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Dr Kim Kendall
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 Heartworm is a dog disease, but as our environment becomes more tropical (El Nino? Greenhouse?), more areas are affected. The parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes, which only need a tiny patch of still water - even the damp patch in the tray of a pot plant holder will do for some species - and they can complete their lifecycle.
It used to be thought that the heartworm larvae in mosquitoes in Temperate climates could not complete their lifecycles. However, it turned out the wrong species altogether were being studied...
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Symptoms of heartworm in cats
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The result of all this is that there are lots of dogs who have heartworm (not every dog owner is diligent with their heartworm preventative), so lots of mosquitoes are carrying heartworm larvae, and some of these mozzies don't care whether they bite a dog or a cat and thus cats get a dose of larvae.
Now, cats are naturally fairly resistant to canine problems, and very few of the larvae will establish themselves in the hostile 'feline environment'. However, it only takes one or two larvae to start to develop, and migrate from the skin into the blood vessels, to create an allergic reaction (possibly even triggering asthma), and worse is yet to come.
If the larva matures in the heart, it causes significant irritation because it is basically 'dog's blood' - the antigens on the surface are designed to fool a dog's immune system so they mimic canine blood antigens! - which is very foreign in a cat, and the death of the heartworm can trigger such a strong immune reaction that it kills the cat, in front of your very eyes (anaphylactic shock). Thus, the symptoms of heartworm infection in the cat are chronic coughing and sudden death (doesn't leave much to work with!).
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Diagnosis of heartworm disease in cats
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Diagnosis of heartworm infection in cats has always been a bit tricky, and is based on symptoms, X-Rays and ultrasound. Blood tests have not been much use because they relied on detecting bits of uterine material from the female heartworm (fine in dogs, who don't usually have a problem until they have several worms). Many of the infections in cats have only one or two worms, and they could as easily be male as female, so the tests were useful if they found something, but may be wrong if they were negative.
In the last few years, though, a new test has arrived which picks up antibodies to the heartworm in the cat's blood. This means that the test will detect male and female worms, and will give some indication of past exposure as well. This makes checking for heartworm a bit easier, but still needs to be used in conjunction with other information to confirm a diagnosis.
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Treatment and prevention
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Treatment of Heatworm Disease in cats is still problematic, as it is the death of the heartworm that actually kills the cat, so there is still a tough road ahead for the heartworm-infected feline, but the more you know about a problem, the closer you are to a solution!
Heartworm preventatives are available for cats, for those owners who want not to have to worry about this nasty disease - it may only affect a small percentage of cats, but it is becoming increasingly diagnosed and if it is your cat, then it is 100% a big problem!
Heartgard FX Chewables for Cats prevent heartworm infection in cats as well as controlling and treating hookworm - Heartgard FX is available from your veterinarian. Revolution for Cats is a multipurpose 'spot-on' product that is applied topically once a month for the treatment, prevention and control of fleas, prevention of heartworm, treatment and control of earmites, and intestinal hookworms and roundworms in cats.
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Author: Dr Kim Kendall BVSc MACVSc (Feline Medicine) graduated from the University of Sydney in 1982 and established the East Chatswood Cat Clinic in 1994, a dedicated cat-only Veterinary Clinic. The practice does everything for cats and is a full service veterinary clinic.
www.catclinic.com.au
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