Heartworm and Cats

[MollyWoppy]

Windy the cat is predominately an indoor cat, but we do out outside quite a bit, especially in the evenings when she goes lizard and mouse hunting, I'm always with her though so she doesn't get into trouble.
When I first got her, 18 months ago, my vet told me that cats can catch heartworm, but they aren't nearly as susceptable to them as dogs, and that he thought she'd be fine. So, because I don't like giving chemicals to my animals, I was happy and haven't given her any preventatives. But, now I'm having second thoughts, starting to worry if I've done the right thing.

I was wondering what everyone else does, do you dose your cats? And, if you do, which one do you use? Any recommendations?


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Most of the time I take the lizards off her and let them go before she has a chance to eat them!

[naturalfeddogs]

Smokey is indoors only, so he isn't on anything. Cats are not as suseptable to heartworm but they can get them. That said, once they get them there is really no cure for them. They just go until they die. According to the cat only vet I worked for recently, the only symptom is death. She only prescribes Advantage Multi as a preventative. But once they have them, there is nothing that can be done.

[MollyWoppy]

Thanks. Hmm, yeah, I think it might be best if I take Wind down to the vets and get a heartworm test. Hopefully it'll come back negative and I'll put her on Advantage Multi. Hate to do that, but it'd hate it worse if she got heartworms, unless they can still live 20 years without any symptoms I guess. I'll quiz the Vet more about it, maybe he's not seen any cats with heartworms around here? Anyway, its just made me a bit nervous, I'd be devastated if something happens to Wind that I could have easily prevented....

[naturalfeddogs]

​Yea, it seems worse to me for cats than dogs. Like, if a dog has them they can have Advantage Multi and its a long kill over time but it does kill the worms. For a cat, when the worms die the cat dies. So they can't be treated. Definantly get tested first. I hope the best for you!!

[Paws&Tails]

My kitties use to be indoor/outdoor, but not anymore. Indoor only now. We have mosquitoes pretty badly here in the summertime, and it doesn't help that we have a creek on our property. They used to be on Heartguard Chewables (for cats). Because they are indoor only now I don't give them heartworm preventative anymore. If/when we can fence the yard, they'll be let outside again and put back on heartworm meds.

Beautiful kitty! :D

[MollyWoppy]

Are your cats really fussy? I mean, did they eat the heartgard chewables readily and not have to be forcefed? Windy is such a pain in the @rse, I would much prefer to give her the Heartgard than the Advantage Multi, but I really don't think she'd eat the chew things.
You know, I could have bought myself a small Japanese car with the amount of money I've wasted on stuff she won't eat.
Actually, it might be a bright idea to ask my vet if he has any samples, that'd be the answer!


And, thank you for calling her beautiful! I think she is, um, nice. Well, ok, I love her the way she is. :D For some reason I've always preferred black cats, but I ended up with a white one, oh well, she's pretty cool for a cat!

[Paws&Tails]

Rocky will eat pretty much anything. Drop a cracker or cheerio on the floor and he'll eat it. Princess and Penny are very picky though. Rocky ate his perfectly fine but with Princess and Penny I had to completely grind up each tablet and thoroughly mixed it in canned food. If I put if with kibble, they wouldn't eat it, but with canned food it gets absorbed into the moisture. No way around eating it. I'd only give them just enough canned food that I knew they'd finish the entire thing.

I've always loved black and white kitties like Windy. :D I started out intending to get a black and white cat (though my dad was set on a grey tabby and my sister on a black cat) but we found our three kitties and couldn't pass them up. They were so under socialized and wild and the owner was completely irresponsible. How could I not take them? Turns out the momma cat actually passed FIV to all three of them and we couldn't get ahold of the previous owner to let her know. Not like she'd actually care. *rolls eyes*