Heartworms?

[juxie]

We've had our 2 year old kitty Maya to the Vet several times for breathing difficulties over her short lifetime. The Vet had always told me they can't hear any rattle in her lungs, and antibiotics don't do anything. They tried last time giving her a shot of a drug used to treat asthma and it worked a bit, but only for a few days. Last night Maya's breathing was rapid and strained, with some coughing and head shaking.

I was researching her symptoms online last night and she seems to be a text book example of feline heartworms- lethargy, weight loss, coughing, asthma-like signs (ntermittent difficulty in breathing, panting, open-mouthed breathing), gagging. I know they are difficult to diagnose with tests and that there is currently no safe medication for it.

Since Maya is two years old, and this is the lifespan of the heartworm, is it wrong to hope she is at the end of this? This morning she seems noticably better and is more perky. Do cats with heartworms have difficult moments at the end of the cycle, when they worms are dying and being passed from the body? What can I do to keep her as comfortable as possible until this is over? How long is the dying/passing process? I figured with all you cat lovers there must be a few who have dealt with this horrible issue. Thanks for any input you may have!

[jennielynn1970]

Not sure about the heartworms, but my mom and dad's one cat had breathing issues when they found him (or he found them.. he showed up on their doorstep wounded). He didn't have heartworms, he had something called LungWorms. I have never heard of it before, and I don't know they there was much available back then to treat it, but I don't think he has it any longer.

Can the vet do anything to check and then treat for either of them.

Heartworm is pretty serious, so I don't think I'd just wait for them to go through their cycle. They treat dogs for it, so maybe the vet can do something for your kitty if she has it.

[Medusa]

I've never had experience w/either heartworms or lung worms but I wouldn't wait for a vet appt. to have her checked. This sounds too serious. It could be something else going on w/her heart because of the symptoms. Please keep us updated.

[Catlady711]

While we don't have alot of heartworm cats at work (seems it's more rare in cats) I do know a few things about them.

The tests aren't accurate and are difficult to rely on, and a negative test result does not rule out heartworms. Testing is not as reliable as in dogs.

In cats it's more of a lung disease although it does affect the heart also.

The best diagnosis tools for heartworms in cats is an xray, and ultrasounds with an experienced vet to interpret them, and blood work particularly a CBC (blood cell count).

To my knowledge there is no treatment for cats with heartworm. Sometimes their bodies can reject the worms on their own (cats tend to have far fewer worms than dogs) however there will always be lasting damage to the lungs and other respiratory system from the infection.

Here is more detailed information about Heartworm disease in cats for further reading.

http://www.heartwormsociety.org/article.asp?id=1142

http://www.knowheartworms.org/mythone.asp


You might want to take a print out from that first site to your vet and just discuss the possibilities. I hope your kitty recovers from his problem and starts feeling better soon.


FYI for cat owners.

Preventative is usually the best and only thing a cat owner can do given the limited options available to cats at this point and time. Since reliable testing and treatement are not available for cats preventing the infection is really the best way to fight it.

We frequently use Revolution at work for cats for the heartworm preventative, as well as many other things it can take care of (fleas, earmites, roundworms).

[Jessika]

Cats are usually pretty good at ridding heartworms on their own... however, in the off-chance they do become infected, it is often fatal, and often asymptomatic until they fall over dead. Feline Heartworms are often mistaken for feline asthma, since both share very similar clinical signs. My only suggestion is to get tested if you haven't already, eventhough tests aren't 100% accurate, its better than nothing. As mentioned above, if you want to know xrays would probably be your best bet, but again depending on severity they MAY not show up.

Are you on a monthly preventative already? If you are then the chances of it being heartworms is very, very slim. If you are concerned, talk to your vet about HARD, heartworm associated respiratory disease.

Catlady is pretty accurate; as to date, there is no safe or effective treatment for feline heartworms. A heartworm positive cat has a VERY slim chance of surviving heartworm treatment. However, there ARE options for treatment out there. But that is for you to discuss with your vet.

[juxie]

Maya isn't on a monthly preventative for heartworm- I honestly wasn't aware there was one. My cats are indoors only and we live in a cold, damp place so we rarely even use Advantage, except on the dogs who go outside, because there are no fleas.

She seems to be doing much better as time goes on, and I have discussed this with my Vet. Since I don't have limitless supplies of money, and there really is no treatment for feline heartworms is it necessary to subject Maya to xrays and blood tests when there is nothing they can do anyways? I'm currently running another cat with FLUTD back and forth once a week to my Vet as well as a puppy with recurring diarrhea issues. I just sign over my paychecks over to the Vet at this point.

She has been to see our Vet three times for this problem and they always tell me theres no medication they can give her, other than the shot we tried that only helped for a day or two. The only current treatment for feline heartworm is an arsenic based medication which leads to death in about 50% of the cases. Those odds are much too high for me, when Maya seems to be a little trooper and dealing with this fairly well unmedicated.

This is a frustrating situation.

[Jessika]

Diagnosing your cat for heartworms, regardless of the fact there is no recommended/successful treatment for it, may help depending on how early you may catch the infection and/or how severe the infection is. They may be able to treat the clinical signs and make your pet more comfortable instead of suffering (again, depending on severity). Felines with heartworms often have a hard time breathing, are lethargic, and possibly anemic with more severe infections, and I can't imagine that would be too comfortable for the animal. So instead of letting them suffer through the clinical signs, you can at least make them more comfortable, which could elongate the lifespan even with the disease.

Heartworm preventative is available through your vet, online, or at pet specialty stores with a prescription only. Heartworm treatment can kill a heartworm positive pet, since it may kill the adult heartworms and microfilaria (heartworm "babies) in circulating blood and they can "clog up" and accumulate in the lungs, which causes death. Therefore it is important to have your pet tested for heartworms prior to administering the preventative

Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes, so even indoor pets are susceptible.

EDIT: OMG I sound like a heartworm brochure... I'm to the point now where I'm just regurgitating information lol

[Catlady711]

EDIT: OMG I sound like a heartworm brochure... I'm to the point now where I'm just regurgitating information lol

ROFL Welcome to the club!!!

I do that frequently and it's not like I'm trying to be a brochure, it just becomes second nature when you deal with stuff everyday.