Debunking the myth that cats don’t get heartworm disease

Cats aren’t just small dogs, so it’s true that they experience heartworm disease in a totally different way than dogs do, but it’s a myth that they don’t get heartworm disease at all.

This myth probably has its roots in the fact that feline heartworm disease is super sneaky and difficult to diagnose. First off, testing can be unreliable in cats and may require a combination of tests to confirm the disease. Second, feline heartworm disease has a variety of vague symptoms, ranging from vomiting and weight loss to asthma-like coughing and respiratory distress. 

Even sneakier, in some cats the symptoms will spontaneously improve even though the worms are still living in the lungs and heart. These cats can seem perfectly normal for quite some time—even a year or two—until one day the worms finally die, which then triggers sudden death in the cats too. Because cats are so much smaller than dogs, even one worm can be fatal.

The worse part of it all is that no good heartworm treatment exists for cats. Treatments focus on alleviating symptoms, but there are no drugs that can actually remove the worms from the lungs and heart. That’s why prevention is key.

Which leads us to yet another myth that’s important to debunk: keeping cats indoors prevents heartworm infection. Unfortunately, that’s just not true. Mosquitoes, which are the carriers that transmit heartworm disease to our pets, are quite good at finding their way into our homes. In fact, up to 30% of cats infected with heartworms are exclusively indoor cats.

The good news is that effective prevention is actually quite easy. Heartworm preventives are convenient to use and can be found as either chewable tablets or topical solutions. A simple once-a-month dose is all it takes to help both you and your cat breathe a little easier.

Browse veterinarian-approved heartworm preventives for cats. >>