Heartworm preventatives?

I have had my cat for about 2 years now, she is indoor only and has always been given everything this forum and my vet recommended. Researching for my dog I noticed that cats can get heartworms as well, Somehow this had never crossed my mind and noone ever brought up to treat her. Do you treat your cats with a monthly heartworm preventative? 

I would look at the maps for heartworm cases in dogs for your area. In some places there are very few cases per year (due to fewer mosquitoes or temperatures not conducive to heartworm development), so it may not be worth it to give an indoor cat preventive meds. In, say, Florida or Mississippi (which have a LOT of dog cases), though, I probably would.

Anyway, Revolution and Advantage Multi prevent heartworms as well as fleas, so if you want to use something, might as well do it all at once rather than try to give the Heartgard pill that the cat may not even like.

Being Indoor only I was thinking of putting her on heartworm meds only. 

According to the maps I can find heartworms are moderate here ... One map says 6-25 cases in dogs in 2007

Any thought? 

Just a little bit of info....

According to this article

http://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/feline-heartworm.html

It is generally recommended that all cats be tested for both antigens and antibodies (serology) prior to administration of a heartworm preventive.

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 This advice makes sense to me.

A good article

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/heartworm-disease-in-cats/273

And from Dr. Mike Richards  where he talks about sudden death in cats

http://www.vetinfo.com/csuddeath.html

Sudden death in cats occurs for several reasons. The most common ones are probably cardiomyopathy and heartworm disease. Both of these disorders can cause death with almost no warning at all. We have had a client whose cat went to jump from the couch to a chair near it and landed in the chair, dead. This cat had about four heartworms in the pulmonary arteries when we did a post mortem examination. As far as our client could tell, her cat was normal right up to the time that it died......

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Wow ... My vet has always just given Emma her revo ... Looks like she will be put on heartworm meds asap 

What about being careful and following the advice regarding testing first?  I really don't think those tests should be skipped.

It is generally recommended that all cats be tested for both antigens and antibodies (serology) prior to administration of a heartworm preventive.

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Its too late ... She is already on a heartworm preventative ... She gets Revo. 

Info:

http://www.cpvh.com/2011/07/27/heartworm-prevention-feline/

Interesting.  Both the rescue I got my cat from and also the vet said as long as he's 24/7 indoors I don't need to worry about giving a heartworm preventative. 

Elliriyanna said:

Wow ... My vet has always just given Emma her revo ... Looks like she will be put on heartworm meds asap 

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Why not leave her on Revolution?

Originally posted by SarahLiz

Interesting.  Both the rescue I got my cat from and also the vet said as long as he's 24/7 indoors I don't need to worry about giving a heartworm preventative.

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I got the same advice from my vet.  She explained to me that advice regarding heartworm preventatives for cats was based on specific areas, whether heartworms in cats in those areas were a problem or not.  In our area they were not.  (I was very happy and relieved to hear that.)

With them being moderate for dogs in my area I feel I should put her on it. 

And why keep her on Revo when its twice the price and we won't be needing the flea prevention? 

If the dog goes in and out, then the dog can bring in fleas. Actually, fleas come in on humans too. Up until the diet change, I had to treat my indoor only cats for fleas. They had to come in on me, since I don't have a dog. :lol3:

This thread is not about fleas. 

I believe above poster was simply answering your question..."And why keep her on Revo when its twice the price and we won't be needing the flea prevention? "

Well, with a dog going in and out of the house all the time, flea prevention even for an indoor cat is a must.

However, talking about heartworm prevention, one still has to know whether a cat has existing heartworms or not. Otherwise a preventative can give a false sense of security.

Please do read and think about this information

http://www.cpvh.com/2011/07/27/heartworm-prevention-feline/

I will just talk to my vet and see what they recommend. 

My personal opinion, for what it's worth, is that my cats are indoor only and I really don't want to feed them pesticides (or put pesticides on their fur).

You can google for more information on potential side effects, etc., if you're interested.

My Vets reply was that although its not impossible we do not see heartworms in cats in my area. However if I would like to treat her they have revolution.

Any thoughts?