Although the probability of cats being infected with heartworm is not very high, it is necessary for us to understand the prevention and treatment methods of heartworm. For the sake of the cat's health, it is best for the owner to have a physical examination for the cat once a year to prevent problems before they happen, so that the owner can avoid worries.

First, the treatment of cat heartworm

There are quite safe drugs that can be used to treat cardiac filariasis in dogs, but they are not suitable for cats because they will produce serious toxicity. Fortunately, most infected cats do not show obvious clinical symptoms and do not need special drug treatment. They can wait for heartworms to age and die within 2-3 years. If there are related pulmonary clinical symptoms, steroids will be used to control them. If you have serious cardiopulmonary symptoms, you need to provide further support treatment, such as infusion therapy, oxygen therapy, tracheal dilator, cardiovascular drugs, antibiotics, limited exercise, good care and so on.

Second, the prevention of filariasis in cats

Mosquito bites are the way cats are infected with heartworms, so the home environment really can't prevent mosquitoes. Because the treatment of cat heartworm can not directly kill adults, it can only be passively treated and supported, so prevention is very important.

As long as cats may come into contact with mosquitoes, or there are many dogs or stray dogs in the community, filariasis should be prevented. Cats should be screened for unintentional filariasis for more than eight months before deciding which prevention method to take. At present, it can be divided into oral preventive drugs and topical drops. The former is a good place to keep cats, but it is not imported. Topical drops are the favorite of Pfizer's Revolution, and they are also applied to the skin of neck and back once a month.

Although the infection rate of cat heartworm is not high, with the increasing co-ownership of cats and dogs, if your dog is infected with heartworm, please don't forget that your cat is also facing the same risk. Statistics are only meaningful for academic research and analysis. For your cat, it is either 0% or 100%. There is no so-called gray area, just like other infectious diseases.

In addition, filariasis is spread by mosquitoes. Even if your cat doesn't go out and touch other animals, can you guarantee that there will never be mosquitoes in the environment? Can you confirm that there are no mosquitoes in the pet shop where it stays? Can you confirm that mosquitoes in the veterinary hospital will not bite it? There are not many mosquitoes, but only one mosquito with insects is enough. I remind you once again of an eternal famous saying: prevention is more important than cure.