Cats living with heart worm

milo24 · Aug 22, 2015

I adopted a cat (Milo) last night. He was so sweet and loving, playful, ate, went to the bathroom, etc — but we noticed that when he was resting, he was breathing very quickly. We listened closely, and his breath was raspy. This morning, we took him to the vet who gave him a physical and said he was the picture of health but that he hadn't had a heartworm test yet, so we should probably get that. We got the test done and yup, it was positive.

My vet said that there's nothing we can do for Milo unless his breathing gets worse and he starts coughing and wheezing. So far, he hasn't yet (last night he coughed once but it seemed more like a hair ball). He said if he starts doing that, then we can get him an anti-inflammatory medicine to make it easier for him to breathe, and then we might have to talk about giving him more tests and even taking him to a cat cardiologist. He said until then though, it's better to just leave him alone.

I told my vet that I was really worried about the rapid breathing and he said that I should give him a week and then decide if I want to bring Milo back into the vet for more tests. He basically said that it might be a waste of time, resources and added stress for the cat. In the meantime, he recommended I get Revolution to prevent any more heartworms from reproducing, so I'm going to start that.

So my question is — does any one have any experience with cats living with heart worm? How does it affect their daily lives? I keep looking at him resting and breathing quickly and getting so stressed.

stephenq · Aug 23, 2015

Milo24 said:
I adopted a cat (Milo) last night. He was so sweet and loving, playful, ate, went to the bathroom, etc — but we noticed that when he was resting, he was breathing very quickly. We listened closely, and his breath was raspy. This morning, we took him to the vet who gave him a physical and said he was the picture of health but that he hadn't had a heartworm test yet, so we should probably get that. We got the test done and yup, it was positive.

My vet said that there's nothing we can do for Milo unless his breathing gets worse and he starts coughing and wheezing. So far, he hasn't yet (last night he coughed once but it seemed more like a hair ball). He said if he starts doing that, then we can get him an anti-inflammatory medicine to make it easier for him to breathe, and then we might have to talk about giving him more tests and even taking him to a cat cardiologist. He said until then though, it's better to just leave him alone.

I told my vet that I was really worried about the rapid breathing and he said that I should give him a week and then decide if I want to bring Milo back into the vet for more tests. He basically said that it might be a waste of time, resources and added stress for the cat. In the meantime, he recommended I get Revolution to prevent any more heartworms from reproducing, so I'm going to start that.

So my question is — does any one have any experience with cats living with heart worm? How does it affect their daily lives? I keep looking at him resting and breathing quickly and getting so stressed.

Heartworm is very serious in cats and my understanding is there is no good treatment.

This is a good article on the subject: http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...e/animal-health/heartworm-disease-in-cats/273

margd · Aug 23, 2015

I'm bumping this as my experience with heartworm is minimal. My ex husband adopted a kitten who was diagnosed with heart worm. She did show symptoms at first, which is why I insisted she go to the vet, but later she seemed to do okay. I don't remember what the vet did for her but she was in the hospital for a few days and he too basically recommended a wait and see approach. My ex-s next door neighbor took her in eventually so I don't know how she ultimately did. I hope someone else who has had some more helpful experience can help you out. This is a very hard thing to cope with.

mrsgreenjeens · Aug 23, 2015

I did manage to find a couple of threads from people here on TCS with some experience with it:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/86332/heartworms

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/213680/feline-heartworm

BTW, in one thread I read, a cat was diagnosed one day with heartworm, with instructions to return the following day for some reason. Upon his return the following day, there was NO heartworm, so I'm guessing sometimes the tests are false positive. Somewhere I read it's quite difficult to diagnose in cats because it takes the presence of at least 3 female worms in order to detect it? Weird,..just plain weird.

Also, if you just adopted Milo this weekend, if you adopted him from a reputable shelter, they would, naturally, take him back, but I'm sure you don't want to do that. Most people fall in love instantly with their new furbabies. BUT, they might be willing to help with his immediate expenses. They should, since he really never should have been adopted out in the first place unless he came with a "disclaimer" as a special needs kitty, which he obviously didn't otherwise you would have already known about these creepy crawlies

. It may not be worth trying to fight them on this, and they might require you see THEIR Vets, which probably wouldn't get Milo the best healthcare possible, but it's always a possibility, for what it's worth.

milo24 · Sep 23, 2015

Thanks so much for your response, I just saw this. I actually adopted Milo from a rescue group — they take cats from a high-kill shelter in another state and then bring them up to my area. I don't think I could have taken him back (not that I would have wanted to do that), but I did contact them after Milo's diagnosis to see if they could help with expenses, and they can't. I signed a contract as part of the adoption forfeiting their liability, and I doubt they have much money anyway.

Thanks so much for the links to the threads though. It's been a month now since his diagnosis and my vet has him on a small dose of prednisolone indefinitely. It seems to be helping, so I'm just praying that he'll be okay staying on that until the worms die.

Cats living with heart worm

milo24

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