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Heartworms kills cats!! With dogs, it is usually treated with medication. Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitoes that have bitten a dog or other infected animal and then bites your kitten. A single worm can grow to as much as 8 inches. Cats do not usually pass heartworms on to another cat. Even indoor cats can get heartworms since those pesky mosquitoes seem to find their way indoors.

Most of the time a cats immunological response kills the larvae before it can develop. If it does not then the larvae will go to the heart where it will develop in to a mature heartworm. An adult heartworm in a cat can live up to 2 years. Cats can handle a few adult heartworms for several months. But as the heartworms grow in size and multiply, a cat is considered to have heartworm disease.

Killing the adult heartworm is not always good for a cat. When an adult heartworm dies and begins to deteriorate, pieces of it can clog the arteries and lungs resulting in the cats death. Since a cat's arteries are so small, it doesn't take much to completely block them.

Sometimes you can put your cat on a heartworm preventive drug to prevent the development of more heartworms and wait for the adult heartworms to die of old age. You still run the risk of pulmonary artery obstruction or an acute reaction to the death of the worms. The mortality rate of this type of treatment has been reported to be 20 To 30 percent.

There is the possibility of surgery to remove the heartworms but it is very costly plus the surgeon must get all of the worms plus any little pieces . If even a tiny piece of one is left in the cat, it can still cause the death of the cat.

There are tests your vet can run to see if your cat has the worms. In cats the diagnosis maybe difficult. The Antigen test requires at least 4 female worms to be present. Since cats rarely have that many, they can test negative but still have males or immature worms.

Another test is to look for Microfilariae in the blood. These small larvae don't remain in a cats blood for long, so they may test negative also. Another test checks for a rise in white blood calls indicating a possible parasitic infection.

The very best treatment is PREVENTION. Merck now has HEARTGARD available thru your vet or pet store. It kills heartworm larvae. It wont kill the adults but will keep the cat from becoming re-infected. Killing the adult heartworm has proven not to be best for cats. Heartgard is 100% effective. It is a meat-based chewable or can be mixed up in their food. It It also removes and controls adult and immature hookworms. It is recommended for kittens 6 weeks and older.

Some of the symptoms are: respiratory distress, diminished appetite, coughing, listlessness and weight loss. If your cat shows any of these symptoms, please see your vet immediately.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janice_Lockeby
http://EzineArticles.com/?Heartworms-In-Cats---What-You-Can-Do-To-Protect-Your-Cat&id=711592

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