions. These lesions show up on X-rays or computed tomography CT imaging tests as darkened spots. They mostly appear near the edge of the lungs. A lesion may also be called a granuloma.
These result from inflammation and buildups of immune cells known as histiocytes that fight the heartworm infection. You doctor may want to take a tissue sample biopsy from the lung to test for heartworm infection if they spot one of these lesions on an X-ray. Your doctor may also test lung tissue to rule out other possible causes.
In rare cases, a coin lesion can indicate a bacterial infection, tuberculosis , or lung cancer. Treatment for heartworms addresses any granulomas that appear on an imaging test that may have resulted from dead heartworm tissue buildup in your arteries.
If your doctor believes that granulomas need to be removed, you may need surgery to remove the granuloma. This will prevent any further symptoms. If the granuloma is found to have cancerous tissue, your doctor will likely refer you to an oncologist to further examine your bodily tissues for the presence of cancer.
Most heartworm microfilariae die on their way through the skin. Heartworms are serious business for dogs; without treatment, your dog can experience severe symptoms and even die from an infection.
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